Do Tankless Water Heaters Need Expansion Tanks

Installing a tank water heater might seem easy but homeowners who refinish their basements often create a number of code violations with respect to the water heater.

Do tankless water heaters need expansion tanks.

Simply locate the appropriate water heater sizes on ecomfort using your information. Once you have your total flow rate and the required temperature rise you can find the right size tankless water heater for your home. Expansion tanks are required if your system fails a water pressure psi test. If you have a tankless water heater you don t have to worry about an expansion tank because you don t have a primary tank to begin with.

Most time no some time yes. For a thankless water heater itself. In this system an unfired tankless water heater may need to recirculate in order to lessen the wait time or prepare for large hot water demands. You do need a releif valve so that if the heating does.

New or larger expansion tanks may be needed due to pressure reducing valves check valves and backflow preventers added to the community s water system. However if you have a traditional tank style water heater you will most definitely need to consider if an. If their is backflow prevention device check valve or other similar device installed on the cold water input. Expansion tanks aka thermal expansion tanks are essentially safety devices to help you minimize the risk of damage to your hot water tank they are an add on to your existing hot water heater and are often installed on the water supply pipe to the water heater normally this is on the wall next to or very close by your hot water tank.

When a tap shower or appliance is turned on cold water passes through the tankless water heater where it s heated by either a gas fired burner or electric coils. 7 best rv tankless water heaters mini tank models. As we discussed above a tankless water heater using a recirculation pump and a storage tank or water heater will need a thermal expansion tank to control thermal expansion inside the plumbing system. The water expands as it heats and on a tank you are raising the temp of water trapped in the tank because the water continues to heat after the tap is closed but on a tankless the heating stops as the tap is closed or its suppoesd too so you do not need an expansion tank on a tankless.

By only heating water when it s needed tankless water heaters do not experience standby heat loss which occurs when heat escapes the water tank and needs constant reheating. Their is case were you need an expansion tank with a tankless system. Sizing expansion tanks for water heaters can be a complex engineering challenge but residential expansion tank sizing has been simplified through the use of calculators. Code expert glenn mathewson describes 10 common water heater code issues including confusion about drip pans and drains unsupported expansion tanks and plastic vents lack of combustion air and more.

Electrical even gas water heaters have electrical parts and need to be hooked up to your breaker box.