Tankless water heaters provide hot water as long as you want, but they can only produce so much. What do you do if you need to run hot water through more fixtures at the same time? Can you run two tankless water heaters together? Yes, you can. But there are different ways of installing the heaters, which may change how well they work together and how well they work for your specific circumstances. Here is what you need to know.
How Do You Connect Two Tankless Water Heaters?
You have three main choices when you’re using two tankless water heaters. You can install them with independent plumbing, in tandem, or with one dedicated to one appliance.
- Independent plumbing: You may set up your tankless water heaters so that one supplies hot water to one half of the home and the other covers the other half. This can be convenient in rentals or situations with two bathrooms, where you want to ensure each bathroom can use some hot water at the same time as the other. But in one household, it can be frustrating to remember which fixtures can and cannot be used at the same time.
- In tandem: Installing tankless water heaters in tandem means that both will serve the whole plumbing system. You’ll have a great GPM or gallons per minute output in the whole home.
- One appliance: If you have an appliance or faucet that you know will demand a lot of hot water or that you know you’ll want to use regardless of the other hot water being used throughout the home, you can dedicate one tankless water heater to it. It is common to have a dedicated tankless water heater for a shower, for example.
Are Two Heaters Better Than One?
There are some circumstances where it is better to run two smaller tankless water heaters together rather than choose one much larger unit. For example, with two units, you have some redundancy, so if one breaks down, you can still get some hot water from the other. You can also expect to receive the hot water faster and potentially for the water to lose less heat in transport, as one of the two heaters is likely to close to any given faucet than a single one would be.
On the other hand, it is typically more expensive to buy two smaller units than one larger unit that has the same gpm as the other two combined. You’ll also incur more costs for installation when you have two tankless water heaters.
If you are going to choose to install two tankless water heaters in tandem, you also need to ensure that the models you choose work together. Typically you need to choose two of the same model and confirm that they can be connected to one another to truly share the work.
Many people find that their specific home’s layout lends well to using two tankless water heaters. It is wise to get a professional’s opinion before you choose a water heater. Get in touch with a plumber in Manteca today!
