Pontas Home diárias do Renovation

So, we are in possession of the firm quote from Bob of Sears Home Comfort for a Rinnai natural gas tankless water heater. Bob comes in at a few dollars under $3,000.

What’s the financial payback for us at that price?

Well, remember in Part 1 our energy audit report indicated that a total of $400 of Federal and Provincial grant money was available to us? Below is the portion of our energy audit report we received under the ecoENERGY Retrofit program (the third recommendation)

Well, in January of 2008 that number was increased to $500. We like that. However at $500, the grant is only ($500 / $3,000) about 17% of our cost. That is disappointing. If both levels of government were serious in combating climate change and making it easier for their home owners to play their part, would you not think that they would provide a stronger incentive, say around 25% to 30%?

Anyway, I digress.

It costs us $15 a month to rent our current hot water tank. So that would be eliminated, or savings to us.

Based on the natural gas bills in the summer (when we don’t use natural gas for anything except heating the water and the barbecue) we spend on average around $25 a month to heat the current hot water tank. What we don’t know is how much of that $25 we will save by going tankless. The Rinnai brochure says to expect $100 annual savings. But on what basis? I mean, is that for a family of 6 or 4 or two? See what I mean?

Let’s say that we ‘guess’ we will save 50% of our natural gas usage for heating out hot water, or $13 per month…. a little more than Rinnai’s brochure.

This is where the numbers get non-precise. Even more reason for the governments to provide more financial incentive for home owners to change to tankless water heaters.

So, where are we in the financial payback calculation:

Cost per Bob of Sears Home Comfort      - $3,000

Less: Current Total ecoENERGY Grant -      500

Monthly Savings:

Current Tank Rental        - $15

Energy Savings                 - $13

Total ($15 + $13)          = $28

Payback ($2,500 / $28)  89 months or 7.4 years.  

Let’s say that the price for natural gas rises significantly, as many market forecasters are predicting. Let’s say that the price doubles. That means our total monthly cost with our current hot water tank become ($15 rental + $26 energy savings) $41 per month. This would give us a payback of 61 months or 5.1 years.

Hmmmm. And, we still are not 100% confident on the tank’s capacity for our home. And, we are still not clear on how long it will take the hot water to reach the faucets in the different bathrooms and sinks with the recommended placement of the tankless hot water device 26 feet away from the current hot water tank.

We decide to wait for the second opinion. When we return to this series of articles we will examine the quote given by a second company, Enwise Power Solutions. And, what a coincidence; they also sell the same model from the same manufacturer, Rinnai.

This should be interesting. To continue with the next article in this series, simply select this link to Part 5.