Electric vs Propane Water Heater

[FLEX ROD]

Once again I am reaching out to this great group of knowledge, as some may remember I am building a house in the Eugenia area and its time to finish my plumbing.

As I have no knowledge of propane vs electricity water heaters I am looking for some feedback, I was surprised that propane tanks are special order at all stores, even the ones out side of the city, but also the fact that a propane one is about 3 times the cost.

Does going with a propane unit justify itself in the long run?

 The basement in the house has been designed to be a rental property so it will have a separate water heater so the cost difference is quite large approximately 3 times per unit, which is a fair bit so any and all info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, FLEX

  

[ketchenany]

Have you looked into tankless heaters. Not sure if they run on propane.

[lew]

40 minutes ago, ketchenany said:

Have you looked into tankless heaters. Not sure if they run on propane.

Yes they do, I have one and it's excellent.

[Mister G]

Are you going to have propane for other items like kitchen stove or whatever. If not I wouldn't bother going with propane, however if you lose electric in that area a lot you could run out of hot water but if you have a well pump it would not matter.

[OhioFisherman]

I live in a rural area here stateside, electric and propane were all that was available I recall as options for us. My home is all electric and my electric power is thru a multi county electric co-op.

You might check with your electric supplier in your area and see if they offer rebate programs such as these?

http://www.lmre.org/content/water-heaters

A gas or propane water heater probably need a chimney of sorts? a higher risk of CO₂ problems?

[John Bacon]

35 minutes ago, Mister G said:

Are you going to have propane for other items like kitchen stove or whatever. If not I wouldn't bother going with propane, however if you lose electric in that area a lot you could run out of hot water but if you have a well pump it would not matter.

Most of the modern natural gas heaters are power vented and have electronic ignition; so they need electricity to run.  I suspect that the propane ones are the same.

However, a generator should be able to provide enough power for the ignition and venting.  

 

[Old Man]

Check out Navien tankless heaters. I have the boiler and domestic hot water combo in my house and it’s been great. Expensive to buy, but cheap to run.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

4 hours ago, ketchenany said:

Have you looked into tankless heaters. Not sure if they run on propane.

They do.

Going to put a Rheem in my cabin.

[Old Ironmaker]

Operating costs for propane are less than hydro. The best ROI is On Demand propane hot water. If renting a unit (gas or electric) is possible in your area I would consider it depending on monthly cost. You never need worry about break downs and repair costs.

[Sinker]

Propane water on demand is how I would go. You use less propane, and they work great. 

 

S. 

[Terry]

Do  tankless heaters still have issues with hard water

 

[Lord Letto]

we had a Electric Tank-less heater here with a electric tank backup, it wasn't very good (Granted it was a old unit), the Landlord ended up swapping to a Natural Gas tank, much better!

As a Bonus, we don't pay as much for hydro now.

Edited May 24, 2018 by Lord Letto

[lew]

47 minutes ago, Terry said:

Do  tankless heaters still have issues with hard water

 

Yes they do Terry, it's recommended you have a water softener.

 

[aplumma]

Terry the hidden cost of the tankless heaters are they do scale up. It needs to be capped off and solvent clean every 1-3 years depending on the build up rate. They also allow people to use more hot water meaning 3 kids and 2 adults all want to shower in the morning call all get a 10 minute shower. With a conventional heater 75 gallons they all will get a 5 minute shower. The BTU rating of the tankless heaters have up to 3 times the burn rate so they can keep the coils hot when the water flows thru. So 50 minutes of 3 times the burn rate is 150 minutes of burn time compared to 75 gallon 1/3 burn rate for 1 hour. That means to keep the water warm thru the day to equal the amount of gas consumed the heater would have to run just shy of 2 hours. Now if people use the tankless heater in the same pattern meaning 5 minute showers then they do save money. 

Art