What are retrofit tradeoffs for tankless heaters swapping out a storage heater and vice versa?
HOOVER: When replacing a storage water heater with a tankless water heater, the installation can is expensive due to the needed modifications. First, the gas line usually will be replaced with a larger line—and a larger meter—to ensure that the water heater has an adequate gas supply. Secondly, because the burners on a tankless heater are much larger than those on storage water heaters, arrangements must be made to provide more make-up air. Thirdly, the vent system from the storage unit will not be adequate for a tankless heater, because it requires a double-walled stainless steel vent. Finally, a tankless water heater requires electric power, while most storage water heaters do not. Hence, in a properly installed retrofit situation, the installation costs of a tankless water heater can far exceed the cost of the tankless hardware itself. ALFORD: The project gains back some floor space when switching to tankless water heaters. The need for drip pans and floor drains is eliminated. But
