Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you are replacing your old water heater and decided to step into the future with a tankless, proceed with caution. I was excited to do the same but didn't do enough research!... Hopefully this review will prepare you better than I was. Tankless unit arrived in the box and I retrieved the manual and started reading. After hours of reading, a few trips to Home Depot and making calls to a few service companies... I realized this is not a simple swap out by any means. I discovered that you need an AC outlet (even thought this is a gas unit) and it shouldn't come from the GFI circuit used in most garages, so a new electric line will be needed from your electrical box to the install location. Shortly later found out that Rinnai requires a special vent system (pipe in a pipe) for condensation reasons but pretty much requires their own special vent piping (more pricey than usual vents). The final straw that broke this guys back is the natural gas pipe minimum diameter of 3/4 inch (not the 5/8' size pipe my old 50 gallon tank used) and could require up to a 1.5" pipe depending on your pipe run length and output capacity from your gas company... long story short this is not a simple replacement. Had all these new found requirements priced out and estimates were shocking... $400 labor for vent (needed a bigger roof hole), couple hundred for vent pipe, $150 for (1.5 hours) electrician and gas pipe install estimated at between $400-$900. YIKES Not even close to what I was prepared to pay for a tankless conversion. Needless to say I was very disappointed and it looks like I will not be stepping into the future of tankless water heaters anytime soon. Praying they take this unboxed unit back and I get a refund! The one star is for insufficient documentation on the website that should have shown requirements for installing. Can't really rate the quality of this product itself since it never was completely installed.