In Europe and Asia, tankless water heaters are common, but in the United States, this fact is less so. But while U.S. homeowners and commercial building operators have often chosen storage-type units over tankless, the pendulum is beginning to swing in the other direction as consumers place greater emphasis on environmental impact and efficiency. 

Construction and manufacturing growth in the United States, and an emphasis on saving energy, are spurring an upward tick in sales of tankless products. A recent Persistence Market Research study on tankless water heaters, for example, predicts this technology will remain dominant through 2024.

The report, released last year, says government policies promoting energy-efficient systems will also boost the global tankless water heater market. 

“Minimum energy-efficiency standards recommended for home appliances by governments all over the world are creating new growth opportunities for energy-efficient and sustainable solutions, such as tankless water heaters,” stated the Persistence Market Research report. 

With this in mind, one major factor driving demand for tankless products was the U.S. Department of Energy’s move to issue new energy standards for water heaters in 2015. These standards require higher Energy Factor (EF) ratings for water heaters, which has increased demand for new energy-efficient heater products, such as condensing tankless water heaters.

The DOE estimates the updated efficiency measures will save 2.6 quadrillion BTUs of energy over the next 30 years and net consumers up to $8.7 billion in savings. The standards are also expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 154 million metric tons. 

In addition, the report predicts the decline in prices for energy-efficient units will further spur market growth. Large-scale manufacturing of tankless units will drive down their cost and create opportunity for adoption by price-conscious, mainstream consumers, the research predicts. 

As more tankless water heaters go into use, what will shape the tankless water heater industry? We asked several tankless water heater manufacturers for their views on industry trends.

What current regulations are impacting tankless water heater manufacturers?

With the exception of the 2015 DOE regulations, there are no other current federal rules with the same impact on the overall water heater market.

In Canada, there’s been a government push to raise efficiency standards, says Alfonso Cunha, product management at Bosch Thermotechnology. However, no significant changes have been implemented.

Most tankless water heater manufacturers already comply with the U.S. DOE efficiency standards, reports Richard Ponce, national sales manager for VESTA.DS. Inc.

“VESTA.D.S. only manufactures condensing water heating equipment with 0.91 Uniform Energy Factor and higher,” he adds. “The soft impact will be that the 2015 DOE regulation will increase manufacturing costs for storage tank-type water heaters. The cost increase will make condensing tankless water heaters a much better value.”

However, Arthur Smith, product manager, specialty residential at A. O. Smith, reports that due to a temporary lull in regulatory activity at the federal level, state and local governments have become much more active on policies that impact appliance manufacturers.

Most pronounced, Smith reports, are the policies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from residential and commercial buildings, which are increasingly being targeted as part of broader governmental policies to assist in mitigating the impact of climate change.

“In these jurisdictions, high-efficiency tankless water heaters are an option to help achieve those reduction goals as well as to assist regulated utilities in meeting the required efficiency improvement targets in their service territories,” he reports.

Carl Pinto Jr., director of marketing for Bradford White Corp., highlights California’s Title 24 as another example of state rules. This measure requires that residential, single-home, new construction be tankless-ready.

“The next iteration of Title 24, however, begins to include solar-ready requirements,” he says. “This doesn’t necessarily hurt tankless, but it does open the door for greater use of higher-efficiency products, such as heat pump water heaters, as California begins to drive toward renewable energy resources and a reduction in fossil fuel dependent energy. The next phase of Title 24 goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.” 

Chia Lin, tankless water heater product manager at Navien, reports Title 24 requirements “drive the eventual standards for the rest of the country. The need for more efficient water heating products is driving the adoption from traditional tank and noncondensing tankless to condensing technology for many builders. In addition, requirements such as on-demand hot water recirculation to prevent water waste are more commonplace. Navien has great solutions, such as our Hot Button on-demand recirculation option.”

Further on the water conservation front, David Calkins, product manager, Eemax Inc., points out that his company’s LavAdvantage tankless water heaters were designed and built to support the industry’s lowest activation with a 0.2 gpm turn-on flow rate. As a result, the water heater is suitable for low flow applications that support water conservation, such as California Civil Code 1011.3, 1104.1, and 1101.4.

Erika Knerr, marketing coordinator for Steibel-Eltron, adds: “The revised California Prop 65 regulation is also a concern for us. This regulation requires determining which chemical or chemicals from the Prop 65 list of hazardous chemicals may be in a product and then providing a mandatory warning to customers even though that chemical may not be hazardous as it is incorporated into a product.

“Besides the potential consequence of desensitizing California residents to actual dangerous chemicals, the warning confuses people in other states who don’t understand that it may not provide any meaningful information, but is present because it is required under the regulation.” 

Andrew Tran, marketing manager for Noritz, says the drive to further decrease carbon footprint is the primary route in which regulations are affecting the market.

“Multiple state-wide pushes for higher building efficiencies in states such as California and Hawaii, as well as across Canada, are driving the market toward condensing gas technology and away from tanks,” he explains. “In some situations, they are exploring pushing away from gas altogether, which is a stress on the gas appliance industry.” 

As energy codes continue to change, James York, vice president of engineering for Rinnai America Corp., says “builders and consumers look for high-efficiency products such as tankless water heaters to meet these building codes. In addition to energy codes, Rinnai has seen a growth in builders conducting home energy ratings to demonstrate the efficiency of the homes they are building.” 

In addition, York reports the company has also seen increased regulations on water conservation by implementing requirements for hot water circulation systems to avoid wasting water while consumers wait for hot water to arrive.

“This has led many customers to look for solutions such as the Rinnai Sensei RUR,” he adds, “which incorporates an onboard pump and can be used with a dedicated return line or can upgrade your existing system to circulation with Thermacirc 360.”

Peter Rimassa, director of engineering for DHT, also sees an increased focus on Legionella controller/elimination and ASSE 1017 master mixing devices impacting the tankless market.

“Concerns about Legionella growth and scaling are impacting one of the advantages of tankless water heating, heating water to the temperature you need,” he explains. “The overheating of water has an impact on product thermal efficiency and can increase scale build-up on heat exchangers, possible reducing longevity.”

On the commercial side, Tran reports, there is a rule-making process in progress now looking at upping the minimum thermal efficiency for water heaters to 94 percent from 80 percent, which would essentially eliminate all noncondensing technology from the marketplace.

“While this is still in the development phase, this would cause a very dramatic shift for those commercial buildings that need new water heating equipment,” he says.

In addition, Tran reports there are several localities across the country looking at using PVC as a venting material and regulations related to this.

“PVC has been used safely as a venting material for a few decades now, however, a few areas, primarily in the Northeastern portion of the country, have expressed concern over using PVC as a vent material,” he says. “Massachusetts looks to follow New York City as a major market to restrict the usage of PVC as a vent material. This action, if enacted, would change the way tankless water heaters, boilers and furnaces are vented across the board and would increase the cost for the end user.” 

How has technology been used to meet recent updates in codes and standards?

Smith reports hot water recirculation is increasing in popularity since it improves comfort with instant hot water, reduces water waste and is required by code in some regions.

A.O. Smith has developed a variety of options for recirculation systems with tankless, including tankless models with integrated recirculation pumps for quicker and easier installs. For larger homes, the company offers a three-speed stainless-steel pump. Both utilize thermostat and programmable timer controls to run the circulation pump when consumers want hot water and to save energy during off hours.

Rinnai, meanwhile, launched a complete line of super high-efficiency condensing tankless water heaters in 2018. The Sensai line of tankless water heaters incorporates several improvements to meet high-efficiency building codes and water conservation codes. Equipped with stainless-steel heat exchangers and new gas valve technology, models with integrated circulation pumps and multiple venting options make these tankless water heaters easy to install and consumer friendly. 

Its Control-R allows customers to have a connected experience with their water heater and expands the options for controlling circulation, York adds. 

Lin reports the Title 24 building codes require higher efficiency out of building materials and mechanicals with each code cycle.

“By offering condensing tankless models with the highest UEF in the North American market, Navien can help builders not only meet these requirements but exceed them in many cases,” Lin says. “Condensing technology in tankless water heaters and boilers capture much of the remaining heat in the exhaust and use it to pre-heat the water in a secondary heat exchanger.”

Nortiz’ Tran reports advancements in the burner and gas delivery system have been constantly increasing to push the limit of efficiency.

“Where five years ago, the presence of 95-plus percent efficiency products was basically nonexistent, there exists several different options across the industry now,” Tran states. “This availability of technology is pushing the envelope on what the government is willing to try and implement as baseline efficiencies in the building envelope.”

Meanwhile, Steibel-Eltron has developed the MegaBoost, a tankless booster for a hot water tank, to provide greater amounts of water and to reduce recovery time. Knerr reports it can be installed on either the inlet side or the outlet side of a tank, providing multiple installation options. MegaBoost is useful for installations where a smaller capacity tank must be used to replace a larger tank.

“This situation arises,” Knerr says, “because tanks are larger now than in the past due to the rules in the NAECA 2015 Standards requiring greater efficiency.” 

And Vesta.D.S. reports it has been manufacturing condensing SSTL heat exchangers for years using technology that meets or exceeds all current codes and standards.

What technology are you using to combat scale buildup?

“Water quality, which varies by territory, plays an enormous part in scale development. Adding chemical-free, salt-less water conditioning to hard water conditions helps prevent scale from developing. This not only increases efficiency but also extends the life of equipment and helps mitigate risks of Legionella.”

— Paul Bothner, director of hot water solutions, AERCO

“We offer a Product Preservers Anti-Scale Filter that is highly effective at minimizing the impact of scale on the heat exchanger. In fact, under most conditions, using it eliminates the need for isolation valves and an annual flush of the system. The filter does not require electricity or add chemicals to the water and is low maintenance. Changing the filter cartridge every two years is recommended to maintain scale protection for your tankless water heater.”

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“Bradford White’s Infiniti Tankless water heaters use a proprietary SRT (scale reduction technology). It significantly reduces the incidence of scale buildup known to result in poor performance, additional maintenance, and pre-mature component or product failure. Infiniti’s secondary heat exchanger performs twice as long before cleaning is required due to the effectiveness of SRT.”

— Carl Pinto Jr., Bradford White Corp.

“A proper heat exchanger design helps combat scale buildup in tankless water heaters. The important design aspects are ensuring a low heat exchanger wall temperature and the use of flow turbulators. These design features are engineered using computational fluid dynamics and validated with lifetime testing to reduce mineral deposition in the heat exchanger walls. Additionally, Bosch’s most advanced tankless water heaters, such as the Greentherm 9000, use self-monitoring methods that continuously assess the heat exchanger performance and notify the user if maintenance is required.”

— Alfonso Cunha, Bosch Thermotechnology 

“We are currently relying on pre-treatment of incoming water by offering a template assisted crystallization system that has been proven to provide excellent scale mitigation.”

— Erika Knerr, Steibel-Eltron 

“Rinnai has conducted extensive testing with hard water to develop a robust heat exchanger to combat scale. This has led to improvements in heat exchanger design and operation control. Rinnai tankless water heaters also incorporate a diagnostic code that alerts the consumer/servicer when cleaning is needed. We also offer accessories such as the ScaleCutter system, which treats the water before entering the tankless water heater and reduces the impact of hard water and scale buildup.” 

— James York, Rinnai 

“Navien uses stainless-steel heat exchangers to better combat scale buildup versus a typical copper heat exchanger. We also offer a scale inhibitor, the PeakFlowE, which is designed to prevent scaling in tankless water heaters.”

— Chia Lin, Navien

“The Noritz tankless water heaters are incorporating various strategies to minimize both the formation of scale inside the water heater and to provide notice to the customers when scale formation occurs to conduct maintenance.

“On the design side, Noritz has incorporated design protocols to minimize the temperature of the water going through the heat exchanger to reduce the amount of scale formation, as there is a correlation between temperature and scale formation. Additionally, we have incorporated various designs to reduce scale formation, including orientation of piping and material selection, which resist scale formation.

“On the service side, there is programming built into the unit, which can detect scale formation and alert the user if scale is present in the heat exchanger, as well as provide guidance that servicing is needed. Additionally, our new Wi-Fi adapter can be integrated to send these service reminders directly to the customer or servicer.”

—Andrew Tran, Noritz

“Indirect water heating using a low-temp condensing boiler and packaged plate heat exchangers and reducing the concern of scale buildup because the heat-efficient plate heater design allows a 5-degree approach temperature, which in return lowers the heat exchanger material temperatures. Couple these low temperatures with keeping minimum water flow velocities through the domestic side of the heat exchanger minimizes the possibility of scale buildup.”

— Peter Rimassa, DHT

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

“Mechanical rooms continue to get smaller and as a result, manufacturers have had to design equipment to fit more water heating capacity into a smaller footprint. AERCO Innovation, SmartPlate and B+II WaterWizard all have compact footprints that can be installed through a standard doorway making them ideal for this market trend.”

— Paul Bothner, AERCO

“We know that space is always a top priority for homeowners, and we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our footprint and maintain our products’ high quality. One way to free up space in the home is to install a tankless heater outdoors in climates that do not experience freezing temperatures. The heater can be mounted on a wall, or we offer a recess box for a cleaner look.”

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“Less mechanical room space is forcing manufacturers to maximize output in a minimum installed footprint.”

— Peter Rimassa, DHT

“Eemax offers a line of tankless electric water heaters that can be mounted in any orientation at the point-of-use to support public handwashing applications for both metered and sensor style faucets. Designing and installing a point-of-use water heating system eliminates plumbing recirculation loops, standby heat loss, and reduces overall water consumption and waste.

“Our AccuMix II comes equipped with an integrated, code-compliant mixing valve. This tankless electric water heater eliminates the need for an externally plumbed mixing valve—saving on installation costs and much-needed space under the sink where ADA compliance is required. 

“All our tankless electric water heaters have active energy management with power modulating controls to sense when water is being drawn and determine the precise amount of energy needed to heat the water — making tankless electric water heating a reliable, efficient, and sustainable option. 

— David Calkins, Eemax Inc.

 “Square footage is a premium in new home construction, repair and replace, and commercial applications. Tankless water heaters free up a significant amount of space compared to traditional tanks, which is another key selling point for Rinnai products.”

— David Federico, brand director, Rinnai America Corp.

“One growing trend in residential new construction is the builder’s desire to engineer the old tank water heater space commonly found in the garage or closet out of the floor plan to gain useable space back in the home, such as for a larger kitchen pantry. Tankless water heaters allow for this trend by being compact and wall-mountable in convenient locations, such as the garage or even exterior of the home.”

— Chia Lin, Navien 

“The cost of stainless steel has become more in line with some of the more traditional manufacturing materials used in tankless water heaters (copper) and has seen a rise in the common usage in newer products. Stainless steel has the advantage of being more resistant to corrosion, which forms in high efficiency condensing tankless water heaters. This trend has started to expand out so that most, if not all, the water pathways of newer condensing water heaters are shifting in the stainless direction. However, some of this development has been pulled back with the tariff uncertainty for imported steel and steel products.”

— Andrew Tran, Noritz 

“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— our Mini is a perfect example — so they can fit easily into a given space, for example, right under the sink.”

— Erika Knerr, Steibel-Eltron 

“One of the main trends is Industry 4.0, with a focus on information transparency and traceability, as well as manufacturing assistance methods that support humans doing their jobs more easily and efficiently. Automation is another trend Bosch is investing in. Its integration with Industry 4.0 design principles is expected to bring further improvements to manufacturing.”

— Alfonso Cunha, Bosch Thermotechnology 

What trends do you see, in particular, when it comes to commercial installations? (And we also asked about any interesting recent commercial installations.)

“Utilizing the heating plant energy to heat domestic hot water through an integrated control logic maximizes boiler plant efficiency. This offers two additional solutions. First, it reduces plant footprint. Second, using one controller simplifies equipment management and water temperature control.”

— Paul Bothner, AERCO

“One of the trends we see right now is pre-built rack systems. Most commercial jobs prioritize minimal downtime, so our tankless rack systems come with all gas and plumbing connections pre-manifolded to simplify the installation process and decrease downtime.

“Unique to commercial tankless applications, our units can link four units with the Easy-Link cables or up to 20 units using a multiunit controller. The systems act to balance the water heating load on all units to maximize the life and minimize downtime.”

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“In June 2018, Eemax designed and installed a water heating system to support the Chrysler transmission plant in Kokomo, Ind. To date, data has been gathered to document the savings realized and the benefit to Chrysler is $147,000 annually.

“Three Eemax SpecAdvantage heaters are being used in a multistep process application for the heat treatment of transmission components. After the components are machined, they are run through a heat treatment process. The next step is to quench and wash the parts with hot water. This wash cycle is served by a 1,000-gallon tank that must always have hot water available. The previous method was to fill the tank every other shift — taking a full eight hours to heat up. 

“Today, three 144 kW SpecAdvantage heaters are piped in parallel to heat water to 180 degrees at a rate of 20 gpm. The elements in the tank no longer have to do all the work — and the cycle time is cut to 1.5 hours. Eemax’s water heating solution saves the plant an entire shift’s worth of downtime.”

— Josh Jenkins, Midwest regional sales manager, Eemax Inc.

“Emergency and planned replacement of tank-style water heaters or aging boilers with tankless or hybrid water heating systems such as Rinnai’s Demand Duo give our customers a more reliable and economical source of hot water to run their business. The newest addition to the Demand Duo hybrid water heating line is the Demand Duo 2. Combining the best of tank and tankless, two 199,000 BTU tankless units connected to a 119-gallon tank deliver redundancy, longer life and 546 gallons in the first hour.

Last year Rinnai completed our largest commercial installation to date (175 tankless units) at Ruby’s Inn, located in Bryce Canyon, Utah. We saved the customer $60,000 a year in refunds or discounts they had to pay due to running out of hot water in their 19 buildings while also saving them 7,000 gallons of propane per month when compared to the aging tanks and boilers we replaced.” 

— Dale Schmitz, commercial marketing manager, Rinnai America Corp.

“Tankless water heaters offer many benefits for commercial applications, including system redundancy, high efficiency, and better modulation of gas usage. Navien offers a complete system of a modular rack and manifold piping for commercial applications, allowing for ease of installation and a professional install. In commercial applications, Navien can cascade up to 16 units to meet even the largest demands.”

— Chia Lin, Navien

“In commercial settings, the name of the game is space and reliability. Efficient use of every square foot of real estate is critical and tankless play a significant role in minimizing the footprint needed to meet hot water demands. The relatively new development of pre-fabricated floor or wall hanging racks in conjunction with common vent capability is significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to do the installation as well as the space needed for not only the water heaters themselves but the venting as well (notably the number of penetrations needed). 

“Additionally, Noritz, with the release of our newest NCC199CDV model, has begun to offer a 10-year limited warranty on our products to show we truly believe we have a product that is reliable for those critical hot water needs.”

—Andrew Tran, Noritz

“We have greatly expanded our tankless electric product line to include high-capacity, three-phase commercial and industrial water heaters for safety, manufacturing and general-purpose needs. At present, we are streamlining this commercial offering into consistent designs for a full range up to 144 kW. Recent engineering developments are allowing for a range of voltages and heating capacities using the same heat exchanger design. 

“Our high delivery temperatures allow for applications such as sanitation in dairies and breweries, as well as in chemical/industrial operations where it is used for process heat and safety showers.”

- Erika Knerr, Steibel-Eltron 

“For years, it has been standard engineering practice to size boilers with only the maximum hot water loads in mind. These maximum hot water events happen less than 10 percent of the time. Cascading multiple condensing tankless water heaters allow for scalability to optimize efficiencies during even short-to-normal hot water usages.”

— Richard Ponce, VESTA.DS.

What about the continuing trend towards remote connectivity? 

“IoT connectivity helps owners, contractors and facility managers keep a closer eye on their equipment to ensure it’s operating at peak performance. Integrating several mechanical room components into one platform improves efficiency and reduces the number of remote applications and learning curve. Many manufacturers now have cloud-based remote access for monitoring. AERCO’s enhanced onAER gives customers predictive analytic tools, including unit performance details, event history, maintenance schedules, and trending capabilities.” 

— Paul Bothner, AERCO

“The feedback from the market shows recirculation and product reliability ranked higher as requested features compared to connectivity with contractors and consumers. A properly set up unit needs little interaction; however, with the trend toward increased connectivity in the home, we are looking at ways to offer connectivity that adds value and features our customers can utilize.”

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“For tankless water heaters, connectivity features vary, but some options include temperature control, set point programmability, recirc pump programmability and performance monitoring.”

— Carl Pinto Jr., Bradford White Corp.

“IoT is going to be a large focus and growth for tankless water heaters. Between apps, predictive maintenance, performance trending and general health are going to be a differential in the market.”

— Peter Rimassa, DHT

“Recently, Rinnai introduced the Control-R Wireless Module and mobile app for Rinnai tankless water heaters. With Wi-Fi connectivity, new and existing Rinnai residential and commercial tankless water heaters (2006 and newer) can be remotely monitored and controlled via smart devices, including Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings.

“The enhanced Control-R mobile app with Smart Home technology integrates more than 20 voice commands, allowing on-demand voice activation of the recirculation system and temperature control.

“Additionally, the enhanced Control-R mobile app has been updated to include built-in timers and schedules, allowing for multiple on/off periods throughout the day, with the schedule stored locally on the Control-R module. The app also allows users to remotely put the system into vacation mode when they are away and even stop a scheduled recirculation event from starting.” 

— David Federico, Rinnai America Corp.

“Smart home connectivity and IoT have recently picked up in popularity. Navien has been at the forefront of remote connectivity with the introduction of the industry-first Wi-Fi control — NaviLink, enabling the ability to troubleshoot and control the tankless water heater remotely.”

— Chia Lin, Navien

“Noritz recognizes that many customers are looking for peace of mind. Remote connectivity plays a role in making sure customers have the assurance that everything is running smoothly. If there is an issue, remote connectivity is a feature that ensures they are alerted as soon as possible to minimize downtime and even remotely troubleshoot the cause. 

“We are launching a brand-new expanded web portal focused specifically on commercial tankless installations, which will expand our existing coverage of single unit installations to systems of up to 24 units on a single adapter. It will allow for alerts and warnings to be obtained for an entire system 24/7, without the need to purchase multiple adapters.”

— Andrew Tran, Noritz

“With an increasing trend in remote connectivity, the development of apps connecting and interacting with tankless water heaters is huge for the industry. These apps target both the end user and the contractor with information and features that are relevant to each person. Recently, there has been more integration with smart-home systems, such as Alexa and Google Home. This integration opens more possibilities for the end-user to communicate and interact with their tankless water heater. For example, a user can activate recirculation when they wake up and by the time they shower, the hot water is ready when they need it.”

— Alfonso Cunha, Bosch Thermotechnology 

How are you educating and training contractors to help them better address tankless installation issues and considerations?

“We offer extensive training to contractors — both hands-on, factory training as well as an online learning center where technicians can keep skills and certifications up-to-date.”

— Paul Bothner, AERCO

“A. O. Smith puts a lot of time and resources into training and supporting our contractors. We offer on-campus training sessions at no cost in our newly remodeled facility in Ashland City, Tenn. We also have virtual training, which combines online digital classes and web-based interactive sessions. Our full-time staff of dedicated trainers provides this training. Our nationwide network of manufacturers’ sales representatives also offers customized training on our tankless water heaters in their local markets.”

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“Bradford White is committed to training across our entire residential and commercial portfolio and tankless products are no exception. For our customers, there are a few options. Many of our manufacturer’s representatives can provide product training on our tankless line, as well as the other products we offer. We also have tankless experts who can provide on-site training for suppliers and contractors. 

Training is also available at our International Technical Excellence Center in Middleville, Mich., and we offer a variety of installation, setup and troubleshooting guides and videos for contractors on our For The Pro website at www.bradfordwhite.com/forthepro.”

— Carl Pinto Jr., Bradford White Corp.

“Throughout the year, Eemax works with its sales agencies and their customers to provide tankless electric training courses for specifying engineers, plumbing contractors, and wholesale distributors at each of our Rheem Innovation Learning Centers located in Waterbury, Conn.; Oxnard, Calif.; Roswell, Ga.; and Lewisville, Texas.”

— Bill Dahlin, senior director of sales, Eemax Inc.

“Rinnai offers online and in-person training. To learn more, visit our training website at www.rinnai-lms.com.

— David Federico, Rinnai America Corp.

“Training is key for Navien. Whether if it’s product training, installations or troubleshooting. Navien training classes are held regularly throughout all locations in different regions of the country.”

— Chia Lin, Navien 

“Noritz is committed to providing training for contractors to learn about our products and the proper ways to install and service them. We have a team of product trainers who are dedicated to making sure contractors can receive the training that they need about the products. Additionally, we offer a series of online training courses through our website at training.noritz.com.”

— Andrew Tran, Noritz

“We are considering holding these types of events in the future but, for the time being, we will rely on our exceptional customer service support team to continue to answer these questions.”

— Erika Knerr, Steibel-Eltron 

What promotions and incentives do you offer regarding tankless?

“Both residential and commercial tankless models are eligible for our Contractor Rewards program. Each unit comes with a yellow Contractor Rewards label that the installer can scan to earn points redeemable for cool prizes and earn a spot on A. O. Smith’s Contractor Locator Lead Generation Tool. From April to June 2019, all A. O. Smith gas tankless products will qualify for triple Contractor Rewards points. Learn more at www.hotwater.com/contractorlocator.” 

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“Eemax has a rewards program for plumbing contractors where they can earn money back on our HomeAdvantage II, AutoBooster and MiniTank products. We are working to expand our rewards program to include more of our product offerings, but the timeline and details are not finalized.”

— Bill Dahlin, Eemax Inc.

“This year, Rinnai is proud to be partnering with Folds of Honor, a nonprofit providing scholarships to the spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. For every tankless water heater or boiler we sell this year, it will contribute — up to $250,000 — to fund scholarships in the plumbing and HVAC trades. Rinnai’s contribution will help with the momentum to close the skilled labor gap but most importantly will help strengthen the trade industry for the next generation and change the future for those whose past ensures freedom for us all.”

— David Federico, Rinnai America Corp.

 “Our latest approach at Noritz has been to stand behind our product and increase the warranty on the heat exchangers on our flagship residential and commercial models to 25 and 10 years, respectively. The U.S. market is still behind the curve when it comes to modern and efficient water heating. We hope that this becomes more of a driving factor to switch to tankless from traditional tanks.”

— Andrew Tran, Noritz

“Our expansion into commercial and industrial three-phase water heaters with the acquisition of Tankless Inc., in Sarasota, Fla., has been integrated into Stiebel-Eltron and we are increasing our marketing campaigns for the expanded product line.”

— Erika Knerr, Steibel-Eltron 

What is your outlook or forecast for the tankless water heater market? 

“The DOE Energy Policy Act has proposed increasing the minimum efficiency level to the mid-90s. This shall drive many manufacturers to focus on developing condensing products. AERCO introduced condensing equipment to the industry and offers both gas-fired as well as steam/nongas fired products to provide different options based on applications and client needs.”

— Paul Bothner, AERCO

“Tankless has been the fastest-growing segment of the water heater market for the past several years, and we continue to forecast strong growth in this segment. We are investing in new product development, product training and, most importantly, people.”

— Arthur Smith, A. O. Smith

“I believe we are at technological crossroads when it comes to tankless water heaters. These products, due to their energy efficiency and space-saving features, have been steadily growing in popularity. Some regulatory actions, existing and proposed, have also driven their growth. 

“That said, energy advocates and policymakers are starting to set their sights on water heating products, such as heat pump water heaters, using renewable energy resources. As a result, tankless water heaters will have to continue to evolve to remain relevant based on the regulatory environment and resulting market demand.”

—Carl Pinto Jr., Bradford White Corp.

“Many people are replacing their conventional water heaters with tankless water heaters, and we believe tankless water heaters will become a mainstream product for both the end user and the contractor. With the increasing trend of remote connectivity and smart-home integration, tankless water heaters will become more incorporated with these technologies. Additionally, efficiency standards will become more rigid and may only allow high-efficiency products to be sold. 

“Bosch expects the overall tankless water heater market to continue to grow. However, the growth will slowly decline, but remain positive. The growth will be driven by condensing tankless technology, while the noncondensing market will slowly start to decline in the next few years.”

— Alfonso Cunha, Bosch Thermotechnology 

“Adoption of tankless technology continues to increase in the North American market. Rinnai Corp. has identified this market as a significant growth vehicle for the global organization and has made significant investments to facilitate that growth. In 2018, Rinnai began tankless production in its manufacturing facility in Griffin, Ga., and has plans to construct a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility soon. 

“Rinnai America Corp. has also expanded its corporate headquarters and is building a world-class innovation center in Peachtree City, Ga. This innovation center will allow us to continuously improve tankless technology as well as develop new products in other categories.”

— David Federico, Rinnai America Corp.

“Navien continues to see exceptional sales growth and an upward trend for the tankless water heater market. As the water heating market continues to seek out higher efficiency and greener products, tankless water heaters will continue to make an impact in the industry.”

— Chia Lin, Navien 

“The tankless segment has continued to grow and we fully expect it will continue to grow in the upcoming years. There is a strong push to continue to reduce the carbon footprint we use; we fully expect that the segment of condensing tankless water heaters will continue to rise significantly.”

— Andrew Tran, Noritz 

“We are confident this market will continue to grow in the United States 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. In addition, we expect that the increased use of renewable energy generation, wind and solar especially, will drive more and more people and companies away from fossil-fuel-burning water heaters and towards cleaner and efficient electric models.”

— Erika Knerr, Steibel-Eltron 

“With storage tank-type water heaters having to meet the new DOE efficiency standards, the outlook and forecast for the tankless water heater market is continued growth and market share increases.”

— Richard Ponce, VESTA.DS. 

Click here to view tankless products in the June digital edition