Can a Guy Have a Crush on a Tankless Water Heater?

Howdy Houston!  I hope everybody had an enjoyable and safe independance day.  This week we’re going to talk about one of the most exciting new products in the tankless industry.  That new product is the Navien condensing-type tankless water heater.

The Navien tankless water heater is the most efficient in the industry.  Period. Depending on the model, the efficiency ranges from 97.3% to 98.8%!  Because of this ultra-high efficiency rating, the exhaust temperatures range from 90 to 140 degrees, which allows these units to be vented with standard pvc piping as opposed to the very expensive class III stainless steel vent pipe, and in most cases, this equates to considerable savings on the installation cost.

This efficiency also means greater energy savings because it produces more hot water per btu  than other leading tankless manufacturers. For example, the Navien CR-180, which is the smallest unit available,uses 150,000 btu’s of gas to make 8.5 gallons of hot water per minute, while most of the other manufacturers only make 5 gallons of hot water per minute using 150,000 btu’s of gas.  In my mind that’s quite a difference!

Navien is also one of the few manufacturers that uses stainless steel in their heat exchanger construction.  Stainless steel heat exchangers are up to 20 times more resistant than copper heat exchangers to corrosion and condensation damage. Stainless steel is much smoother and less porous than copper, so we also have less problems with calcium and hard water scale buildup on the critical heat exchanger parts,  which means flushing and cleaning the heat exchangers will very rarely, if ever, have to be done. All this being said, the life expectancy of the Navien units will be in the range of 20-30 years.

Navien also has a built in leak detector available in  every unit .  If any moisture is detected within the unit, the machine automatically turns off the water supply to the unit, virtually eliminating the possibility of costly property damage due to water leaks.

Navien has the best warranty in the industry to date.   It has a 15 year warranty on the heat exchanger, 6 year parts warranty, and 1 year parts and labor.

Navien also has models available with built in circulation pumps and mini buffer tanks. These models deliver hot water to faucets quickly, which aids in water conservation.  This also means that there is no minimum flow rate with these units.  These units also eliminate the so-called “cold water sandwich” due to the no-minimum flow rate. All other manufacturers have a minimum flow rate of at least 0.5 gallons per minute.

We have partnered with Navien for about a year now, have installed in excess of 125 units in that time, and have had minimal problems with these machines.  As you guys know, I’ve been a plumber for about 17 yrs and it takes alot to impress me with new product lines, but Navien has met and exceeded all my expectations when it comes to tankless water heaters.  We  have installed enough of the units to know that this is an outstanding product, and a product worthy of being included in the Hot Water Guys inventory.

Have a great week Houston, and remember, keep those questions rolling in so that we can have our question and answer forum going full speed by next week!   As always you can post comments here or reach me at  eddie-at-hotwaterguys.com.