This past week I have been busy installing our new off grid tankless propane water heater. The tankless propane water heater we had before was only a temporary fix that lasted 5 years. I never intended on using it for so long, but other needs on the homestead kept taking priority. We are finally replacing our camping style tankless, propane, water heater, Ecotemp L5 with a new tankless gas water heater the Excel Pro NATURAL GAS 6.6 GPM. The Excel Unit is powered by our invertor. It doesn’t take too much electricity when sitting idle, but it does have a phantom load. This unit is way more cost effective than a standard electric water heater. And for us, it is a good alternative to the more expensive units on the market.
But, before you decide to run out and purchase one, I would wait until I test this unit out first. After seeing two separate negative reviews on Amazon concerning the product, I am waiting to give it my complete confidence. I had never installed a unit like this before, so the video shows my excitement for the unboxing, but I did not notice the problems with the instructions until the next day and several of the parts as I started to get involved with the install. As far as my excitement goes, I was very tired and just finishing up the school year. This is my excited but exhausted look at the same time.
When our propane unit died, my wife and I continued to use our wood cook stove hot water system. I would heat the wood cook stove an hour before bed and shut the dampers down. When I awoke the next money, I would open up the dampers, feed the stove, and the water was ready for a hot shower within 15 minutes.
I finally began install on the propane unit Tuesday, the day my contract for teaching ended for the year. I believe I did the unboxing on Monday night after I finished my grades, cleaning my teaching area, and mowing the lawn for the 1st time of the season. I have been wanting to install a larger propane tankless water heater for years that would supply hot water to every faucet in the house during the late spring, summer, and early fall months. Before we only had hot water from May – October from a single spigot in the home, located in the shower. During those months, we filled pots of hot water and walked them to the kitchen sink for dishes. We didn’t mind so much as long as we had a hot shower any morning we wanted one. Before we purchased our camping style propane unit, we showered at my work during off hours or stood buck-naked in a large pail in the kitchen and sponged bathed. This was obviously before we adopted our son.
The Excel Pro Natural Gas 6.6 GPM Tankless Gas Water Heater… So far, it has been a bargain, but the jury is still out on it’s overall performance. It works great and hot water is now at every faucet in the home, just as if we were using our wood cook stove water heater system but without the heat.
So far, our new tankless water heater is working fine. It is, however, off gassing a propane smell. I am currently working on tracking it done and may possibly have to make another trip to a big box hardware supply store and replace the connector on the unit with a better one. For now, I am seeing if my fix worked.
I will upload sections of the install over the course of the next few weeks. I don’t want to bore anyone, but some of you who may consider purchasing a unit like this may appreciate the info. Personally, this was my first install, like so many other things I do on the homestead. I think it went rather smoothly with only a few setbacks and extra trips to the hardware store.
Thanks for joining us. If you have a tankless water heater that you installed and did a blog or vlog about it, please provide the link in the comments below. The more information out there, the less confusing it will be for others on how to do this without having to call a plumber and paying a $75 or higher hourly rate.
I would also like to make it clear, that my wife and I do not receive or ask for endorsements when we describe products on our website. We, like everyone else, search the Internet looking for deals and buy what we can afford. Once the unit checks out, we will probably place it on our Amazon Store, but if you want a better buy, you should go direct to the company. I will supply all this information as well as the cost at the end of this short series.
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