Lately the EBay market was flooded by tankless water heaters, probably because of the existing rebates.

Are they equal?

Of course they are not.

But how we can make the difference?

Ideal will be by checking their performance but unfortunately the units are all over the world and you are here.

There are a few little tricks which professionals are using to spot inferior products just by looking at them and asking a few questions.

1. Weight; The higher the weight, the better the efficiency and the better the life expectancy. Most of the weight is given by the heater exchangers. For Point of use tankless water heaters (4.5 liters to 10 liters) same construction heater exchanger can be from as low as 0.7Kg (1.5Lb) for most of the cheap Chinese units, to as high as 3 kg (6.1Lb ) for the better units .

2. Material and construction; Most of the cheaper units are made of cooper sutured NOT welded. Then the entire heater exchanger is dipped in suturing material for a better appearance and to increase the weight. (junk suturing material is 3 times cheaper then cooper!) Unfortunately that material always drip down and create all sorts of problems in the electrical connections and even in gas orifices.

3. Thickness: That is simple. The thinner is the cooper, less weight and less warranty if the best giveaway.

4. Metric connections pipes: That is probably the worst problem with the cheap Chinese products. Metric treads. All pipe connections are 13mm NOT ½ inch. They look the same but tread will have to be forced in and many times will break the pipes.

5. Metric exhaust. All gravitational units are 190mm diameter vent. That IS NOT 4” and not 5 inch. You will need special adapters which are hard to come by. The power vent units are 20mm to 25mm and recently I even see a 30mm. That is below 3 inch and no flue is available in the ready USA market.

6. Imports Facts In the last year I see more and more EBay sellers marketing units with out telling about their origins. Some will go so far to conceal the origin in a attempt to increase the perceive value of the unit. One dead giveaway is the inclusion of a shower head with the unit. That because for the units made in China is customary and required by their laws to include a shower head with the unit.

Any other questions about tankless water heaters I will be happy to answer at 951-775-5815

If you conside this usefull please vote yes and recomende this to your friends.

Thank you