Sky wrote:
>
> I'm of mind to very soon replace my rather old (natural gas) water
> heater that's way over 17+ years old, and I know nearly nothing about
> water heaters.

Funny you should ask but I've been thinking seriously about upgrading
my LP gas home heating system to a more economical version... I have
hot water basebord heated with a Peerless boiler but it also makes my
domestic hot water with a coil and circulates it into a 40 gallon
storage tank... very inefficient since during warm weather I still
need to run that big boiler to make domestic hot water. My propane
guy was here today and sold me on a new tankless on demand hot water
heater, this one, $2,400 fully installed:
http://www.rinnai.us/water-heater/pr...-kb3237ffud-us
On demand water heaters cost more than traditional hot water heaters
but they more than make up for the extra cost with substantial fuel
savings... a quick calculation estimated I'd save in excess of $100 a
month, more during warm weather, the unit would pay for itself in
about 18 months. During this cold weather I've been running my new
ventless propane heater and it's been doing a great job of keeping my
boiler from calling for heat... ventless heaters are extremely
efficient (99%), no chimney for heat to escape.