Phone line soon Schedule a Visit
Schedule a Visit Phone line coming soon
A long galley kitchen in pale wood opening onto a garden

Residential plumbing · Metro Detroit

Tankless Water Heaters, Planned Around the Home

On-demand hot water, with gas supply, venting and maintenance assessed honestly before installation.

Request Service Phone line coming soon

Overview

Tankless Water Heaters, Explained.

A tankless water heater heats water only as it is drawn, rather than keeping a reservoir hot. For many households that means hot water that does not run out during a long bath or a busy morning, and a compact unit on the wall in place of a tank on the floor. It also means a different set of requirements, and those deserve attention before any purchase.

The most important questions are rarely about the heater itself. Can the gas supply deliver what a high-output burner needs while the furnace, range and fireplace also run? Where will the vent terminate, and where will condensate drain? How hard is the water? We work through those questions first, so a tankless system is chosen because it suits the home, not in spite of it.

The visit

Tankless Water Heaters: What the Visit Involves

  1. 01

    Survey the gas supply

    Tankless burners draw far more gas at full fire than a tank heater. We look at the meter, pipe sizes and lengths, and the other gas appliances in the home to judge whether the supply is adequate.

  2. 02

    Plan venting and condensate

    Condensing units vent through plastic pipe that must terminate at a suitable point on an outside wall or roof, and they produce acidic condensate that needs a drain, often with a neutralizer.

  3. 03

    Match output to demand

    Sizing is based on simultaneous flow and incoming water temperature. Michigan groundwater is cold in winter, which reduces how many fixtures a given unit can serve at once. We size for that season, not summer.

  4. 04

    Install and set up service access

    Isolation valves with service ports are fitted so the heat exchanger can be descaled later without cutting pipe. The unit is commissioned, tested at several flow rates and its settings explained.

A long galley kitchen in pale wood opening onto a garden

Making the decision

Is tankless the right choice for this house

Tankless suits households that value continuous hot water and are prepared for periodic maintenance. It is less suited where the gas service would need a costly upgrade, where vent routing is awkward, or where very low flows, such as a single hand-washing tap, are common, since some units need a minimum flow before they fire.

In homes where a bath sits far from the heater, the time it takes hot water to reach it is often the real complaint, and tankless alone does not fix that. A recirculation loop, either dedicated or using existing lines, can. Some homes are better served by two units, or by a high-recovery tank. We compare these plainly, including the installation work each involves.

  • Where the vent appears

    Vent terminations have clearance requirements from windows, doors and grade, and they are visible. On any home, the location is agreed with you before installation rather than discovered afterward.

  • Hard water and scale

    Scale builds inside the heat exchanger and gradually restricts flow and efficiency. Where water is hard, a descaling schedule and possibly a treatment system are part of the conversation from the start.

  • Quiet operation

    Tankless units have combustion fans and can be audible. Mounting one on a wall shared with a bedroom or study is avoided where another location is practical.

Questions homeowners ask

Tankless Water Heaters: Questions Homeowners Ask

All questions
Will a tankless heater give us unlimited hot water?

It will keep producing hot water as long as the demand stays within its capacity, so it will not run out the way a tank does. What it cannot do is supply more flow than it is sized for. If several showers, a tub and the dishwasher run at once in January, a single unit may not keep up, and the water will cool or flow will drop. Sizing to realistic winter demand is what prevents that.

Why does a tankless heater need descaling?

As water is heated, minerals such as calcium come out of solution and deposit on the hottest surfaces, which in a tankless heater means the narrow passages of the heat exchanger. Over time scale reduces heat transfer and can trigger error codes or overheating. Descaling circulates a mild solution through the unit via its service valves. How often it is needed depends largely on water hardness and usage.

Why does the water go cold briefly in the middle of a shower?

Often called a cold-water sandwich, this happens when hot water is used, stopped briefly, then used again. The water sitting in the pipes is hot, but the heater needs a moment to fire again, so a slug of cooler water passes through. It is a characteristic of many tankless systems rather than a fault. Recirculation or a small buffer tank can reduce it where it is bothersome.

Can our existing gas line run a tankless heater?

Sometimes, but it should not be assumed. A tankless heater can require several times the gas of a typical tank heater at full output, and a line sized for the old heater may starve it, causing poor performance or error codes. The answer depends on the meter capacity, the pipe diameter and length, and what else is on the line. That is measured and calculated before a unit is recommended.

Related services

Service areas

Tankless Water Heaters Across Our Priority Communities

Request a visit

Ask About Tankless Water Heaters.

Tell us a little about what is happening and when suits you — a running toilet or a water heater that quit is as welcome as a remodel. We will be in touch to arrange a visit.

  • PhonePhone line coming soon
  • ServingResidential homes across Metro Detroit

Online requests open soon. Until then, this form does not send or store anything you enter.