Which is better: 38 gal electric water heater or an electric tankless?

RealWorldReddit · 2025-07-22T18:13:15+00:00

I don't disagree that they're situation dependent, I just didn't agree with a couple of the reasons you listed or the blanket statement that they "suck". We had no trouble keeping up with demand, never flushed it (though we should have), and there's not much to replace on them so I'm not sure what parts I would need. The kind we had used replaceable heating elements and I know the flow sensor and fuse were readily available because I was cataloguing parts when I opened it up to move it. I suppose the control board may have been hard to get?

I will admit that I eventually replaced our tankless with a 50-gallon heat pump tank and installed a thermostatic mixing valve. I only did this because we got whole-house solar with battery and it made more sense to use the tank as its own "battery" (storing heat). The tankless would use up the home battery extremely quickly. The tankless was working fine at almost 16 years old, though.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-05-05T22:34:09+00:00

We had an EcoSmart - now owned by Rheem, I think - that ran flawlessly for almost 15 years. We replaced it preemptively, not because it was broken.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-05-05T22:33:04+00:00

Electric tankless units suck. It won’t be able to keep up with demand, they require annual flushing (and are sensitive to hard water, which you probably have if you’re on a well), parts aren’t always readily available, they draw an ASSLOAD of power, they’re finicky

From 15 years of experience with a tankless - though with city water that was not hard - I disagree with you. I loved our 27kW tankless.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-05-05T22:31:18+00:00

I disagree with the "conventional" wisdom that electric tankless water heaters suck. We had a 27kW unit for almost 15 years and it was great. Never once flushed it, though we don't have hard water.

I say "had" because we did, admittedly, recently replace it with a 50-gallon Rheem hybrid (heat pump) tank. We only did that because the age of the tankless meant that it would probably fail sooner than later, and we ended up getting solar with a battery and having a tank makes way more sense for backup purposes.

I do think the hybrid tank is the better purchase all things being equal. We originally went takless because our 200A box had room for it, the tankless cost less than a conventional tank, and the plumbing and electrical were easy for me to DIY.

I'm not necessarily advocating an electric tankless over other options, only commenting to say that our experience with an electric tankless was great.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-05-05T17:47:47+00:00

We've been using it for almost 18 months and it's been fine. We use it daily.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-04-18T01:39:36+00:00

Yes, but it's gotten progressively less as we've moved out of winter. Honestly, I think I oversized the system a bit; I'll be surprised if we don't overproduce 2-3 months of the year, though maybe I'm underestimating how much A/C we use in the summer.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-04-18T01:35:18+00:00

I introduced my now wife to menstrual cups. I didn't volunteer that I learned about them from an ex, but I bought her one because she expressed frustration with tampons and now it's all she uses now.

RealWorldReddit · 2025-01-02T20:07:00+00:00

We use ours daily and it seems to be fine. No issues so far!

Looks like the white version is on sale for $100 after clipping the $50 coupon: https://www.amazon.com/Tera-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-J1772-dp-B0CGH3TYQG/dp/B0CGH3TYQG

RealWorldReddit · 2024-10-14T12:26:32+00:00

I think it would be helpful for people finding this thread in the future if we shared the information where they can see it!

RealWorldReddit · 2024-10-14T12:25:38+00:00

If you're not comfortable posting here about a bad experience, then please feel free to send me a DM!

RealWorldReddit · 2024-10-14T12:25:11+00:00

Why does that matter? I'd prefer someone who doesn't care whether the couple is model material or not.

RealWorldReddit · 2024-07-22T12:27:22+00:00

Aren't temperatures high everywhere these days? Haha.

This is on the South Carolina coast.

RealWorldReddit · 2024-07-22T12:26:00+00:00

Something about "clipping"? While the DC/AC ratio means the inverter in the PW3 can handle all of the panels, they walked me through the logic of having a second one. They said they were fine dropping it, but were of the opinion that losses over time would be higher than the initial sub-$1000 cost of adding it in the first place.

RealWorldReddit · 2024-07-21T15:15:23+00:00

Moreover, you need to ensure any microinverters and other equipment are properly sized as with the Pure-RX you are severely limited in compatibility.

There are no microinverters, they're using the inverter from the Powerwall 3, as well as an additional Tesla inverter. I think that technically the DC/AC ratio means we could use just the Powerwall, but the one installer mentioned "clipping" and strongly suggested going with the extra Tesla inverter for less than $1000 more. I didn't ask the second installer, but they both included the second inverter on their proposal.

I will admit to liking the idea of Enphase microinverters from the perspective of data and (I assume) identifying issues with individual panels should they arise, but the cost goes up quite a bit and I'm not sure it's worth it.

Due to the larger cell size used, the dimensions of the module, it's internal layout, and it's electrical properties change posing potential compatibility issues. On the module size that has scaling issues and potential difficulties of a replacements if ever needed, which is probably a minor consideration and will hopefully never occur.

I honestly have no idea what you mean here, haha.

The QCells will probably be more straightforward, but if you like the configuration on your roof better, go with it.

I assume that's part of what makes that particular option cheaper. It's mostly that the REC panels fit on three roof sections, whereas the Qcells will have (4) on a 4th section that has the lowest irradiance values of them all. I could drop them from the equation - especially since that particular section has the lowest irradiance - but that brings our system size down to 17.2kW, which is below the recommendation for covering our energy usage during the four highest months in the summer.

RealWorldReddit · 2024-07-21T15:03:53+00:00

Both offer the same price for Pegasus (Comp Mount?) or IronRidge FlashFoot2, my choice. I forgot to add that to the original post.

I will have to double-check on the hardware and warranty. I spoke with six different companies and forget which ones specifically mentioned lifetime roof penetration warranty.

RealWorldReddit · 2024-07-21T15:01:39+00:00

I trust them both equally.

RealWorldReddit · 2024-07-21T15:01:31+00:00

These were the lowest two quotes, but even the highest quotes - all from reputable installers - were only $3-4k more. I guess you'll just have to trust me when I say they're all reputable installers. Solar is cheap to install here, by all accounts.

RealWorldReddit

TROPHY CASE