Licensed plumbers, written pricing, based in Danbury
A tankless conversion is more than a swap: most units need a larger gas line, dedicated venting, a condensate drain, and often a new circuit, plus a scale plan for the hard water in this area. Action Construction installs tankless water heaters and converts tank systems to tankless in Danbury, CT, confirming your gas meter and line can carry the load before quoting so there is no surprise utility upgrade later. For tank models, see our water heater installation page.
Space is one reason tankless comes up so often here, especially in older colonials and lake cottages where there is no good spot for a 50 gallon tank. A wall mounted unit the size of a carry on suitcase frees that space. For lake homes and seasonal properties, a tankless unit also removes the standby loss of keeping a full tank hot when nobody is there, and it delivers continuous hot water rather than a fixed tank that runs out. Sized and maintained properly, it lasts about twice as long as a tank.
The trade is that the performance depends entirely on the install being done right. A tankless unit dropped onto an undersized gas line or specified for a mild climate disappoints every winter, which is why the survey before the quote matters more here than on a tank swap.
A tankless conversion is more involved than a tank swap. Most units need a larger gas supply line than a tank heater, often an upsize from half inch to three quarter inch back to the meter, and the meter itself has to have the capacity for a burner that can draw up to 199,000 BTU. They need a dedicated stainless or PVC vent run sized to the model and kept within its length and elbow limits, a condensate drain with a neutralizer for high efficiency units because the condensate is acidic, isolation valves so the unit can be flushed, and often a dedicated electrical circuit. We confirm your gas meter and the line from it can carry the added load before quoting, so you are not surprised by a utility upgrade after the fact. Where a new circuit is needed we coordinate the electrical portion. Outdoor rated models are a poor fit here, because a hard freeze with the power out can damage the heat exchanger, so we mount indoors and vent through the wall. Where the gas meter itself is undersized for the added load, the utility upgrades it, and we schedule the conversion around that so you are not left without hot water waiting on the meter change.
Sizing is done by flow rate and by the incoming water temperature, and the Connecticut groundwater in winter drops toward the low 40s, cold enough that an undersized unit will not keep up with two showers running at once. We calculate the flow rate your household actually needs, based on how many fixtures run together, and size the unit, or a pair of units on a manifold, to that winter condition rather than a mild day. That is the single most common reason a poorly specified tankless install disappoints.
If your existing heater just needs a fix, see water heater repair, and the full list is on our Danbury plumbing services hub.
A tankless unit delivers hot water for as long as you need it, so back to back showers and a long bath no longer drain a tank. There is a short delay at the tap while the unit fires and the cooled water in the line clears, and a recirculation loop with a dedicated return or a crossover valve can remove that where the run to the far bathroom is long. On a well, which many outlying Danbury homes have, we test the water first, because well hardness and iron content vary a lot from one street to the next and the treatment has to match what is actually in the water, and an untreated well will scale a tankless heat exchanger in a season. For a large home where one unit cannot cover the winter demand, two units piped on a common manifold share the load and give you a backup if one needs service, and we size that at the survey rather than after the fact. Set correctly, the output temperature holds steady no matter how many fixtures are open, up to the unit’s rated flow for the season.
A tankless conversion costs more than a tank replacement because of the gas line upsize, the dedicated vent, the condensate drain, and sometimes a new circuit. We quote the full installed price after checking your gas meter and line capacity, so there is one number with no add ons later.
Higher upfront cost, sensitivity to hard water without treatment, a short delay before hot water reaches the tap, and a maximum flow rate that has to be sized correctly for simultaneous use in winter. Sized and maintained properly, a tankless unit lasts about twice as long as a tank.
Yes, and it is a common conversion. The work usually involves upsizing the gas line, adding a dedicated vent, and running a condensate drain. We confirm your gas capacity first so the unit gets the fuel it needs in winter.
A properly sized unit can. In this area, winter groundwater is cold, so the unit has to be sized to that condition rather than the summer rating. We calculate the flow rate for your home rather than assume, and use two units on a manifold for a large house.
Once a year in this area, mainly a descaling flush to clear mineral buildup off the heat exchanger, plus a check of the vent, the condensate neutralizer, and the inlet filter. On hard water without treatment it needs it more often, which is why we usually pair a conversion with a scale filter or a softener.
Licensed & Insured | Residential & Commercial | Serving CT & NY