A wall-mounted box that fires only when hot water is called for. Most Utah homes get a residential model in the 160K to 199K BTU range. The right size depends on how many fixtures can run at once and how cold your inlet water is in winter.
A tankless pulls way more gas at peak than a tank does. A tank uses gas slowly while it recovers. A tankless runs at full output the second a faucet opens. Whether your existing line can deliver that peak depends on the line size, the run length, what else is on the line, and the meter itself. Sometimes the line is fine. Sometimes a section needs upsizing. Sometimes the meter needs to be swapped by the gas company. Sometimes a 2 PSI line with a regulator at the unit is the cleanest answer. The plumber should be able to tell you which one your house needs and why.
A new vent run sized and routed to the manufacturer's spec. Condensing units typically vent in PVC, CPVC, or polypropylene with a small condensate drain. Non-condensing vent in stainless because of the exhaust heat. Either way, it is not the old tank's vent.
Even gas-fired tankless units need 120V power for the controller, fan, and ignition. Some are plug-in, some are hard-wired. If a circuit is not already nearby, we add one.
Utah water is notoriously hard. Scale buildup is what shortens a tankless heat exchanger's life. A softener or a yearly descale flush is part of the plan, not a luxury.
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I often get asked if tankless is worth it. The honest answer depends on how you use hot water and how much you care about wall space and endless showers.
If you have a family of five, two showers running back to back, or you have ever run out of hot water mid-shower — tankless changes how the house feels. If it is one or two people in a small home, the energy savings alone usually never pay back the install difference.
Buy tankless for the comfort, not the utility bill. And do not buy one without a plan for the hard water. Utah water scales up the heat exchanger fast if you skip that part.
Read my storyStraight answers before you book.
Big household with overlapping showers, yes — it changes how the house feels. One or two people in a small home, the energy savings rarely pay back the install difference. Buy it for the endless hot water and the wall space, not the utility bill.
15 to 20 years if you protect the heat exchanger from scale. 8 to 12 if you skip the softener and the yearly flush. Utah's 12-to-15 grain hard water is what decides which side you end up on.
Maybe. Depends on the existing line size, the run length, what else is pulling gas on it (furnace, range, dryer), and whether the meter can keep up. Sometimes the line is fine, sometimes a section upsizes, sometimes a 2 PSI line with a regulator is the cleanest fix — the plumber should check before quoting.
Condensing is 90%+ efficient and vents in lighter PVC-type pipe with a small condensate drain. Non-condensing is 80% and vents in stainless because the exhaust is hotter. Most Utah installs go condensing because the vent flexibility usually beats the unit savings.
If sized right, yes — about 4 GPM of hot water. In summer with 60-degree inlet water a 199K-BTU unit handles it easily. In winter with 40-degree inlet water it's borderline on smaller units, and three bathrooms at once is a sizing conversation.
No hot water. Even gas tankless needs 120V power for the controller, fan, and ignition. A tank stays warm a few hours during an outage — a tankless goes cold the second power dies.
Yes — a plumbing permit and a mechanical permit. An electrical permit gets pulled too if a new outlet or circuit is added (that part is an electrician). The plumber pulls them, the inspector signs off after, the cost is in the quote.
A like-for-like swap is one day. A first-time tank-to-tankless conversion is usually two days — one to run the gas, vent, and mount the unit, one for trim, startup, and walkthrough. Tricky vent paths or wall openings can push it to three.
If your master bathroom is far from where the unit will mount, yes — recirc gets hot water there in seconds instead of after a 60-second cold-water run. If everything is within 20 feet of the unit, skip it. Modern recirc pumps run on a timer so the energy cost is small.
In Utah, yes — or commit to a yearly descale flush. Scale buildup on the heat exchanger is what shortens a tankless's life more than anything else, and most manufacturer warranties require one or the other in writing.
Sizing is based on peak simultaneous demand (how many fixtures might run at once), not house square footage. A typical 2-to-3 bathroom Utah family of four runs fine on a 180K to 199K BTU residential condensing unit. Big homes with three-plus bathrooms sometimes need two units in paral
Most heat exchangers come with a 10-to-15 year warranty, parts 5-to-10 years, labor usually 1 year. In hard-water states like Utah, the warranty almost always requires proof of a softener or annual descale — skip both and a year-7 failure claim can get denied.
Before you trust the total
A fair plumber should be able to tell you what failed, what they plan to do, what is included, and what could change the price. If two quotes describe different work, the cheaper number proves nothing.
01
A complete tankless quote is normally a project price covering the selected unit, mounting, water and gas connections, venting, condensate handling, startup, permit handling, and warranty.
02
A replacement tankless unit is not the same job as converting from a tank. Undersized gas piping, long vent routes, hard-water protection, recirculation, or service relocation can materially change the work.
03
Compare the specified model, temperature-rise calculation, simultaneous fixtures, gas input, venting, maintenance requirements, and warranty. “Endless hot water” is not a sizing calculation.
