Tankless water heaters are a revolutionary idea in home water heating systems. They use less water, they use less energy, and they create less waste. Takagi is a Japanese company that has been around since 1946, creating their first tankless water heater in 1952. Takagi USA was established in 1995. I remember having a tankless water heater in my apartment in Spain in 1995. It was tiny and ran on very little gas and served all our hot water needs. It is very uncommon to find a house with a tankless water heater in the USA. Here is some information from the Takagi website that might turn some heads and change some minds about that big hulking water heater in your house:

Since a tankless water heater has neither a storage tank to keep heated all day, nor a pilot light, it burns gas only when you need hot water. This eliminates standby heat loss, which can be as high as 3-4% every hour for storage tank type water heaters. This higher efficiency can allow you to save up to 50% off your utility costs.

Tankless water heaters are small (2.2 cubic feet), light (60 pounds), efficient (a 0.81 to 0.94 energy factor rate), environmentally friendly (the only product of its kind to receive SCAQMD (Southern California Air Quality Management District) approval for it's low emissions (CO, Nox)), and functional (delivering between 200 gallons and 500 gallons of hot water every hour on demand). In addition to all this, through the year 2007, high-efficiency water heaters are eligible for a $300 tax credit. For more information about buying and installing a tankless water heater in your home, please contact abdi@ergo-eco.com.