Originally Posted by Pete
I've had my Vaughn Top Performer in for about 10 years now. I think it's a 35-gallon. These have a type of cement lining, interestingly. We've not run out of hot water, even in summer, when the boiler hasn't run in a couple of hours.
If you have gas available, a tankless system should be considered.
I've always been against tankless systems and I'm a real estate broker so I see lots of hot water heating systems. The tankless loop off the boiler is also somewhat common. The tankless hot water system you only see in really new construction or high end places. Basically the problem with the tankless gas hot water system is that you normally need a 3/4 inch gas line and a higher flow rate for the gas meter. That can be solved with a new gas meter but you also need to vent the tankless system out the side of the house so that limits the install options. It basically costs a lot more and if you do the math on how much you're saving on the hot water bill, it's not really that much. It's normally about $10-15/month for the gas bill on a regular hot water tank. If you have to pay a couple thousand extra for the tankless option, it will take a long, long time to recover your costs. And those can easily go away because most tankless systems only have a 5 year warranty. And there aren't too many plumbers who know how to fix them, and you might not be able to get the parts for it. Worst case on a water heater is that it dies on a Sunday and if you like your hot water, you can just run to Home Depot for a new hot water tank and install the same day. However when your tankless goes, then you need the plumber to show up and diagnose it, then order whatever parts it needs. Probably explains why I don't see too many of them, sounds great in theory but once you do the math, it's not quite there yet. And that's why I haven't installed them in any of my 10+ rentals.