Tankless water heater Install

[dumb as a stump]

[QUOTE=SavageSunJeep;320020
Since my tank had not bit the dust I had the luxury of doing research. I knew that at 13 years on the original tank that was in the house when it was built it was living on borrowed time...especially since I am the ONLY one on the block that has not had their tank replaced.
.[/QUOTE]

I just repaced my electric heater( no gas in the country) 23 years old when It started to leak and the electrode was as good as gone too.

[canoecruiser]

A tankless water heater is like a steam boiler. They operate at a very high surface temperature, that is why good water flow is so important. On a steam boiler we use all kinds of water treatments, a water softener would not be one. Water softeners will cause more problems than they fix, at least for a steam or hot water boiler. Lots of other alternative water treatments.

For a domestic water heater, a water softener is about all you can use. I will repeat, if you use lots and lots of hot water and your bill for heating same is $50 - 100 per month, get a tankless. But in a high mineral area be prepared to remove the lime with chemicals or acid (yearly?) or replace it altogether in a few years.

You can back flush or drain off the lime accumulation at the bottom of a standard water heater, and on steam and hot water boilers.

I live in a limestone valley and the wellwater is almost like diluted concrete. The tank-style water heaters fill with sediment and it's very hard to get all of it out. The electric heaters are cheap to buy (if not run) and after 24 years I'm only on heater #2. Wmgeorge, I was considering a tankless for the energy cost and am glad I read your post. Idea shelved......