On demand water heater

[maud gonne]

I'm used to on demand water heaters all over Puna, and we've got one now in Nanawale, but now I'm on the mainland and I can't find any nonelectric tankless water heater with pilot light (the kind I'm used to), or even one that has battery backup. Any brands or links from all you DIYers would be welcome.

[randomq]

This one has been going strong for 4 years in the Puna humidity and rain mist:

https://www.amazon.com/Eccotemp-L5-Porta...B01MXDZCKM

Still on the original 2 D batteries for the spark ignition...

[glassnumbers]

:O why are you on the cursed mainland?! return to the island as soon as you can

Aloha

[geochem]

My experience is that most of the current on-demand water heaters do require power (I suppose because there is a much larger market of on-grid customers and the pilot is an energy waster) and have a host of electronics under the hood.

A possible work-around, if you're off grid, would be to invest in a small inverter to power the water heater's demand - which should be tiny for most of the time. You might check with prospective suppliers on whether the unit has a heater bar for ignition or a sparking device - the former would have a fairly high amperage demand during the ignition of the gas when the heater turns on and so you would have to size your inverter to meet that demand. The spark type ignition would require much lower power.

[maud gonne]

Thank you all for advice. Ecotemp looked promising, but whatever I get also has to mesh with my existing venting system (this is in Oregon) so I may have to get one that requires power hookup to ignite. There are battery back up options but costly, but can be added on at a later date if I choose. Sigh... Puna is so much easier in so many ways, but I can't seem to give up my Oregon getaway...

[microage97]

I second the Ecotemp L5. Used mine out in the puna rain for 6 months. Still going strong 5 yrs later.