On demand hot water - anyone using ?

[Lazarus]

Finally starting construction on the new sugarhouse, which will also contain a full kitchen / bottling room. Is anyone out there using on-demand hot water in similar circumstances and if so, what are you using?

I was hoping to use small electric point-of-use units rather than a central on-demand system, the latter of which is going to be way too expensive. The larger concern is that my plumber does not think the point-of-use ones will supply enough hot water. Is anyone using these small units for more than just light hand-washing and are you getting good results?

We need the hot not just during the boiling season, but throughout the year for bottle washing (a lot of bottle washing), cleaning equipment, cooking sugar, making confections, and so forth. Trying to avoid a tank - I'm only out there a few hours a week and can't wait for the darn thing to heat up all the time, and it will be a major waste of energy to keep a tank heated.

Thanks,
-Lazarus

New 22x30 sugarhouse in progress
New Leader 2x6 oil-fired for 2014
300+ taps on buckets

[unc23win]

What about putting a regular water heater on a timer so it only heats at certain times? I looked at the on demand ones for my barn and I decided they weren't worth the money. Plus if you have point of use one you have to keep the line from freezing in the cold months. Which depending on how you run the line could be difficult.

In my new sugarhouse I think I am going to go with a regular one and use a timer and if I really won't be needing hot water during the colder non sugaring months I will just drain it and turn it off. Unless I decide to heat my water room those months as well then I will just use a timer. My plumber had the idea of draining it.

[maple flats]

I use a tankless propane unit I bought thry Sportsman's Guide. At the time I could only afford the smallest one and thought I'd limp thru heating water with that and get a bigger one the next year. Well, it surprised me, I heat 1.5 GPM from the mid thirties to over 120. If I slow it to about 1.25 gpm I can get over 140 degrees. I was amazed, and I still use it. The one I got was $107.99 and free shipping at the time, they are about $10 more now. One point to be aware of, the unit vents out the top and has no stack option. It was designed to be used outdoors as a camping shower. My sugarhouse is vented plenty well enough and I use it suspended over the sink. If you have a tighter location to use it, I'd suggest making a small hood and vent stack to be safe. They also offer larger ones but the temps rated max are actually lower. I wanted good hot water to clean my RO, which calls for water at 120-130 degrees in the wash tank. The small one does that well. I can't really address propane use, since I have a bulk tank and all my propane things run off the same tank, a canner, finisher, BIG torch, and the HW heater.

[BreezyHill]

I will be adding one for this season. My sister in law sold me on them. They built a log house and installed it before the power was hooked up. You just turn on the hot water and it starts up and hot water in seconds. Hers was the largest SG sells. One 8# bottle was lasting two adults for showers and hot water for the sink 4-5 weeks. Theirs has a stack and they only used 2" pvc to vent it was room temp after running for 10 minutes. I will be venting ours out the steam stack opening. We run a large propane salimandar to heat our feed mill and it is very well insulated but has a lot of steel to heat so it runs hard for 1 hr before operations start and then easy during mixing and doesn't set off the CO2 alarm yet. but the last two winters were not that harsh. That will go thru a bottle in two days or less.

[tuckermtn]

we use a propane fired Titan 5L unit we got from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-HWD5-Triton-Heater/dp/B001J4AU2E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383255077&sr=8-2&keywords=titan+hot+water+heater
overall like the unit, just need to unscrew a drain valve when done using it and it is going to freeze. also need to drain outflow hose when not in use.

It sits over our sink. It is fed by a small sureflo pump and small pressure reservour. They sit in a small insulated and heated cabinet that also has the bottom half of a 60 gallon stainless soup bowl in it. use soup bowl as water tank that I fill with permeate.

If you are insulating a whole room and have sink and water, then it is a while lot easier to set up. Tankless units are excellent alternatives to a conventional hot water heater. I like that I can run a whole lot of gallons through the unit and the water stays hot. Handy for cleaning sap tanks...

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

just picked up a propane unit that will run off a 20lb bottle on demand. going to try it at hunting camp and then sugar house

[unc23win]

we use a propane fired Titan 5L unit we got from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-HWD5-Triton-Heater/dp/B001J4AU2E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383255077&sr=8-2&keywords=titan+hot+water+heater
overall like the unit, just need to unscrew a drain valve when done using it and it is going to freeze. also need to drain outflow hose when not in use.

It sits over our sink. It is fed by a small sureflo pump and small pressure reservour. They sit in a small insulated and heated cabinet that also has the bottom half of a 60 gallon stainless soup bowl in it. use soup bowl as water tank that I fill with permeate.

If you are insulating a whole room and have sink and water, then it is a while lot easier to set up. Tankless units are excellent alternatives to a conventional hot water heater. I like that I can run a whole lot of gallons through the unit and the water stays hot. Handy for cleaning sap tanks...

Awesome thanks for the info I love the price. I think I might try one of these. Does it need to be vented? I was thinking about putting it in my heated RO room so then I would not need to drain it. I like the idea of having hot water to wash tanks I can handle draining a hose. We drain a 200' hose for horses by hooking it to the air compressor.

[tuckermtn]

it is supposed to be used "outside only" like in a camping setting. but we have it inside and just above our sink and right near the open rafter tails. no issues so far...

we are looking at a heated hose in a heated hose reel also so we don't have to drain hose and also so it reels back up when done. has 50ft of drinking water safe hose on it.

[unc23win]

I suppose the vent depends on the area of the room, but I dont think it would be too hard to vent.

A heated hose sounds like a good idea. At my horse barn I took a quick attach fitting and tapped it so a nipple for air tools fits then we pump the compressor up while we water horses then when we are done hook the compressor up and let run for about 5 minutes 200 + feet never freezes as long as the hose is stretched out. I also thought about having the hose on a reel and just reeling it back inside there is a hundred ways to do it ha.

I am gonna get that water heater though for sure thanks!