LESLIE: Tankless water heaters are certainly very popular and Victor in Maryland has some questions on them. How can we help you?
VICTOR: Yes. I’m a blind homeowner and I have some aging appliances that I’m hanging onto because they’ve been labeled in braille for me.
TOM: OK.
VICTOR: One of them is the water heater and I know that’s going to go sooner or later and I’m just curious. About maybe five or six years ago, all you heard on the radio were commercials for tankless water heaters, how great they were. And now you don’t hear anything about them at all. Have they just disappeared or people just don’t want them anymore or what?
TOM: Well, actually, no. They’ve become more of the norm and so that’s why you don’t hear about them as much anymore. But tankless water heaters are here to stay. They’re super-efficient; they deliver more hot water than a typical tanked water heater, for a lot less cost. They are more sophisticated, they are more expensive but they do last a lot longer. And so I think it’s a real good idea to have a tankless when your current water heater leaks. It may be time to think about changing over to tankless.
Do you have gas?
VICTOR: Yes.
TOM: Alright. So, then, as long as you have gas, then I think it’s a good idea to use a tankless water heater.
VICTOR: OK. So, is there more maintenance involved? Because I flush it …
TOM: No, not really. There’s really no maintenance involved except for there would be service with your heating system every year, just to make sure it’s burning correctly and not getting dirty. But there’s no tanks to flush or anything of that nature.
VICTOR: OK. Because I do it as a matter of course because there’s sediment in the water.
TOM: Sure.
VICTOR: And especially during the wintertime, with all the salt that they put on the roads and stuff, it ends up in the water. And I was told to flush it at least twice a year.
TOM: Yeah but that’s not an issue with tankless water heaters, because it’s tankless. There is no tank for the water to sit in, so there’s no sediment for it to form and it’s just going to work for you.
VICTOR: OK. Well, when the time comes, I will definitely look into it. Thanks a lot.
TOM: Alright, Victor. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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