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Rebekah and Fellow Wrenches,<br>
<br>
None of the Big 5 _manufacturers_ of tankless water heaters are
currently manufacturing natural draft tankless water heaters. Paloma
stopped their production several years ago and the then, sole
provider of natural draft machines-Bosch has earlier this year
stopped production of all it's natural draft models.<br>
<br>
Chances are you can still locate units in the system today but all
of the Big 5 natural draft machines are today - out of production. <br>
<br>
If by trustworthy you mean reliable, then you should not use hydro
generated units in the same sentence as reliable or cost effective.
There might be other manufacturers beyond the Big 5 (Bosch, Noritz,
Paloma, Rinnai and Takagi) out there but you might want to talk to
Ian W. about his success with a natural draft "off-brand". When you
have the choice to use a standing pilot model, that is your most
reliable and long term low cost/expense leader. If you are really
serious about energy conservation you might follow the rest of world
lead and use the included piezo igniter every time you wanted hot
water and save even the pilot gas when you were not using hot water.<br>
<br>
Credit myopic/marketing driven energy efficiency rules with part of
this demise and an industry that fits in well in a capitalist
society with the remainder.<br>
<br>
Read Tom Lane's article<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.15632">http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.15632</a>
<br>
in the current issue of Solar Industry Magazine regarding the
current status of the solar thermal industry and his suggestions for
alternatives. <br>
<br>
Sabine and I, in the '80's switched an electric tank in an all
electric condo daily for over eight years and never had to even
replace the breaker. In a gas storage tank water heater, rotating
the gas valve between pilot and on accomplishes almost the same
effect of using the storage tank as a batch heater.<br>
<br>
Best wishes,<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Bill Loesch
Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar
314 631 1094</pre>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/3/2015 10:06 AM, Rebekah Hren
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CA+iiD9BpFiTMcQnM1jWkd0a623Uf7nb5bYuKw+k49Rp7pZ_WXw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hi Wrenches,
<div><br>
<div>Any suggestions for trustworthy:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-propane tankless water heater</div>
<div>- draft-vented </div>
<div>-battery (or hydro) ignition with no electrical hookups</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It seems to be a lot harder to find tankless water
heaters which do not have a 120VAC power supply these days.
It's not a big power draw, but it is a phantom load for
off-grid and I'm not sure it's a great idea to manually
switch the tank power supply on/off several times day? </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks!</div>
<div>Rebekah Hren</div>
<div><br clear="all">
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
<div class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">Tel: 336.266.8800<br>
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installation Professional™
091209-85<br>
NC Licensed Electrical Contractor</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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