Why We Switched This Family to Tankless

A 40-gallon tank water heater cannot keep up with a family of six taking back-to-back showers. It's not a malfunction — it's a math problem. The tank runs out of stored hot water faster than it can recover.

A Southgate family had been dealing with cold showers for years. The oldest child was getting up at 5 A.M. just to get hot water before the tank was depleted. They called us asking about a larger tank.

We recommended a Navien NPE-240A2 condensing tankless unit instead. Here's why: a 40-gallon tank holds 40 gallons of hot water. A tankless unit heats water on demand — it never runs out. The Navien unit we installed delivers 11.2 gallons per minute at a 35-degree rise, which is more than enough for two simultaneous showers plus a dishwasher.

The installation required upgrading the gas line to 3/4-inch, running a new PVC vent through the rim joist, and installing a dedicated condensate drain. Total job time: one day.

The family now has unlimited hot water. The unit also uses roughly 20 percent less gas than their old tank because it only fires when hot water is actually being used. The payback period on the upgrade is approximately 6 years in energy savings alone.