EcoSmart ECO 18 Electric Tankless Water Heater, 18 KW at 240 Volts with Patented Self Modulating Technology

9 reviews for EcoSmart ECO 18 Electric Tankless Water Heater, 18 KW at 240 Volts with Patented Self Modulating Technology

1. 

   5 out of 5

   WalleyemanWalleyeman – January 23, 2020

   I had a hard time finding a plumber or electrician to install a 27 model in central Montana. They are all stuck in past technology. Most of them swore this unit would not work. They insisted that my intake water temp was too cold, without ever testing it. I am 75 years old, and although I retired from the aircraft maintenance field I wanted a licensed professional to do the work in order to get the warranty, just in case. My water comes into my house at 55 – 57° winter and summer. My water comes from a deep community well with over 100 homes, so the water is constantly moving. It has been 2 years since my unit was installed and I haven’t had the first problem. Its more than adequate for my two story home about 2000sf, two full baths, 2 showers can easily run at the same time. I frequently use an induction cooktop, microwave, airfryer and dishwasher, I have had no problems on a 200 amp system. I do make sure the induction cooktop and the microwave are never on at the same time. While I do notice the lights dim slightly when hot water is running in several places, I have never popped a circuit breaker. I strongly advise professional installation and the proper size unit for your climate. You must realize that this is a volume demand system and even tho the model 27 has three elements, seldom is more than one running at any given time. I would never own a home without a tankless water heater installed.Update, 3 years now, and not a hiccup! My plumber just finished flushing the unit. Very small amount of black sediment, and a tiny bit of calcium like scaling. He still recommends annual cleaning. Small price for added assurance.

2. 

   5 out of 5

   John EdwardJohn Edward – March 19, 2020

   Bought the ECO 27. I am in a warm climate, 75-78 degree water inlet. I have the output set at 125 degrees. I have also removed all the water conserving devices in my showers. I live in a fresh water swamp, over an aquifer, so I don’t care about saving fresh water, we have plenty of it. So I was worried about going tankless, because I have three showers, and all three push out over 4 gallons per minute. Since tankless are rated on a 1.5 gallon per minute shower, I was worried because one of my showers pumps out almost as much as three 1.5 water saving showers. I have had this a week, and have run 2 showers with it simultaneously (haven’t tried all three yet). Hot steamy showers for both. I have a 200 amp service. I was worried because I have two central air conditioners, a pool pump, a spa pump, and lots of other demand. I was worried about tripping the 200 amp main. But I can ramp this unit up to full power, all three burners, with no problems. Also, no lights flickering or anything like that. I have a 60 foot run from my panel to this unit. So instead of going with 8-2 wire, I stepped up to 6-2 wire. Costs more, but I didn’t want to have any problems with 8-2 wire over a long run. If you have a run of over 50 feet, I would recommend using the 6-2 wire. Using 3 double pole 40 amp breakers. The 6 gauge wire fits no problem into the connection points inside the unit, the only thing hard is getting 3 runs of that wire through the small 1 inch knockout. You have to strip back the Romex cover and just run the individual wires. I also used a conduit instead of the included clamp down, because I wanted the wires completely enclosed. On the panel side, I ran each run in separate 3/4 inch flex conduit, and inserted using 1/2 inch kockouts. The only complaint is that when this thing runs full out with all 3 burners cranking, it sounds like a 747 jet engine taking off. But not a problem for me due to the mounting location under a staircase, but would hate this thing to be installed in a bedroom or something. I like the fact that this unit uses standard 3/4 inch water heater connectors, and you don’t need to use adapters and such like other models. Just standard 3/4 inch plumping available anywhere locally. One thing I noticed is that you really have to tighten the connections, or they leak. I first wrapped with teflon tape, and tightened how you normally would tighten 3/4 pipe thread, but the connections leaked. So I then used Reactorseal teflon paste, along with a couple wraps of teflon tape, and really tightened them hard (especially the hot output). I tightened so hard I was worried about stripping it. No leaks, but took lots of Reactorseal, teflon tape, and very tight. Doesn’t seem right, but no leaking now.

3. 

   5 out of 5

   Craig Potcher – March 19, 2020

   I bought the 27KW unit based on overall reviews. The system works great and it’s simple to adjust. It requires more power to run it than the old heater. My existing 50gal heater used a single 30 amp circuit. The new 27KW system requires (3) 40 amp circuits. You need to ensure that your electric service is robust enough to handle the amps of the on demand unit. I had an electrician run the required circuits(not cheap). It then needs to be inspected. As expected, the hot water takes some time to reach the fawcets, but it’s the same as the old heater. I tested the temperatures at the sink near the heater. The heater comes preset to 120°. It tested consistently 119.5°-120°. It loses a little temperature the farther it travels through our pipes(as expected). So far, it’s working perfectly. Some people complained that their home led lights flickered when it turned on. I have solar panels and a fully electric house with led lights throughout. No flicker…. And no other issues. This was a very good buy. I’ll update this review if things change.

4. 

   5 out of 5

   Boy From The MountainBoy From The Mountain – June 26, 2020

   Cost a lot more than I anticipated to install. I used sharkbite fittings and valves which worked great. Haven’t had any leaks on those connectors. I got 10 ft of 3/4 inch copper pipe and used 6 ft of it. Expect to use 1 inch diameter electric conduit or flex pipe. I used Webstone EXP E2 service valves for flushing the Water heater. I could have done it without the pressure relief valve. I have it set to 122°F and its plenty hot. Takes a minute or two to get hot water. A little longer than when we had the tank. Some rooms get it faster. I used 3 sharkbite valves for changing the filter. Definitely worth the extra cost and labor. We have hard water on a well, so I installed a Pentek 3G Whole House Water Filtration Housing and Aqua-Pure AP420 Hot Water Protector and Scale Inhibitor filter. I used a 3/4 in to 1/2 tee to hook up our ice maker and fridge. Used a 1/2 to 1/4 sharkbite valve for that. Worked out very good.Service valves: Webstone 44443WPR 3/4-Inch IPS Isolator EXP E2 Tankless Water Heater Service Valve Kit with Clean Brass Construction https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Q5LXY6?ref=yo_pop_ma_swfWater filter housing: Pentek 3G-STANDARD-CLEAR-34-PR10 Whole House Water Filtration System Housing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H36LIQ?ref=yo_pop_ma_swfFilter: Aqua-Pure AP420 Compatible Filter, KleenWater KW420 Hot Water Protector and Scale Inhibitor, Prevents Scale Build-Up On Water Heaters Standard and Tankless, Set of 3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072N39YDV?ref=yo_pop_ma_swfBracket: Pentek 150578 MC-1A Bracket for 3/4″ 3G Filter Housings https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VNCFWI?ref=yo_pop_ma_swfO-ring: Pentek 151120 Buna-N O-ring for Standard & 3G Standard Housings https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QEGIK6?ref=yo_pop_ma_swfOur water pressure and water texture is improved! We have 2 showers and the can both run at the same time as long as we want. We now have space in the closet to keep the vacuum, broom and more. It took me one day to do the electrical, including a 2 hour round trip to hardware store. And another day to install everything else. Could have been done in a single day if you have all that you need and no distractions. I had a lot of distractions. I haven’t seen the electric bill yet.1/12/2019We’ve had a small reduction in energy use. But we’re always home during the day and a large family. I changed out the AP420 filter twice since the install.

5. 

   5 out of 5

   Dave – June 27, 2020

   Some information about this unit (and the entire product line) is sparse, and numerous people have posted inaccurate information as well. First, RTFM. EcoSmart provides a wealth of information online, and all of us would do well to check their site before posting bad information.I have two of these units, one for DHW (Domestic Hot Water) and the other to operate our whole house hot water baseboard system. Some information is hard to find, and other information is a closely guarded secret and cannot be obtained anywhere online. I’ll focus on these areas.The unit is rated at 27KW at 240 volts. Internally, it is three separate 9KW heaters, operating in series and in sequence based on demand. The unit is truly self-modulating and will not provide more heat than the load requires.Each individual heater requires a dedicated 240 circuit, rated at 40 amps, and provided via #8 wire. For the Ohm’s law fanatics, each unit draws 37.5 amps under full load, for a total system load of 112.5 amps. Anybody that tries to operate this unit off of a 100 amp main breaker deserves what he gets. We have ours connected to our main 150 service, and can get away with it because everything else in the house is “green” and we can operate everything else with the 37.5 amps available if the heater is running under full load.I’ll say this again: Each internal unit requires a separate, dedicated 240 volt 40 amp circuit, equalling a total of three separate #8 wire 240 volt circuits. I hope I made that plain enough.The heat exchangers inside the heater are 3 copper pipes, cross connected in series with about 1/2″ dia. copper sections. So there is a flow restriction, but nothing as radical as some of the reviews would have us believe. Some reviewers have posted that their hot water is down to a trickle. I’ve been inside this unit from top to bottom. If your hot water only dribbles, it is time to clean your pipes or replace your valves. We have not been able to observe a loss of flow anywhere in our house, enough said about that.The upper temperature limit is 140 degrees F. That is a difficult number to discover, but it is out there if you do your homework. Regardless, 140 is the hard upper limit in DHW mode. This is not a limitation of the unit, it is a safety limitation to minimize the chance of someone scalding themselves, and EcoSmart states this all across their web pages.Here’s the undocumented stuff:EcoSmart supports hot water heating, and even provides plumbing diagrams. However, they will not tell you how to get 160 or 180 degree water. There are internal jumpers in the heater that allow you to limit the maximum output temperature to 105 degrees (handy for the elderly or where there are small children playing with the knob), and it is also possible to set a wattage limit across the 3 heating elements. The factory setting is 9KW per element, and 140 degrees max. output. At the very top of the jumper strip is one marked “180”. With power removed, place a jumper on these two pins and the unit will allow a setpoint of up to 180 degrees when power is restored.Most hot water heating systems operate best in the 160 degree area, and the older oil fired boilers actually used a setpoint of 200 degrees. Clearly, a heater with an upper limit of 140 degrees could cause poor performance of most baseboard hot water systems, and many of the newer hydronic systems. We replaced an antique oil fired boiler with the ECO27, and placed the setpoint at 160 to get started. The performance is nothing short of amazing, and I’ve actually dropped the setpoint to 150 until we get into the dead of winter. It is very nice to know that we have a reserve available.EcoSmart provides a wealth of information about the capability of this unit. I see over and over again that people can’t (or won’t) get their heads around a lot of what’s commonly available. Simply, if you need 4 GPM, the best this unit can do is heat the water by 46 degrees. In other words, if you want a 110 degree shower (at a ridiculous 4 GPM), you must have incoming water of at least 64 degrees. If you live in an area where your water source is about 50 degrees, you will get 96 degree showers at 4 GPM. The obvious solution is to spend $20 and get a low-flow shower head. At 3 GPM this unit can give you a 110 degree shower with incoming water of only 49 degrees. At 2 GPM this unit will provide the full 140 degree setpoint with 50 degree incoming water.In boiler service, obtaining 160 degree water will require incoming water of at least 114 degrees. Most hot water heating systems operate with a differential of less than 20 degrees, so this unit is just loafing along while providing 160 degree water to your baseboard units. Also, most standard hot water heating systems have a design of either 1 GPM or 4 GPM. The temperature rise chart from EcoSmart demonstrates that a temperature rise of 184 degrees is possible at 1 GPM. Again, most hot water systems operate with a differential (or “Delta-T”) of around 17 degrees, often less. The actual temperature setpoint isn’t the focus as much as being able to maintain the differential is. So for a 180 degree output, we need to feed the heater with 163 degree water. At a mere 17 degree rise, this heater can easily flow well beyond 6 GPM, probably closer to 10 GPM, but we only need a max. of 4 GPM. So for boiler service, it is a perfect solution. It is small, silent and smart.If you’re considering this unit for hot water baseboard or hydronic service, it is capable of 92,000 BTU/hr.It has been incorrectly represented that this is the largest electric tankless available. The largest commonly available electric tankless is 36KW. Just to set the record straight.Overall, I give this unit 5 stars. Price, reliability and technical support are right up there. The unit comes with a lifetime warranty when professionally installed. Cleaning and maintenance is accomplished with a Phillips screwdriver, no more pipe wrenches and fiberglass insulation to contend with. The unit is so small and lightweight that I actually carried it into the house under one arm, installed it and said nothing. Nobody knew that I’d done this until days later!The unit supports a remote thermostat which is very inexpensive and is waterproof. The little remote connects with telephone wire and is perfect for a location next to your sink or shower.We are a 3 adult household, using all of the “normal” things, doing laundry, taking showers, washing dishes, etc. I have been able to purposely cause the heater to fail to keep up, and that was by running the tub wide open. In any other situation, two showers at once, someone in the shower, someone else doing laundry, etc., I have yet to hear a single complaint. All I ever hear is how wonderful it is to have a long shower, or not have to wait 1/2 hour, etc. The days of my wife complaining about no hot water for the dishes because I took a long shower have ended!This is a true, self-modulating unit. People that have reported lights flickering and their TV having problems need to look at their house wiring. The unit starts softly, just like turning up a light dimmer. There are no flashing lights in this household. The only way I’ve ever been able to tell if the unit is running is to actually look at it – The display is only lighted when the unit is operating.Not to be overlooked is the energy savings. A tank heater will cycle 24/7, to maintain a tank full of hot water, even if you’re on vacation. The tankless does absolutely nothing unless it detects water flow. Through an intelligent design EcoSmart units ignore faucet drips and won’t send hot water to drippy faucets. The minimum flow to start the unit is 1/4 GPM.Hope this helps to quash some bad information and get accurate information posted.Dave.

6. 

   5 out of 5

   Jeffrey Evans – July 12, 2020

   I purchased the ECOsmart ECO 18 tankless water heater in April from Amazon during one of their open box warehouse sales for a very cheap price. The unit arrived as a wreck (as I expected it would). After beating out the smashed in cover (from improper shipping packaging) I inspected the inner workings, and found several parts ajar, and the cold water inlet fitting missing. Amazon offered an additional discount to me, so I took it, and set out to fix the unit, and replace the missing part. The cold inlet fitting has a one of a kind unique fitting threads, and I quickly found out that it’s irreplaceable. A call to Ecosmart tech support was personally and professionally handled. The tech told me that this part is not available. He then went into their spare parts junk drawer, found one used, and sent it to me for next to nothing. I couldn’t be happier with Ecosmarts service! The unit sat for 4 months until I had time to install it myself. I wanted to be sure it worked before gutting out my perfectly good water heater, so this report is what I found by permanently wiring, but temporarily plumbing the unit so as to not disturb the existing water heater. First of all, I live in South Florida (Broward County). Our water is fairly warm as supplied (70 Deg. Inlet temperatures in summer). I can only report how the unit worked with reasonably warm inlet temperatures. I’ve lived in the past in places where the water is 50 Deg. Year round coming out of the tap (NE Ohio), so I know I’m living in ideal conditions for a tankless electric water heater set up. I can report the following: I measured my normal shower water temperature. I like a hot shower. Using a lab quality thermometer, I find a water temperature of 95 to 98 Degrees is pretty darn hot. Maybe not hot enough to thaw out a frozen Ohio Linesmen, or firefighter with ice frozen to your face, but plenty hot for normal humans. I have the ECosmart 18 because electrically, my house only has 150 amp service. Larger Ecosmart units would overload my supply service. As tested, a 5 GPM flow (That’s enough for two old fashioned shower heads AND a sink running hot, the outlet hot water as measured was 115 degrees. This is with the unit set as high as it will go (140 Degrees). The unit will maintain a 45 degree water temp increase over inlet temperature. Testing at a flow rate of 2.5 Gallons per min.(enough for an old fashioned shower head and a sink), the unit maintained 135 deg. With the temp set at 140. My unit had no problem maintaining 115 deg. output if set at 120 deg. With a flow rate of 2.5 gallons a minute. In testing, I found a constant 5 degree error between what the unit says the set temperature is, and actual. Not bad considering it’s not an aerospace product, and some small gauge error is possible. The hot water tank I’m replacing is a 65 gallon unit, and IT DOES flicker the house lights every time a heating element turns on. (Noticeably annoying). I am super happy to report that the Ecosmart 18 unit does not flicker my house lighting. If you look very carefully, a very, very slight, teeny, weeinee load can be seen in the interior lighting of the house when the Ecosmart unit turns on, but it’s MUCH better than my existing standard tank type water heater. The ECO 18 turns on with very little water flow (a sink just turned on enough to wet a tooth brush will trigger it to heat the water) so flow sensing is perfect, and not a factor at all. My overall opinion is that yes, the unit is delicate, and is prone to damage in shipping. Once placed in service, it’s rugged enough to last a long time, and it works better than advertised. If you are in very cold water climate, you will need the biggest unit, and adequate power supply. Ecosmart lists what the unit will actually do modestly. If you read up on the specifications for each of their units, and match your water need and water temperature and follow the installation instructions you will never be disappointed by purchasing an Ecosmart unit. These things are great! Do your homework before you buy, and match it properly, you won’t be disappointed! Removing that old tank water heater and replacing it with the Ecosmart gave me a whole lot more room in my garage, as an added benefit too!

7. 

   5 out of 5

   Robert Von Sarbacher – July 12, 2020

   Trying to get rid of gas heated anything in the house to protect the family – I bought this – problem with it is only one thing….. for a LARGE 3 full bathroom house if you used the furthest away bathtub from the unit (downstairs garage) you could not put it on highest setting to get water out of the bathtub – you had to put it on like medium flow of water coming out to get it to super scalding hot – it could not keep up – that being said – showers were no problem – scalding hot – also cut down on my bills – no more gas bill at all plus increase in the electric bill b/c of this unit was about 1/2 of what gas was b/c only ever turns on when water flows period… it was fine to use in multiple bathrooms and kitchen at same time also FYI…. so these were all my worries thinking I was totally screwing up buying one of these devices – but it works!!! one last note::: it cost me $800 to have an electrician put in 4 of the 40AMP connectors necessary to run this device which cost in the end more than double the cost of this device – it will NOTTTT work without a 40AMP and it’s very unlikely you have 4 extra 40 AMP connectors on your electric grid in house and if you do they are used by something else guaranteed ! this is something they did not mention!! even though it’s on the box it’s umm wow… ugly cost – also the cost to BUY the 40 AMPs switches were ummm $60ish or where they $100 ish I forget … so over $1000 total cost on electrician plus switches! sheesh… but I’m saving about $50 per month by switching to this so in 2 yrs it’s paid for anyway but still – sheesh -I will give also another word of advice – I looked thru 100 of these devices – OMG so much work – let me tell you that had I spent that amount of time searching instead of a person who installed 100s of these before (a full plumber/electrician company) I would have probably saved crazy money b/c I don’t thing I would have been spending that $1000 to $1200 for an install – I think they would have handled the whole thing for like $700 ish (install for plumbing for this device PLUS upgrade of electrical PLUS 4 switches cost etc) … OOPS… I did not find this out until RIGHT AFTER the electrician was done – my friend had called me the day of or day after I had it all electrically upgraded to tell me they had found about 3 others that do this all the time in addition to working all sorts of other construction jobs – they did say however these devices are all quite GOOD if you do not go cheap like $187 one – notice I got the 2nd to most powerful one in existence the 27 version with 4 of the 40amp connectors and so on… they said they just dont have trouble with these devices but they do require maintenance like de-scalling the calcium scales off every few yrs – I never need that though b/c I have a water enhancement unit that forbids scaling for life – hehe….

8. 

   5 out of 5

   Kirk M.Kirk M. – September 25, 2020

   First off I read all the negative reviews and wanted to give my feedback with this unit and customer service.First off no water heater is maintenance free. These units you must maintain the elements for it to operate efficiently.Next, verify your water temperature before selecting a unit and calculate your demand.These units ramps the temperature up, it’s not 100% instant.Know the acid level of your water and make sure it’s treated or any device will be corroded and eaten away.Know your water hardness, and make sure you use an inline descale device to protect the elements..If your water has sediment, make sure you use filters.Somebody else stated there was no way to connect connect conduit…. which is incorrect.All of this is really common sense that anybody on a well or poor public water should be use to. And just because you have public water, don’t take for granted it’s 100% perfect. Poor water will lead to a shortened life of this or any device. The more you treat and filter your water before this unit, the better it will perform and continue to perform.I did have to call the company for support. Other complained about poor customer service, this was not my experience. I had an issue with the unit creating a strobe effect on my LED lights. I verified the unit was installed correctly and there were no loose connections. I verified my voltage levels and made sure both legs were balanced as best as possible with amperage draw. I call my utility company and they verified the voltage on the service side from the pole to the meter base and everything was good inside and outside of the house.I called support and they answer quickly. I told them what I already had checked and they said that I was two steps ahead of them and the last cause was the control board. They sent a new board out that day and I received the following day. There was a small change to the board so I call support again and once again they answered quickly and they answered my simple problem / question.The new board corrected the strobe / flashing LED light issues.If you cannot or not willing to troubleshoot your electric, volt or amperage, do not expect their support to work wonders over the phone. If truly need support I’ve found their support to be great.After I installed the new board, the unit works perfect, I have great hot water temperature and

9. 

   5 out of 5

   Ira jacksonIra jackson – September 29, 2020

   I’ve owned this unit for 2 weeks and installed this and upgraded my outdoor panel in one Saturday. I ran 3 runs of 8/2 with bare ground romex on 3 40amp individual breakers . I planned to update to one of these units over a year ago , I work as a lineman and was able to run a 4/0 urd service to my home for a true 200 amp service I also uprgrade my transformer for the “potential demand this unit would require 6months before installation . I also plan to add more electric appliances to rid myself of propane costs in my area . I used pex and shark bite fittings for ease of install and was able to draw up and plan accordingly, I then used amazon to purchase 90% of the material needed . “My” upgrade cost was a little less than a $1000 doing the work myself with the application at hand . I installed sediment filtration and a scale inhibitor before the unit including isolation valves at the unit . The reviews of poor equipment life and bad reviews I chalked up to people not installing filtration or isolation valves to flush unit every six months . The reviews of people complaining of blinking or flickering lights are those people who haven’t upgraded the service feeding the home or they install less than adaquate wiring feeding unit . With a properly fed home/unit this unit will not “pull” the lights down . So my advice to those install this unit or another whether more large or small is to plan accordingly with your electric company . Most companies should understand the draw by doing a simple equation (formula below)and determining if your going to be good. I would also say minimum panel service would be 200 amps , even though your likely to never see that much draw . I’ve included a pic of the old water heating cabinet in the hallway of my home to help you visualize what I’ve explained .This unit27kwSource voltage feeding unit240027x1000= 2700027000 divides by 240= 112.5 amps of draw at full loadVery unlikely you’ll ever see full load due to water pressure restrictions in your area and the modulation of the unit to conserve energyIf any questions arise , feel free to askThanksIra