Bellows Plumbing, Heating, & Air is a factory trained service, maintenance, and installation company of the Navien tankless and combi-boiler systems. A tankless water heater is the perfect choice for Bay Area homes with it endless hot water, space savings design, and green-friendly operation.
Why would I want a tankless water heater?
Upfront costs for a tankless water heater are expensive than a traditional tank unit. This is due to more expensive equipment and parts, more complex installation set up, and the need to upsize gas supply from the meter to unit. But, once installed you should experience lower energy bills. There is no tank to collect the water, and you don’t need to use electricity or gas to keep the water hot. They give hot water on demand, endlessly and require little maintenance.
The water doesn’t get collected in any recipient, which is why the tankless water heaters have a lower risk for corrosion than the traditional heating systems with tanks. Therefore, the tankless water heaters are durable and manage to be a wise investment on any given day.
In Summary:
Endless hot water
Space saving and install flexibility
Eco-friendly heating
Long life and reduced chance of a major leak
Install hot water when paired with a recirculation pump
About Navien
Founded in the late 80s in Japan, Navien has been making boilers and water heaters for some time now. The company stands out thanks to innovative condensing gas units.
Navien has been in the US since 2006 and is one of the best known manufactures of tankless. Best known for reliability, durable heat exchangers, and built in buffer tank and recirculation pump.
Navien NPE240A2 tankless gas water heater
The Navien NPE-240-A2 tankless gas water heater is the most popular tankless heating unit at Bellows Plumbing, Heating, & Air and what we install in over 80% of Marin, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara homes.
With a maximum input of 199,900 BTU per hour, a gas tankless water heater impresses with the features and strength. Both the primary and the secondary heat exchangers are made with stainless steel. This same model also comes available in 180K and 150K BTU models for lower demand applications.
The unit features intelligent preheating technology. Therefore, if you typically have a shower or use a large amount of hot water at a specific time a day regularly, the unit identifies the pattern. It begins to preheat the water in anticipation of use. The unit is also able to adjust the temperature in case of pressure dropping.
The control center allows straightforward operation, with a display informing the status of cascade operation, water flow rate, and temperature. The Navien can also be paired with NaviLink to allow for WIFI control and reporting.
Safe use is ensured due to several features built into the exhaust system, temperature high limit sensor, water temperature upper limit switch, ignition operator detector, and power surge fuse.
Matched with the best warranty in the market, the Navien unit comes with 15-years of warranty for the heating exchangers and 10-years parts.
What’s great in this unit:
It’s rugged, dependable, and has a fast flow rate for Bay Area homes and use
Built in recirculation pump which when paired with a dedicated warm water loop or temperature valve offers near instant hot water to fixtures. This is one of the best ways to save water!
Simple maintenance
The external interface is easy to operate
Can be paired with Wi-Fi control
LP models available
Can be twinned with other Navien units for high demand applications including: hotels, laundromats, industrial, restaurants, and more.
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Q: Does Navien manufacture electric tankless water heaters as well?
A: All Navien tankless units are gas-fired and capable of sustaining a whole house. They work with natural gas, but it’s not difficult to replace the valve for LP use.
Q: Would you recommend a whole house electric tankless water heater if I don’t have gas?
A: The limitation to electric tankless water heaters is flow rate. The average Bay Area fixture in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Marin, and Sonoma County requires a higher flow rate than electric tankless waters can use. For this reason when trying to supply an entire house electric tankless is not recommended. For point of use hot water, such as a studio lavatory sink or work room wash sink electric tankless is sometimes a good option.
Q: What is Comfort Flow technology per se?
A: Comfort Flow technology is an effective system that contains a re-circulation pump and a buffer tank. The buffer tank reduces the “cold water sandwich” effect that is quite common tankless units. The re-circulation-circulation pump reduces the time needed for the hot water to get to the fixtures when paired with a warm water return loop or temperature check valve.
Q: Does the NPE series also includes commercial models?
A: The NPE is certified for use in commercial, residential, and heating applications. Should you use it for a commercial application, the warranty is going to be ten years for the heat exchanger, one year labor, and only three years for the other parts.
Q: Is it crucial that the NPE condensing tankless water heater to be the first appliance off the gas meter?
A: It’s not essential for the Navien NPE condensing tankless gas water heater to be the first appliance off the meter. There are certain applications where the existing gas system can be utilized, but flow rate is the critical to a properly installed tankless water heater. Undersized gas piping is the number one reason you tankless water heater will fail to deliver it’s full potential of hot water and will drastically shorten the life of the unit. For homes in Marin, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara we find that around 70% of our tankless water heater installs require a new dedicated gas line to be installed.
