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Okay, you have lived your whole life with a water heater with a tank. This system looses a lot of energy. You can buy a heat blanket for it at a home improvement store to reduce the heat loss, but it is still a lot. They also have a limit to how much hot water they release. For example, if you have a smaller one and you have relatives over taking showers, you may find you are out of how water in the morning during the highest usage. These water heaters also have a live of about 10 to 15 years before you have to replace them. Tankless water heaters are not new. They have been used in Europe for many years. They are much smaller, about the size of a back pack, and they have no tank. They work on the idea of having the water run through a series of coils while it is being heated. The result is the heat is not lost while sitting in a tank and that it is essentially an unlimited supply of hot water. You can get them for both Natural Gas or Propane. I bought a Bosch one this year and hooked it to a 20 lb Propane tank. After about 8 months, I still have plenty of gas for hot water. The reason I chose the 20 lb tank was to avoid maintenace charges that the utility company charges their customers to maintain the gas lines. $19 to fill up the tank and it will probably last a year or two. I use it for my entire house! The heater also has a lifetime warrenty. The picture shows a tankless water heater next to one with a tank.

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