Yesterday I encountered another Takagi tankless water heater at my home inspection. This one was labeled that it was an exterior model and it was installed on the exterior of the house! So good so far.. We inspectors are delighted when something is as it should be.
The installation looked very clean and I had no issue with it. The one thing I realized about these water heaters is it that the exterior ones will take more awareness from the home owner to keep the exterior vegetation away from the unit. This water heater had a direct exhaust vent situation and because the vent gets hot it would be unsafe to have plants (brush, bushes or tree limbs) growing up against the unit.
Many people delegate their yard work and landscaping to others who may not be aware of the special needs at these type of appliances. Let face it in this country up to now very few water heaters have been installed on the exterior of the house. New fire safety vigilance will be required.
Over the last 14 years I have probably inspected between 4,500 to 5000 water heaters, and of those only about 15 now have been tankless water heaters. All, yes all of these tankless units I have seen have been in the last year. The tide may be shifting and tankless water heaters are coming to a neighborhood near you.
Like all items proper installation, location, and maintenance will be key. Many of the buyers I inspect for indicate they want to put one in when they move in or when their current water heater gives out. Their reasons vary from to save energy or to save space. No one does it to save immediate cost. These units are not cheap up front but if you have a small house with limited space losing the 40 gallon water heater out of an interior closet or the garage and installing a tankless water heater in it’s place or on the exterior of the house might make sense for you.
All the best out there.
