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Thanks for responding. I am using the shower head heater now but I want to install a more permanent system for laundry, dishes and two showers. I just hate using an electric unit. With two AC’s already costing so much to use. I may have no other choice though.

If your going to run pipe then I would use gas.

I have had the electrical unit and it works great.  No issues with electrical bill.  I only use it for the showers. 

You must have enough water pressure to make it work.  We actually had to upgrade the water pump but worth it!

Yes, but then as you say, I should put it outside the house. Or I would also have to run a vent line which would be another issue. Which takes me back to an electric unit. But as planner just stated doesn’t affect the electric cost that much although I will also use it for laundry and dishes. I have already had to upgrade my water pump so that isn’t a problem.

🤠

Thanks for responding. I am using the shower head heater now but I want to install a more permanent system for laundry, dishes and two showers. I just hate using an electric unit. With two AC’s already costing so much to use. I may have no other choice though.

StanR wrote:

Presently I am considering installing a tankless electric water heater. The unit is a Westinghouse 12 KW unit  that requires 2 L/min to turn on. Has anyone had experience with this type of heater. Solar is not an option for me.

If you can afford it...the tankless water heater is the way to go. 

We had one installed in a home we lived in, back in Colorado about 15 years ago.  We enjoyed it for 4.5 years before moving to Idaho.   LOVED IT. 

Sadly, we can't quite make it work for our current home.  Configuration is not right, making it EXTREMELY expensive to install, versus just the normal expensive. 

The good news:  tankless water heaters do save you money by not perpetually heating an entire water heater 24/7. 

The bad news:  You will start taking longer showers and a lot more soaking baths, so that will largely negate the cost savings!!

CAUTIONS:  You need to ensure you have an abundant supply of water to feed that tankless water year, because you will take MUCH longer showers.   The water must be pure/clean enough not to cause excess mineral buildup in the tankless water heater (TWH); they are sensitive and prone to that. 

It is well worth the money to find an installer that TRULY knows how to install TWHs, including the local building codes for the intake and exhaust vents.  If you read reviews online, the people with the most and worst problems are the ones that installed the TWH themselves.  Mos t truly professional installations last for years/decades.   There are a lot of tradesmen that CLAIM they have experience, but don't really.  They just want to learn and experiment on your dime.  FIND A PROFESSIONAL WITH EXPERIENCE.  It will be money well spent.

You need to ensure you have STABLE, CLEAN POWER to start, stop and control the TWH.   Also, you must start the habit of checking your TWH after EVERY power failure, drop or spike.  These tend to reset the unit back to factory settings, and your water will be lukewarm.  Or, just reset the controls after you enjoy one of those lukewarm showers.

And finally, for the most part, your TWH will provide plenty of hot water for years!!!  But, like all mechanical objects, they can and do break/malfunction.  It is smart to include those automatic flowmeters on your house/appliances that can sense when a pipe has burst and automatically close the house water valve.  Well worth the cost.

Best of luck!!!


Jim
ExpatRusher

My two cents...having managed several apartments with tankless electric hot water heaters, my experience has been that they are expensive, not reliable and don't last long.  I don't know whether its partially because of poor electricity or mineral content.  I believe its an electricity issue.  Anyways, I have changed them all over to a small 10 gallon tank for under 100 USD each.  I installed a switch to turn it on and off and advise clients only to turn it on when they want to have a hot shower and then turn it off.  The cost of electricity is almost nothing using this concept and the hot water remaining in the tank is sufficient to do dishes etc. for a good part of the day.  Simple, economical and easy to replace.  These have been in place for 3 years now and I have not had even one issue with them.  This of course depends upon your circumstances, size of family etc.  In my home I use a solar hot water heater, mounted on the roof of my garage.  It provides us with plenty of hot water except on really cloudy days and costs nothing to use.

Cheers...

DominicanadaMike wrote:

My two cents...having managed several apartments with tankless electric hot water heaters, my experience has been that they are expensive, not reliable and don't last long.  I don't know whether its partially because of poor electricity or mineral content.  I believe its an electricity issue.  Anyways, I have changed them all over to a small 10 gallon tank for under 100 USD each.  I installed a switch to turn it on and off and advise clients only to turn it on when they want to have a hot shower and then turn it off.  The cost of electricity is almost nothing using this concept and the hot water remaining in the tank is sufficient to do dishes etc. for a good part of the day.  Simple, economical and easy to replace.  These have been in place for 3 years now and I have not had even one issue with them.  This of course depends upon your circumstances, size of family etc.  In my home I use a solar hot water heater, mounted on the roof of my garage.  It provides us with plenty of hot water except on really cloudy days and costs nothing to use.

Cheers...

That is what I have now, with a timer switch.  With a twist of the switch it will  energize the heater for as long as I want-usually 20 minutes.

Works like a charm.

exactly...I have learned that Dominicans work differently and sometimes there is a reason for it...lol

Expatrusher...you identified one of the problems that exists in almost the entire country that prevents tankless hot water heaters from working the way you descibe:

You need to ensure you have STABLE, CLEAN POWER to start, stop and control the TWH.

This is the number one reason why they don't work well in the DR.  Stable electricity rarely exists.  Of course the exception would be your own energy supply through an off grid source.

Try:  myheatworks.com Tell them Will Walton sent you!

Intriguing. I assume you have one installed and it works well?

MIne  works great with the electricity here. I have had zero issues.

MIne  works great with the electricity here. I have had zero issues.

May I ask what model you use. How many KW/h is it rated. Has it reduced your electric bill.

Full Disclosure: I Rep for them, believing their tech is the best move forward in 150+ years of heating water with fire/electricity...most energy efficient, handles bad water without replacing heating rods, controllable via your cell phone app-keeps the relatives from staying too long-reasonably priced with an American guarantee. Top shelf energy/water efficiency...as with most high end electric tankless (insta-hots) water heaters, you'll need a 100 amp circuit, but, it uses far less amperage on usage; Place them in your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room...Try Ferguson, or, order direct.

planner wrote:

MIne  works great with the electricity here. I have had zero issues.

Planner What make are you using.  How many amps

I have to find out honey.

My electricity bill went down from the previous medium size tank that is used here that you turn on at least 20 minutes in advance.  Because it's on demand it's only on when needed. It's used for showering only.

Thanks Planner. Shower only. Never thought of that but A good way to go.

Using hot water  on clothes and  dishes is just not "normal" here.  We  use it to shower and its been that way my entire   17 1/2 years for me.   I really really hate not having a hot shower!   Can I do  it, of course. I just don't want to.

My heater was purchased in Pricemart for   under 10,000 RD,  it was installed for another  1,000 RD  right where the  old  small tank  used to be!  Nothing different needed. Simple.  I have an inverter and batteries. SO when the electricity goes,  I have no water pump for pressure so no hot water!  Simple.   Where I live it rarely goes out so its  a non issue.

planner wrote:

Using hot water  on clothes and  dishes is just not "normal" here.  We  use it to shower and its been that way my entire   17 1/2 years for me.   I really really hate not having a hot shower!   Can I do  it, of course. I just don't want to.

My heater was purchased in Pricemart for   under 10,000 RD,  it was installed for another  1,000 RD  right where the  old  small tank  used to be!  Nothing different needed. Simple.  I have an inverter and batteries. SO when the electricity goes,  I have no water pump for pressure so no hot water!  Simple.   Where I live it rarely goes out so its  a non issue.

The inverter can't handle the load anyway so double whammy. Do you have a tinaco on the roof?

AS I'm still very much in the planning stages, would any of you care to share the cost for  tankless gas powered (not interested in electric) and solar hot water there? I was looking into solar HW while in AZ and the AZ (Cdn) basketball star was spokesperson for them. Cost there was not bad. Do you also need one of those water tanks on the roof or wherever? I had already addressed the issue of water pressure with my builder....thanks
Mike - did you install yourself or get a company? Maybe you could PM me more details when you have time...thanks....

If you can go with solar hot water heater, then it is likely to be about the same cost, perhaps less to install. 

The big advantage of a solar hot water heater is that you're no longer on the electrical grid at all -- at least for your showers and probably for your dishes.  Would it heat enough for a bath?  Depends on how you size. 

I'm a fan of TWHs, but that was partially because excepting one assignment, was never really in a location where it made sense for to do solar.  That was in the early 80s, and solar back then was neither efficient nor reliable.

Now, you will hear some horror stories about solar HWH and deservedly so.  There were some AWFUL systems sold in the late 1970s through late 80s, and then bad installs can make even a great system suck.   You can see such home today in the US for sale, and I can't remember one from the 80s still working.

Fortunately, the technologies have advanced incredibly far since then.  Just be sure you understand and adhere by the maintenance standards, or you'll kill your own system.

If you do go with Solar HWH, do yourself a favor and add a couple of of those 10 gallon mini-tank water heaters for each shower.  Will make a world of difference when you have guests and on cloudy days.  I Domicanada Mike has that down pat.

Best,

jim
ExpatRusher

p.s.: you should probably, and more importantly, also be thinking of hurricane and earthquake resistant construction.  You WILL experience both in the DR.  But, that should be a different thread.

An upate...I have not had good luck with THW heaters.  I have 5 fairly new ones dead in the water!  No pun intended.  There is most likely a capacitor blown inside.  One of these days I will take the time to investigate.  I switched over to a small electric tank.  So much easier and cheaper.  Since only used for showers it rarely runs out of water (10gal).  I switch it on when I want to use it.  Takes about 2-3 minutes to heat up and then I  turn it back off after the shower.  What's left in the tank generally stays hot for whatever I might want to use throughout the day.  I also have a solar hot water heater in my house and cannot say enough good about it.  Had it for 13 years and it is still working great.

ExpatRusher - Jim - yes to all points - now looking for leads on cost out to make budget decisions. My contractor has all that in hand as we have discussed in length. Good point on the small hot water tanks if I use solar.

Make sure to do regular maintenance...
Corrosion and bad (ahem horrible) installs are the norm...
Make sure to do regular maintenance...

To add to conifers advice......make sure you do regular maintenance!   

We're having interesting issues with our TWH in our rental - like not getting hot water in the shower unless we turn on the bathroom faucet first, or not being able to get hot water until we turn the stove on (gas line issue?). Even when it's "working", it's terribly inconsistent. We probably spend half our shower time adjusting the temperature. Not the good experience we had with our TWH in the US.

Needs consistent water pressure and gas pressure to work right.

We have had the exact same issues with the "Lorenzetti" TWH (gas) at our house.  Strange occurrences:  immediate hot water at the guest bathroom and the bathtub in the Master bathroom.  Shower in the master bathroom and faucet in the kitchen take forever to warm up and then go to cool water after a couple of minutes.  In our upstairs apartment, they added a water pump that is supposed to increase the water pressure to keep that unit operating with enough hot water.  We'll see ...

Good to be reminded about the consistency of the gas. Our stove top scares the life out of me sometimes since our gas can be dirtier some times than others. Kaboom! Only stands to reason that would affect a twh too.

Glad I tripped over this topic since we have been thinking about them.

Be careful with changing out these gas bottles. When we change ours out air remains in the lines and the stove top becomes something like a welding torch until the air bleeds out!

Rocky, I know! That is what I meant! The first time it happened I thought a bomb went off.  Our friend is a pipefitter in the US. Last time he visited he looked at it and thinks it's a combo of the valve and dirtier gas than we are used to. We are getting it straightened out. I wonder if that happened with a TWH if it would blow it right off the wall? Jeje

We are stuck with a gas TWH and have the low pressure issues outlined above.  Would a whole house water pump help?

Yes a water pump can create the needed pressure.

Thanks!

Snowinpalm:

Yes, a pump will provide the pressure but that may not be the complete answer for you.  Without some idea of your background, I have a few questions.

What is your current water supply?  Is it from a centrally controlled system (municipal or residential supply).  Is it from your own supply, such as a well?  If so, do you have a cistern?  Either a tank on the roof or and underground tank?  If so, how do you get the water to your home?  In the case of an underground cistern, then a pressurized system must be in place.  If it is a tank on the roof then your pressure is gravity.

Before going to the pump answer, can you explain what you currently have...

What about tankless electric hot water heaters here? I have had my condo in Bavaro only since summer 2018 and already the second small, standard tank water heater is failing. We are working on the place now but staying in a hotel since we had to cut the power to the apt in Nov. The hotel room has an ecotouch brand tankless electric that is sufficient for the bathroom and kitchen in the room. Any thoughts from the group?

Also, the water smell seems to have gone away, at least at our development. Have any local utility infrastructure changes happened recently that would have improved the water quality?

works wonderfully, but

super high electricity consumption

I have used tankless water heaters for well over 10 years and they are wonderful.  They are not expensive, save electricity, and maintenance free.  They only run when the hot water is being used, instead of heating water ever hour of each day in a tank.  Go figure!  I have a whole house with a pre entry filter for the water.  Change filter every 6 months.  Never run out of hot water.  Brand is important, and get the Eltron-Stebel.  They will require 220 volts, so be prepared for a little electrical work if your small heater is only 110 volt.  Europe uses these everywhere.  Best move you could make.