Objective or Subjective review of NP 240(A) Navien tankless hot water tank?

by Rob
(Toronto ON, CDN)

I don't want to be negative about my NP Navien 240(A) tankless water heater from the beginning so I will let you be the judge if I can be negative or not...

- I paid close to 3000$ for my tankless hot water tank.

- 2 to 3 times more than a conventional gas heater, power vented water tank. I was willing to pay the price and expected equivalent longevity to a conventional gas heated water tank.

- It lasted 8 years before what appeared to be a flow sensor break down.

- A conventional hot water tank lasts between 15-20 years.

- 400$ for a new flow sensor and labor did not fix the problem, it was determined that it was the motherboard.

-700$ plus tax, plus labor would have the tankless water heater online again.

- Total 1100$ equivalent to a brand new gas heater, power vented water tank.

-Navien has proprietorship of the parts in the water tank so parts need to be ordered from Navien.

- Time delays and higher than normal cost for replacement parts.

- Navien technicians on their support line will only tell the homeowner to 'switch the power off, wait 30 secs, then turn it on". They won't deal with anyone other than a licensed technician.

- Consequently, the Navien tank got recycled for copper and a new gas heater, power vented hot water tank was installed.

I don't want to limit my bashing to Navien, but to all tankless water tanks and their respective companies. They are over priced, the quality is not comparable to conventional tanks (my experience is limited to 1 Navien unit), and they have a monopoly on their parts. Sure, I enjoyed the tankless water tank for 2 reasons:

1) the practicality of having the water tank on a timer and

2) the psychological advantage of saving gas because gas is not burned on a regular basis to constantly heat a large tank of water.

However, the enjoyment was short lived and the repairs expensive when compared to a conventional gas heated water tank. Upon reflection, I would never spend 2000$ (the difference in price between a conventional tank and a tankless unit) on gas used to heat water in a conventional tank over an 8-year period. Am I allowed to be negative?