Tankless water heaters might seem like a new form of technology, but the first commercial storage tank water heater was invented in 1889.  Although its thick cooper design made it energy efficient, it was also expensive. In 1929, Stiebel Elton invented the first electric tankless water heater, which made the system more affordable and easily available. However, gas-powered models were more efficient and became somewhat popular. Despite improvements, tankless water heater technology was not effective enough to make these heaters viable alternatives to the standard water heater until the 1970s. As efficiency increased in the 1990s, tankless systems began to make a bigger impact on the U.S. markets.

The Department of Energy set a new conservation standard for residential water heaters as of April 16, 2015, revising earlier standards. Part of the National Appliance and Energy Conservation Act (NAECA), the new standard applied to residential water heaters, regardless of the fuel used or if they are storage tanks or tankless units. DOE estimates that the new efficiency measures will save 2.6 quadrillion Btus (quads) of energy over 30 years and net consumers up to $8.7 billion in savings. Over the same period, the standards will reduce CO2 emissions by 154 million metric tons. To put these long-term savings in perspective, the savings are enough to meet the total energy needs of 13 million typical U.S. homes for a year, and the CO2 savings are equivalent to taking 32 million passenger cars off the road for a year.

Looking ahead at the tankless water heater market

The benefits of tankless extend far beyond longer showers – they will lower water heating bills, ensure demand is always met, and free up space in a utility closet. What can still be improved and what are the future trends for providing hot water with tankless water heaters?

We spoke to a few tankless water heater manufacturers, including A.O. Smith, Aerco, Bosch, Bradford White, Chronomite, Eemax, Inc., Intellihot, Lochinvar, Navien, Noritz, Rheem, Rinnai, Stiebel Eltron, Inc., and Vesta.DS, Inc. to get their views on trends in the industry.

First, we asked: what current regulations are impacting tankless water heater manufacturers?

Eric Ashley, product development manager at Navien, Inc. had this to say: “Navien, and tankless, has benefited tremendously from the new and evolving efficiency standards. Navien has always produced product that are the most efficient in every category they compete in. We don’t try to hit the minimum in efficiency; we try to set a new standard of excellence. Now that the industry has changed to the Uniform Energy Factor (UEF) for all residential water heaters, people can now truly see a level comparison of tank vs tankless. This change switching from an EF to UEF will allow more growth in the tankless segment of the market.”

David Calkins, product manager, Eemax, Inc. added: “NAECA 3 regulations have provided an opportunity for Eemax to offer a solution to building and homeowners with AutoBooster. Fitting NAECA 3-compliant water heaters may be an issue in many applications and the installation of a smaller capacity tank may be the only viable option to meet energy efficiency standards. Unfortunately, being forced to a smaller space-saving tank can leave the customer without the hot water they require. Eemax’s research shows that we can extend the amount of deliverable hot water by as much as 45 percent from that tank-type heater using AutoBooster.” 

Arthur Smith, product manager – specialty residential at A.O. Smith commented:  “California’s mandate for hot water recirculation systems in new construction impacts us. While contractors can usually incorporate a recirculation pump with a standard water heater, A. O. Smith has made it faster and easier to comply with products like our 540P tankless model with an integrated recirculation pump. The pump provides instant hot water in residential applications with dedicated recirculation lines and is easily controlled with a simple user interface and multiple pump settings. These features allow for customized operation to both meet hot water needs and maximize efficiency.” 

Carl A. Pinto, Jr., director of marketing, Bradford White Corp. remarked: “Last year, certain tankless water heaters were required to transition to the UEF as the means by which to denote their efficiency ratings. Also, the Department of Energy modified the definitions for commercial water heaters and consequently residential water heaters. These definition changes affect both storage and tankless water heaters, although the DOE has issued a few enforcement policy statements related to this topic. These definition changes will affect tankless water heaters, but the overall effect is yet to be determined.”

Andrew Tran, marketing manager, Noritz, replied: “The Department of Energy rules regarding energy descriptors and efficiency are having the biggest impact. All representations of the energy efficiency of residential water heaters are now shown in the UEF metric. UEF is a metric that separates water heaters into three bins (high, mid, low) based upon expected amounts of usage. Each bin has its own test protocol for water usage – and, thus, energy usage- and gives a rating based upon the test protocol. This number is designed to represent the efficiency a customer would expect to see when using the product and offer a neutral comparison against different products within the same size range. From a customer’s point of view, this metric is meant to provide a fairer and more direct comparison between products than the outgoing Energy Factor (EF) metric. The 2017 federal tax cut is something else to watch, as it’s putting more money in customer’s pockets, which might open greater possibilities for the tankless market in 2018.”

Julius Goodman, head of marketing, Stiebel Eltron, Inc. noted: “The revised California Prop. 65 regulation is a concern for us. The latest revision requires choosing a chemical from the Prop. 65 list of hazardous chemicals that may be in a product and then warning customers about that chemical. This warning must be present even though, for our products, that chemical as it is incorporated into the product is not hazardous.”

Freddie Molina, product manager, Bosch, commented: “One regulation that’s impacting all water heating, specifically tankless, is recirculation. Regulation building codes for recirculation are prominent in draught-stricken areas, especially the West Coast.”

We wanted to know how technology has been used to meet recent updates in codes and standards.

Vikas Chopra, director of marketing, Intellihot Inc. observed: “We view technology as being the leading trend in the Tankless Hot Water industry. Our innovative and intelligent IoT enabled units allow for predictive analytics, which ‘smartifies’ the mechanical room, giving them actionable insight that will help them save money.”

“Navien is the industry leader in innovation in all market categories we compete in. We have taken engineering innovations and applied them to our automated manufacturing process allowing the highest level of quality and performance.”

— Ashley, Navien, Inc.

“Our newest generation of products uses a new style of burner and gas valve in order to improve the efficiency of our product line. While Noritz already meets and exceeds the standards, we are always striving to produce the most efficient and innovative products in the marketplace. Codes and standards always set a minimum bar, not the maximum or industry standard/average, so they rarely become a make or break for Noritz, since we are typically above the industry in efficiency, safety, emissions, etc.”

— Tran, Noritz

“We have developed the MegaBoost, a tankless booster for a hot water tank, to provide greater amounts of water and to reduce recovery time. The MegaBoost, in contrast to similar devices from other manufacturers, can be installed on either the inlet side or outlet side of a tank for increased installation options. MegaBoost is especially useful for installations where a smaller capacity tank must be used to replace a larger tank. This situation arises because tanks are larger now than in the past due to the rules in the NAECA 2015 Standards requiring greater efficiency.”

— Goodman, Stiebel Eltron, Inc

“AERCO’s tankless water heater design resists scale buildup for a typical water quality area; thus, saving its customers unnecessary expense associated with water softening or chemical treatment. For areas known to have very hard water, AERCO offers a nonchemical, nonsalt, environmentally friendly solution such as OneFlow. This unique and proven solution keeps the scale molecules suspended in the water and not allowing it to stick to the water heater surface even at elevated temperatures. This technology is referred to as ‘template assisted crystallization’ (TAC). AERCO also educates its customer about water quality and necessary steps to remedy the problems associated with hard water.”

— Shah, Aerco

Next, we asked: What technology are you using to combat scale build-up?

“At Navien, we use stainless steel for our primary and secondary heat exchangers – something we have done from day one, and now many competitors have begun to copy Navien. Stainless steel is a more noble metal than copper, allowing for a significant reduction in scale buildup. Navien offers a scale inhibitor called PeakFlowE, which is designed to prevent scaling in tankless water heaters where you have 12 grains of hardness or greater.” 

— Ashley, Navien, Inc.

“Bradford White’s Infiniti Tankless Series uses SRT (Scale Reduction Technology). The SRT system uses multiple components to reduce scale. These components disturb waterflow and greatly reduce hotspots that allow scale to accumulate. The SRT system significantly reduces the incidence of scale buildup known to result in poor performance, premature component or product failure, and, ultimately, additional maintenance costs for the consumer.”

— Pinto, Bradford White

“We have incorporated austenite 316L stainless steel heat exchangers into many of our units. These high-quality exchangers resist corrosion from condensate and chloride, maximizing durability and lifespan.”  

— Tran, Noritz

“Scale buildup can shorten the life of any water heater. Fortunately, managing scale buildup is a much easier process than it used to be. For example, A.O. Smith’s Product Preservers anti-scale filter works with both tankless and tank-style water heaters. It uses a nonchemical, nonsalt scale prevention media, which causes the calcium and magnesium in the water to bind together in a form that doesn’t stick to the inner surfaces of the heater. With this technology, contractors can simply replace a cartridge in the filter every two years and their jobs are done. Many other antiscale solutions require filter replacement every three to six months.”

— Smith, A.O. Smith

“The use of high-quality stainless steel for all heat exchangers and piping designed to create turbulences within the heat exchanger and larger inside diameter heater exchanger tubes.”

— Jack Ernest, Vice President, Vesta.DS, Inc.

“We are currently relying on pretreatment of incoming water by offering a TAC system that has been proven to provide excellent scale mitigation.”

— Goodman, Stiebel Eltron, Inc.

“To address the concerns of codes and standards, manufacturers are now including the pump inside the tankless water heater, which makes installation easier and more affordable. There are a lot of third-party manufacturers installing pump kits outside the water heater to recirculate the hot water.”

— Molina, Bosch

“AERCO’s tankless water heater design resists scale build-up for a typical water quality area; thus, saving its customers unnecessary expense associated with water softening or chemical treatment. For areas known to have very hard water, AERCO offers a non-chemical, non-salt, environmentally friendly solution such as OneFlow. This unique and proven solution keeps the scale molecules suspended in the water and not allowing it to stick to the water heater surface even at elevated temperatures. This technology is referred to as TAC. AERCO also educates its customer about water quality and necessary steps to remedy the problems associated with hard water.”

— Shah, Aerco

“Chronomite’s uniquely designed element assembly allows flow-through action of water creating a self-cleaning feature, eliminating alkali and calcification buildup. The actual buildup occurs in the faucet, not in the Chronomite water heater.”  

— Fabrizio, Chronomite

What are some trends you are seeing regarding space, size and materials that impact manufacturing?

“Tankless water heaters have been gaining market share because of their ability to maximize useful space, provide continuous hot water and deliver high efficiency. Contractors are leveraging the size of the water heater to improve the value to their customers.

While a tank water heater is typically about 24 inches in diameter and 50 inches in height, a tankless water heater is usually about the size of a carry-on suitcase, making it a perfect fit in a utility closet or other confined area. And in warm climates, contractors can install tankless water heaters outside or in an exterior wall to provide even more space-savings. As residential spaces become more efficient, we’re seeing a trend towards power-direct vent designs. This type of tankless water heater pulls outdoor air through the system and pushes exhaust out, which creates higher efficiencies, plus the convenience of using venting materials such as PVC. Contractors typically run PVC venting through a wall or roof penetration, instead of through a chimney or flue with a tank unit.”

— Smith, A.O. Smith

“Today there is little to no space under the sink or basin due to architectural design.  We design small point-of-use electric tankless water heaters which work well with current trends.  The stainless steel model is available in polished or satin finish to complement the architectural design.”

— Fabrizio, Chronomite

“Smaller dimensions create an issue for initial assembly and for contractors during service. Welding stainless steel requires expertise and additional processes to prevent corrosion and leaking. The use of dissimilar metals may save money but may create future issues.

— Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc.

“Kilowatt ratings for tankless units have stayed about the same, given the same flow-rate requirements. Point-of-use tankless heaters are becoming more and more compact so they can fit easily into a given space. Heating element materials vary, with some manufacturers relying on copper, some on stainless steel, and some on bare wire technology.”

— Goodman, Stiebel Eltron, Inc.

“One of the greatest benefits of tankless water heaters is its size. Tankless water heaters are more compact, lightweight and can be hung on a wall, giving the consumer more space. Another trend in the industry is the use of stainless steel. Condensing water heaters are becoming more popular and they require a second heat exchanger. The second heat exchangers are typically made from stainless steel because the material is better at resisting corrosion. Manufacturers are starting to make complete stainless steel combustion products to provide consumers other options.” 

— Molina, Bosch

“Customers continue to gravitate towards a compact solution that provides hot water on a reliable basis. Stainless steel and alloys of it continue to dominate the market. As part of R&D, AERCO continues to experiment with newer alloys and its manufacturability to provide its customer with unsurpassable equipment life at an affordable price.”

— Shah, Aerco

We wondered about new breakthroughs and ideology around tankless that are unique to commercial settings, and whether anyone had completed any recent projects or installations.

“Navien tankless water heaters are designed to deliver an endless stable supply of hot water in all commercial applications. With Navien’s stainless steel heat exchanger and industry leading efficiency, we provide the ultimate solution for commercial hot water needs. We see a trend in the commercial market going toward redundancy and easy, quick installations. With this trend in mind, Navien has created the Ready-Link commercial racking system. The Ready-Link system is field-assembled and features a free-standing rack along with preassembled hot water, cold water and gas manifolds in various configurations to meet any applications needs. The Ready-Link manifolds can be installed on the wall or on the Ready-Link Rack. Navien’s systems are compact durable and reliable with the ability to common vent up to eight units. In commercial applications, Navien is capable of cascading up to 16 NPE series units.”

— Ashley, Navien, Inc.

“The utilization of tankless in a commercial setting, especially large-scale projects requiring significant hot water demand, are still in somewhat of a pioneering stage, fine tuning various system combinations and configurations. We are seeing more and more commercial applications that have chosen tankless also install a storage tank(s). For example, they are choosing a 199,000 Btu/hr paired with a 120-gallon storage tank because these commercial applications are realizing they need some type of storage for periods requiring a larger dump capacity that exceeds the flow rates of the tankless water heater(s).

— Pinto, Bradford White

“The ability to install multiple tankless water heaters in prefabricated rack systems offers critical commercial applications the benefit of redundancy, as well as load tracking and modulation for improved efficiency. Noritz’s new NCC199CDV tankless water heaters can be installed in a multisystem and be common vented. Common venting provides several labor and material savings on commercial jobs, including fewer necessary ceiling penetrations and supports. Recently, several NCC199CDV units were banked together to provide hot water for Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. The school now receives hot water efficiently and enjoys the peace-of-mind that comes with redundancy of operation.”

— Tran, Noritz

“Cascading units together has opened opportunities for tankless in commercial applications. Tankless units were used for the 2018 Olympic village athletes’ 17-floor housing facility. Units were cascaded to provide hot water and space heating.”

— Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc.

“We recently acquired Tankless, Inc. of Sarasota, Florida, greatly expanding our tankless electric product line with high-capacity three-phase commercial and industrial water heaters for safety, manufacturing and general-purpose needs.”

— Goodman, Stiebel Eltron, Inc.

“Historically, commercial water-heating consisted of large gas storage water heaters. Today, there’s a shift to using multiple gas tankless water heaters that communicate with each other. This is called cascading, where the units are connected to each other and can communicate. In this system, not all the units are working at the same time. One unit may be doing most of the work, and once it has reached its capacity, it will call upon the next unit to take over. Cascading is preferred because if one unit fails, backup units are ready to be used instead of one large gas storage water heater failing and having no backup units. “  

— Molina, Bosch

“A.O. Smith has been working to develop a system that both provides business with the various benefits of a multi-unit system, including redundancy, and is easy to install for the contractor.  Our tankless rack system, which daisy-chains together anywhere between two and 20 units, helps achieve both goals. Rather than installing each water heater separately, the contractor can save time by making just one gas connection, one hot water connection and one cold water connection in this preconfigured system.  Along the same lines, A.O. Smith offers common venting, which allows contractors to connect multiple units into a single exhaust and a single intake pipe, rather than running multiple different exhaust lines with terminations outdoors. This will improve the aesthetics to the exterior of a building.”

— Smith, A.O. Smith

Next, we asked: What are you seeing in terms of remote connectivity? 

“Is there anything that we can’t control today remotely? Requests to adjust the temperature, recirculate the water and check the run time, service reminders and alerts have become common.”

 — Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc. 

“Navien pioneered remote connectivity for tankless water heaters in offering the first Wi-Fi control for residential and commercial applications: NaviLink-compatible with NPE series tankless water heaters. With the ability to get real-time data and notifications, we felt this was a tremendous opportunity to extend comfort to all aspects of our products. “

— Ashley, Navien, Inc.

“Relative to tankless water heaters, connectivity is a growing trend that is still to some degree finding its way. Usually, a tankless water heater’s setpoint is set once, and that temperature of water is delivered. There isn’t much need to use an app to adjust the set point up or down if a guest will only be staying the weekend at a home. The tankless water heater will deliver the same temperature of water, no matter how many people shower back-to-back. Manufacturers are also starting to explore ways to use connectivity from a service perspective as contractors begin to see the value in this type of technology.”

— Pinto, Bradford White

“Right now, there seems to be an arms race toward remote connectivity and home integration across the industry. This is partly spurred by the increase in savvy residential and commercial customers who are specifically demanding smart technology, since it’s already present in many other aspects of their lives.” 

— Tran, Noritz

“Remote connectivity in all appliances has become common in our everyday lives. Most water heater manufacturers have some sort of remote connectivity integrated into the product that can be connected with an app on a smart device. These apps are used by contractors for diagnosing issues and homeowners for personal use such as adjusting temperature or scheduling when to recirculate. Manufacturers are beginning to integrate Wi-Fi connectivity into its products to connect with smart home systems like Google Home and Alexa.” 

— Molina, Bosch

“Tankless water heaters are already among the most efficient gas water heaters available, so there’s not a lot of active management needed to improve efficiency. The technology has matured over the past several years, giving property managers better visibility than ever to monitor their hot water systems remotely.”

— Smith, A.O. Smith

Customers’ needs drive this business. What has been some of the most recent feedback from customers? How are you responding?

“Through our “Voice of the Customer” sessions, we have found the real value in remote connectivity is remote diagnosis and monitoring of systems as a proactive or “predictive” method to avoid potential failures or identifying service issues. Electric tankless is 99 percent efficient by design — only running when needed — so there’s not a lot of room for remote connectivity to add value through increased efficiency. Our engineering team is continuously investigating control platforms and the innovations their integration into our products would bring to the customer.”

— Dahlin, Eemax

“Positive feedback is no waiting for hot water, no wasting water. The Chronomite CM, M, R, ER, and ERB Series accept preheated water, saving the user time waiting for hot water and turning energy off when hot water arrives from a central water heater. Chronomite has a strong reputation for reliability.”

 — Fabrizio, Chronomite

“Our contractor customers appreciate the value that the tankless product offers consumers, and we are working on enhancing future iterations of our Infiniti Tankless family of tankless products to address some of their ideas related to performance and serviceability. Homeowners are also enamored by some of the advertised advantages of tankless water heaters, but those expectations must be satisfied with proper system design based on the needs of each household or business and an understanding of the related maintenance requirements for these products.”

— Pinto, Bradford White

“Customers are becoming increasingly tech-savvy. With internet research and the latest trends at their fingertips, they are constantly demanding the smartest and most efficient technologies. This is good for us as a tankless water heater manufacturer as it keeps us honest and, on our toes, tirelessly working to improve our product offering.”

— Tran, Noritz

“How did we live without tankless? Everyone gets a hot shower! We used to get complaints regarding cold and hot water temperature swings and flow rate issues. However, with the new and improved tankless units, these issues have been overcome.”

 — Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc.

“More and more customers are looking for a compact, space-saving, and safer solution for their domestic hot-water needs. AERCO tankless solution meets these needs while reducing Legionella-contributing components in the building.”

— Shah, Aerco

“Customers want the ability to connect to their water heaters. Homeowners like to have an app they can use to interact with their water heater, so they can get more use out of it than simply hot water. Contractors also want to the ability to connect to the water heaters in order to diagnose and monitor the units remotely. Bosch is listening to its customers and acting accordingly to the preferences of homeowners and professionals.”

— Molina, Bosch

“A.O. Smith consistently receives positive feedback on the reliability of our tankless water heaters, particularly our condensing units. Like any business, we’re always looking for ways to improve, which may involve minor redesigns and retesting based on customer input. For example, we recently modified the gas pressure requirement for some of our units to help accommodate users in the Northeast who frequently deal with old gas infrastructure and low gas pressures.”

— Smith, A.O. Smith

We wondered whether manufacturers offered education or training programs for contractors that help them address tankless installation issues and considerations.

“Noritz offers in-person training sessions at its facilities in Fountain Valley, California and Marietta, Georgia. Product trainers can also make visits to locations across the country to provide tankless education. In addition to the live sessions, Noritz offers free online courses on topics ranging from residential installations to commercial troubleshooting via training.noritz.com. 

— Tran, Noritz

“Yes, there’s a seat waiting for you! We offer electric tankless training classes for engineers, plumber/contractors, and wholesale distributors covering the entire Eemax product-portfolio. Classes are being scheduled at each of our three innovation learning center locations in Connecticut, Texas and Georgia. Go to innovationlearningcenters.com, keyword search ‘electric’ and register to join us.”

— Dahlin, Eemax

“Bradford White offers training on all its products, including tankless, through a variety of means including live, hands-on training through our manufacturers’ representatives or at our iTEC facility in Michigan. Contractors also have access to our 24/7 technical support line for assistance with their tankless installations or service questions.

— Pinto, Bradford White

“Yes, we give contractor hands-on training in a live showroom and calibration station and also contractor field training.”

— Fabrizio, Chronomite

“Product training is necessary for everyone involved with promoting, selling, installing, or servicing our units. We not only encourage product training, we insist on it before opening distribution or certifying installation service contractors. Training is an ongoing exercise in our pursuit of excellence. Our training materials are certified by NATE.”

— Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc.

“Bosch has a training room for water heaters and boilers. Bosch is constantly inviting contractors, manufactures reps and distributors to the training room facility to show them not only the features and benefits of products, but also teach them how to diagnose, install and troubleshoot the products. This also helps its customers become more familiar with Bosch products, so they are prepared to service and install specific units. Bosch also has a trainer that travels around the U.S. to train customers how to install and service products for those who can’t make it to the training facility.” 

— Molina, Bosch

“AERCO educates the contractors and engineers to apply the tankless solution in a correct manner. For example, it is important to realize that dump load-type of applications are better suited (economically) to use a tank-type heater. For all other application types where tankless solution is best suited, it is important to realize the most common load (demand) in a commercial application is the building recirculation. The solution must be capable of handling this load without cycling. This is where the turndown or modulation capabilities of the heater come into play.”

— Shah, Aerco

“A.O. Smith’s education division – A.O. Smith University creates cutting-edge courses tailor-made for contractors. The in-house studio responsible for creating the online video content uses technology similar to what you’d find in high-end television studios, such as teleprompters, stage lighting rigs, a production-control room and multiple 4K digital video cameras capable of capturing 8 million active pixels for ultra-high resolution. Our online courses also allow for two-way communication — where contractors can demonstrate their work directly to a training representative remotely.  A.O. Smith recently redesigned some of its training space to create a specific tankless training lab and a tankless-focused class to go with it. The class is a two-day workshop where we attendees can do everything from full tankless teardowns to sizing applications to installation troubleshooting.

— Smith, A.O. Smith

Some companies offer rewards promotions, expansions or campaigns. We asked whether their company offers any or are working on something in regard to tankless.

“We are currently developing an upgrade to our mobile app, specifically to allow contractors the ability to continuously monitor their tankless water heater installations. Features include a live map displaying each installation’s location and error code alerts prompting the installer to schedule a visit with the homeowner.”

— Tran, Noritz

“Our focus is on individual distributor partnerships. Tankless water heaters and boiler acceptance has grown significantly, but there is still a long way to go before it’s consider the standard. Therefore, each distributor’s programs, promotions etc. are tailored to their market and need educate and successfully sell tankless.” 

— Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc.

“Bosch has an ABC - Accredited Bosch Contractors - program where contractors who attend the Bosch training classes and install Bosch products get points that can be traded in for products and tools. Additionally, many utility companies offer rebate programs to customers who install an efficient product. Bosch works with utility companies to get its products listed on utility company’s rebate program if the product qualifies.” 

— Molina, Bosch

“We currently have a contractor rewards program where contractors can earn money back on our HomeAdvantage II, AutoBooster and Mini Tank products. We are working on a more robust rewards program that would include more of our product offering but the timeline and program details haven’t been finalized yet.”

— Eemax

Finally, we asked: what is your outlook or forecast for the tankless water heater market?

“Growth! With the intervention of federal, state and local governmental agencies and their mandates for smaller carbon footprints, tankless units are part of the solution. For consumers, the continual search and desire for a more comfortable lifestyle, tankless units are a solution.”

 — Ernest, Vesta.DS, Inc.

 “The first quarter is typically the slowest time of year for water heater sales. If it’s any indication so far, we at Navien have continued to see exponential sales growth and don’t see the rest of the year slowing down at all. Changes in water heater efficiencies, product offerings, end-user wishes, and real estate industry expectations should all meld together to form success for all tankless manufacturers.” 

— Ashley, Navien, Inc.

“While tankless water heaters have enjoyed a relatively steady level of growth over the past few years, their future growth curve will to some degree be directed by the continued evolution of building codes and energy policies. Also, with other high-efficiency space and water heating appliances entering the market place, tankless water heaters will have a new level of competition from a pure product option perspective.”

— Pinto, Bradford White

“Currently, the tankless water heater market is probably only 10-15 percent of the entire water heating market. This leaves our industry much room to grow, and, as the demand for energy efficiency increases, so will we. We also expect to see continued improvements in wireless connectivity and integration with other smart technologies.”

— Tran, Noritz

“We are confident that this market will continue to grow in the U.S., and elsewhere, as end-users and installers realize the space-saving, energy-saving, water-saving benefits tankless water heaters provide in addition to endless hot water on demand.”

— Goodman, Stiebel Eltron, Inc.

“The tankless water heater market is doing well and growing with the economy.  The gas tankless water heater market is growing at a staggering pace, much faster than the gas storage water heater market. In the next five years, it’s projected that 10 percent of all water heaters sold will be tankless. This shows there is a demand in the market for gas tankless water heaters. “

— Molina, Bosch

“Throughout 2018, Eemax will be celebrating its 30th anniversary and the successes that have brought us to today. What a great time to be a part of the growth the water heating industry overall is experiencing. We feel that the electric tankless water heater market will continue to expand and grow by mid-single digit percentages in 2018.” 

— Dahlin, Eemax 

“We expect tankless to continue to be the fastest-growing segment of the North American water heater market. In 2017 the tankless segment was up almost 19 percent and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down! The overall market is still less than 5 percent so there is still a great deal of room to grow.”

— Smith, A.O. Smith