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We have installed several different tankless water heater in radiant heating and snowmelt systems. Including six different manufactures, from France, England, Germany and Japan. All of them had to be replaced with either combo's or boilers. The theory that heating water instantly is more efficient than using a standard storage tank heater is not true. Most storage tanks lose less than two degrees per hour and unless the tank is outdoors the losses are simply subtracted from your heating costs. The reason no tankless heaters are manufactured in the United States is that they can not be built to meet the efficiency requirements of the US government. Any water heater built in the US must be at least 76% efficient, which is miserably low. In a heating system the warm water return temperatures cause the efficiency of the tankless heater to drop below 40%. Tankless heaters also have a pollution rating many times higher than 94%+ combo water heaters. Another problem is that tankless heaters constantly draw heated air out of your house, even when off causing your heating system to run more. Although we do not use tankless heaters for heating we do use them for snow melt systems. Snow melt systems typically return very cold water which some tankless heaters handle very well with good efficiency, they do need to be engineered carefully to maintain proper flow rates.
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