Small tankless water heater hard to find

[Tom the Elder]

My house has two water heaters - one is inside in the laundry room. That tank serves only the kitchen and laundry room so even the smallest gas-fired tanks are way larger than what is actually needed. Plus, I don't like having the tank inside the house and I could use the extra space gained by getting rid of the tank. I am in the central valley of CA so temperature rise needed isn't huge. My problem is that major manufacturers (AO Smith, Rheem, Rannai, Noritz) don't seem to make small tanks. A couple of questions:
1. What gpm capacity do you think is needed for a water heater serving just a kitchen and laundry room?
2. Many larger units are "condensing" while smaller ones I see (2.5 - 5 gpm) either are not or don't say. Is there an advantage to having a condensing water heater?
3. I presume that, for any given amount of average daily volume, a larger unit (e.g. 6 -9 gpm) will last longer. Is there any other advantage to using a larger heater?
4. I do not recognize the makers of any of the small natural gas water heaters I see (Camplux, Fogatti, etc.). What brands do suggest I consider?

Thanks!

 

[Twowaxhack]

Just get the smallest Rinnai and be done with it.

 

[breplum]

FYI, with modern HE washing machines and major brand quality detergents, you don't need to use hot or even warm water for washing clothes. Cold water and Tide or Kirkland or any highly rated detergent cleans incredibly well.

 

[Twowaxhack]

FYI, with modern HE washing machines and major brand quality detergents, you don't need to use hot or even warm water for washing clothes. Cold water and Tide or Kirkland or any highly rated detergent cleans incredibly well.

So you don’t run hot water to washing machines ? It’s kinda like someone telling me that I don’t really need a bath everyday. Yeah......ok.

 

[Tom the Elder]

FYI, with modern HE washing machines and major brand quality detergents, you don't need to use hot or even warm water for washing clothes. Cold water and Tide or Kirkland or any highly rated detergent cleans incredibly well.

That sounds like lower monthly power bills and longer life for the water heater. Good to know.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

So you don’t run hot water to washing machines ? It’s kinda like someone telling me that I don’t really need a bath everyday. Yeah......ok.

For what it's worth we always use cold water. People say I like that color of gray when they see my white tee shirts but it is what it is.

 

[Twowaxhack]

For what it's worth we always use cold water. People say I like that color of gray when they see my white tee shirts but it is what it is.

To each his own. .

I personally have hot water to my washer and I use it on occasion.

I pipe hot water to all the washing machine connections I install, it’s just something I do.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Sorry if I gave you the impression that hot water wasn't piped to my washing machine because it is. I just find that the newer detergents do a pretty good job with cold.

Here's a question from an idle mind like mine: Would it be cheaper to pipe cold water to the dishwashing machine and let the machine heat the water to temp electrically or let the hot water heater, gas or electric, do the work?

 

[Twowaxhack]

Sorry if I gave you the impression that hot water wasn't piped to my washing machine because it is. I just find that the newer detergents do a pretty good job with cold.

Here's a question from an idle mind like mine: Would it be cheaper to pipe cold water to the dishwashing machine and let the machine heat the water to temp electrically or let the hot water heater, gas or electric, do the work?

I find that the detergent is great. So great that I only use 1/2 the amount and even less than that if I use hot water.

I find that soap builds up in my clothes. If I take dirty clothes snd put them in hot water only that I get suds.

It gets hot here, triple digit heat index with high humidity. So when you sweat your clothes get hot and wet with sweat.

If you have soap in your clothes you can get skin reactions. Burnt peeling skin.

My dishwasher has a sanitized cycle that heats the water to I believe 140 degrees.

I keep my water heater set at 135.

Too many variables for me to say one way is better than the other for a dishwasher to heat all its water or not.

For me it more efficient for the water heater to heat the water for a normal cycle. Water heater is close and I’m heating it anyway.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]