[Deschodt]

Lots of good posts an clever ideas above.... Used to have one in our FL house, did not rush to buy another in CA house... That's not a lack of endorsement but i really depends on application and reasons...

- Our WH was upstairs, if it failed that would have caused a lot of floor/ceiling damage. That was a big reason to go tankless... On new house it's under the house so it can fail and not cause an issue... the price difference is big in favor of a tank too...

- Depends where it's located... our tankless was on the only side of the house where it made sense to connect to gas (otherwise big expense to connect - this was a big house, all blocks, with bathrooms all over the map) - as a result it took a while for hot water to reach its preferred destination, over a minute for sure.. I suppose in the smaller CA house made of papier maché and popsicle sticks, one could route gas closer or reach all piping easier...

- Tankless is endless, good if you have more guests visiting, bad if you're hoping to time out your wife on shower duration. Unless you lose gas or water, then you have nothing... A tank will at least contain some emergency warm water in a no-utility situation

- Running cost: in FL gas was nearly free, and it replaced a $$$ electrical... in CA gas is expensive, I'm almost better off with electric power at my rates (EV car rate plan), so it's less of a savings here than it was there and haven't felt the same urge to cut the electrical bill...

- Hygiene factor: Empty an old water tank on occasion and weep.... The tankless is guaranteed clean "just heated" water... I wouldn't drink from my old tank ;-)

- climate temp diff: In FL water coming in was never that cold. It heated up fast (though it took a long time travelling through the pipes) and was mostly consistent in output temp... in other places there might be temp differences to the inlet winter/summer, and in winter you may have to wait even longer for warm water (wasting water and time), or adjusting the output temp more often (depends on model I guess)

All in all I think the applicability varies greatly on your personal circumstances... they're fine overall...