Eemax Hot Water Heater

TEHAMA

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Feb 3, 2004
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Does anyone have this "tankless" hot water system? If so, any insight wwould be appreciated. I have a two bedroom, two bath apartment with a seemingly 10 gallon tank and looking to increase my hot water shower time to more than 4 minutes.
Thanks,
TEHAMA
PS- I finally got my DSL in only 2 days short of 3 months :cross-eye
 

ricktoronto

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Jan 9, 2002
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I have seen them here and they heat up a lot of water fast but use a ton of power as a result (there are gas ones here too). You might try a second tank in series with the first one.
 

TEHAMA

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Feb 3, 2004
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Thank you. One more question though.
Can you turn it off when not in use? Seeing as there is no tank keep heated. Unfornuately I do not think I have space for a second and would not wish to upgrade this rental. The EEMAX box is small and appears to be easy to remove and carry to my next apartment.
 

CyaBye3015

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Jan 8, 2003
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TEHAMA said:
Thank you. One more question though.
Can you turn it off when not in use? Seeing as there is no tank keep heated. Unfornuately I do not think I have space for a second and would not wish to upgrade this rental. The EEMAX box is small and appears to be easy to remove and carry to my next apartment.

Hi TEHAMA,

Thats the main point of a "tankless" hot water system, they are off when not in use. they only turn on when they sense water flowing through the piping. Thats what makes them efficient, they do not keep water "hot" when your not using your hot water

Joe
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Oh come on!

For goodness sake. Go spend a couple of hundred pesos over at Deposito Ferretero and get one of those shower heads that incorporates a heating element. You can get as hot as you can stand, for as long as you want. You only consume electricity when you bathe...

The gas hot water system is fabulous but you need to have an extra tank of gas just for the system. We had one and took it out and went with the shower heads in our 5 showers...

HB :D
 

CyaBye3015

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Hillbilly said:
For goodness sake. Go spend a couple of hundred pesos over at Deposito Ferretero and get one of those shower heads that incorporates a heating element. You can get as hot as you can stand, for as long as you want. You only consume electricity when you bathe...

The gas hot water system is fabulous but you need to have an extra tank of gas just for the system. We had one and took it out and went with the shower heads in our 5 showers...

HB :D

Just don't stand in water when you use it. ;)
 

MommC

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Mar 2, 2002
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I have a tankless water heater in my kitchen.......

and I LOVE it! Instant hot water that never runs out ('course I don't shower in my kitchen sink.....but I do do a lot of dishes!).
I've also had those shower heads and the "shock" factor was the reason we took them out.
Might I suggest checking out your 10 gallon tank......the heating element may be worn out. That's all we have for our shower and I can take a shower, wash my waist length hair with a cream rinse and shave my legs without running out of hot. The tank is on a switch that we turn on 10 min. before using the shower to let the tank heat up and then turn off when finished so we're not keeping the tank hot 24/7 for nothing (wish we could do the same with our 40 gallon tank here at home in Canada but it'd take too long to heat when cold!)
 

TEHAMA

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hmmm. So it sounds like I might need to have one installed for each bathroom, the kitchen, and the laundry. That might be a bit much. I will investigate further. But thanks, everyone.
TEHAMA

PS- Hillbillly the first time someone should me their electric showerhead its "sparked" and I said, no way in hell will I shower with electricity that close. Remember the murder scenes where someone drops the radio or hairdryer in the tub? Whoever invented that device obviously knew they could sell it to the locals. To me its the dumbest invention. But thanks for your input also.
 

KateP

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May 28, 2004
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One question. Does you current tank give you water in all the places you mention? If so, then you only have to install the box along the main pipe and that way you feed whatever's connected...
 

gringo in dr

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May 29, 2003
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TEHAMA said:
hmmm. So it sounds like I might need to have one installed for each bathroom, the kitchen, and the laundry. That might be a bit much. I will investigate further. But thanks, everyone.
TEHAMA

PS- Hillbillly the first time someone should me their electric showerhead its "sparked" and I said, no way in hell will I shower with electricity that close. Remember the murder scenes where someone drops the radio or hairdryer in the tub? Whoever invented that device obviously knew they could sell it to the locals. To me its the dumbest invention. But thanks for your input also.

I used them for 5 years in CR. I'm not sure about the models here but over there they are wired up to 220. Nothing beats touching it after a shower to wake yourself up. Much better than coffee.

There are 10 of thousands of gringos using them in CR, not one death or injury reported. Grow a set....
 

Mirador

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Apr 15, 2004
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Nothing beats touching it after a shower to wake yourself up. Much better than coffee.

I used one for several years in my cabin in Jarabacoa. You're right, the jolt is definitely a picker-upper, unpleasant though. However, anything over 110 v is probably fatal. My mother-in-law recieved a fatal shock while showering when her home wiring received a sudden high voltage from the utility line. I was shocked you can't sue in this country for these situations.

Mirador
 

TEHAMA

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Mirador- That's horrible Sorry to hear of your lost.

KateP- I am hoping to do just that. I looked and there is only one outlet for the hot water throughout the apartment. And space to install it next to the tank.
TEHAMA
 

TEHAMA

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After my inversor, this is the second best purchase I have made since living in the DR. This morning's shower was so hot and steamy is was great to step out into the morning cool. I meant to tell you guys months ago THANKS to all for the information provided and to other hot shower lovers ...go get one!

Should I ever leave the DR, I will sell everything, but my EEMAX will go with me.
TEHAMA
 

Snuffy

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May 3, 2002
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Tehama...

TEHAMA said:
After my inversor, this is the second best purchase I have made since living in the DR. This morning's shower was so hot and steamy is was great to step out into the morning cool. I meant to tell you guys months ago THANKS to all for the information provided and to other hot shower lovers ...go get one!

Should I ever leave the DR, I will sell everything, but my EEMAX will go with me.
TEHAMA

Please give me a price and location where purchased. On second thought, you may want to PM me...that may be considered advertising.
 

TEHAMA

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I paid double what it costs in the States. And I knew this. But wanted to have it installed by someone who knew what they were doing and not just a friend of a friend or someone off the street. Water and electricity dont mix well, and I wasnt going to take that chance. I figured if the store sold it they knew how to install it (I know, not always a guarantee).

If you live in Santo Domingo, I can refer you to the guy that installed mine and you can pick it up in the States or another country for half the price. Do an online search for Eemax and you should find the company with its distributors.
TEHAMA
 

suarezn

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This is one of the things I'm currently pondering as I build my house in The DR. I think I finally decided to go with the propane tankless heater. The main selling point for me is that it does not need any electricity for it to work. As long as there's gas you have hot water. I was going to buy one here in The US and take home with me, but during my last visit I saw that all three large hardware stores (Ochoa, Hache and Americana) had them for a much cheaper price than you can get here in The US (i.e. 15 liter/minute = 11,000 pesos). Not exactly know brands, but I can live with that for the price. The ones I've seen here (Bosch) cost about 900 USD for a whole house or around 450 USD for a single application.
 

TEHAMA

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Tankless? Isnt the propane in a tank? How big is it? Eemax is a little bigger than a stand alone modem. Maybe twice the size.
 

gmiller261

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Solar hot water heater

For around $1200.00 USD you can get a good solar water heater installed. There is another brand that would be in the $2000.00 range. Warranties run between 5 and 20 years.

I have tested a solar system (very short term) and found the water 'steaming' after several days of partial cloudy days. Much too hot to keep your hand under it.

I hope to have personal long term data within 6 months.

All units that I have seen have electric backup, I have chosen not to connect it.

Any one interested, I can give you the name of the people that connected it.
 

suarezn

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TEHAMA said:
Tankless? Isnt the propane in a tank? How big is it? Eemax is a little bigger than a stand alone modem. Maybe twice the size.

Tankless means it does not use a tank to store hot water, as traditional heater do. You will need a propane tank just for the gas. Just like the EEmax these are heaters that provide instantaneous, on demand hot water and it's form factor is pretty small (just a small box). I don't think EEMAX makes a gas tankless heater though, only electric which would be an issue for me in The DR with the power outages and all. I just figured that it is a lot easier and economical to get cooking gas than to run it from electricity. Even if you have them hooked up to an inverter you may need a pretty large inverter to run them and they probably drain your power pretty quickly.

I was just surprised at how cheap they are in The DR compared to what they cost here. I'm sure quality is not as good, but who cares when I can buy two for the same price I would pay for one up here in The US.