Navien NPE-240A-NG NPE Series Natural Gas 19,900 to 199,900 BTU Tankless Water Heater: White

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Price: $1,600.00   

Product Feature

• Utilizes existing 1/2" gas line up to 24'
• 2" PVC Venting up to 60'
• Field Gas Convertible (NG or LP)
• Buffer Tank & Recirculation Pump included
• Ultra Condensing Efficiency

Product Description

Navien NPE-240A Tankless Water Heater, Utilizes Exisiting 1/2 gas line, Ultra Condensing Efficiency, Dual Stainless Steel Heat Exchangers, 2" PVC Venting, Field Gas Convertibility (NG or LP), Front Panel Command Center, Comfort Flow Technology, Intelligent Preheating Technology, 82lbs, 17.3 (W) x 27.4 (H) x 13.2 (D). All water heaters of any type MUST be installed by a trained and licensed technician. Failure to do so may result in damage, injury or death. Warranties may be void if installed by non-licensed personnel. We will not be held liable for any damages, injury or death caused by proper or improper installation of hot water heaters. We will not be held liable for any local state, county or city code violations caused by the improper selection of water heaters.**

Navien NPE-240A-NG NPE Series Natural Gas 19,900 to 199,900 BTU Tankless Water Heater: White Review

I have an NPE-240A for almost a month now. It was installed by a licensed plumber. The unit was connected to pre-existing 3/4" natural gas. The PVC for exhausting gasses was routed through the old water heater vent. The condensate line was connected using insulated PEX and terminated within a sloped PVC pipe that routes the condensate to the exterior of the house where it drains / evaporates on our rear porch. Note that the condensate is slightly acidic as isn't just water; it is carbonic acid with a PH of ~2-4. This is due to the gasses, including CO, being cooled in the secondary heat exchanger enough for water to condensate out while incorporating the CO. Thus be mindful of where the acidic condensate drains.

The NPE-240A is unique in that it incorporates a 0.5 gallon buffer tank. The buffer tank is meant to help prevent cold water sandwiches, and if recirculation is always on, allow < 0.5 GPM flow rates for hot water. However, if recirculation is not enabled, that means you must get through at least 0.5 gallons of cold water at the faucet before it gets hot. Subsequent short draws shortly there after lack significant cold water sandwich due to the tank (there is a slight drop). The tank has almost laughably thin insulation; I doubt it double-walled since it takes 15-20 minutes or so for water to drop from 120F to 100F, at which point the recirculation pump will enable and reheat the water (if you set the dip switches for internal recircuclation or external, provided that plumbing is connected). I do believe that it isn't doubled walled since the heat would just conduct into the piping or water below the tank, anyway. If you have internal or external recirculation always enabled, I foresee the efficiency aspect of this heater being completely negated and perhaps worse than a tank water heater. However, as the manual indicates, you may use less water and thus save on your water bill instead (big question marks here due to lack of real world data).

The NPE-240A has what is called "intelligent preheating." This function is somewhat mysterious. From what I have gathered, and based on answers from technical support, it learns when you tend to have extended draws of 5 minutes or more. If it senses a trend, say taking showers at 7am every morning, the NPE-240A will turn on the recirculation pump before then and keep it on for a certain amount of time. Personally, I've yet to notice its impact but I am using internal recirculation. For external recirculation, you would probably find it to be much more beneficial and much more noticeable. The intelligent preheating contrasts to either 1) running recirculation logic 24/7 or 2) setting specific times using the remote.... which is, disappointingly, sold separately, and appears at this time difficult to find for purchase. I'll get back to the remote's usefulness a little later.

The tankless water heater does use electrical for ignition and electronics. From what I can tell from PG&E SmartMeter, it doesn't appear to be a significant draw.

The heater does make noises when the fans or recirculation pump is on. When water is heating, the unit is really quiet. After short draws it may make a steady whirring noise for several seconds, which from what I can tell, is caused by force exhausting any remaining gasses from ignition. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

As for heating water, it is very fast and does a good job keeping water temperature where it needs to be even with simultaneous draws. I've only noticed very slight temperature fluctuations if someone is washing their hands at high flow and suddenly shuts off the water; the temperature in the shower will go up slightly -- barely noticeable -- and drop back down to the appropriate temperature very fast. With this unit we are not worried about running out of hot water with multiple draws. In practice, that has been true. In the winter, when groundwater is colder, perhaps that will change. But for now, running the dishwasher, clothes washer, and taking a single shower doesn't tax the unit at all. Two showers would, then, seem to just fine for this unit but we've yet to do that. I don't think filling a tub (at high flow > 2GPM) and taking a shower simultaneously would be a good idea no matter what unit you have.

If you're used to using a trickle of hot water for anything, such as shaving, and that trickle is < 0.5 GPM and recirculation isn't on, you won't get any hot water. The flow sensor triggers heating at 0.5 GPM and above. Thus if you shave with a trickle of hot water, it is best to do so when another person is, for example, showering. Otherwise, now is the time to learn better habits that waste less water than running the tap constantly at a trickle for prolonged periods of time. I actually don't see this limitation as a problem; I just need to be wiser about my water usage. I prefer the 0.5 GPM limit since if a hot water faucet isn't completely shut-off, the heater won't kill itself trying to heat water constantly.

The NPE-240 has a very simple external interface. It can provide you flow information (through it I found out our dishwasher uses 0.6GPM and a typical shower draws 1.5 GPM), inlet water temperature, and outlet water temperature. It can provide you maintenance and error codes. It tells you if it is currently firing and/or in recirculation mode. You can manually turn off the unit using a button.

There is a remote. I've never used it. It can provide even more information and allow you to set the unit's time and set up times for recirculating (up to 3 schedules, IIRC). I'm not sure how it attaches to the unit, but probably a plug into the main board. The remote would then be mounted next to the water heater. So it isn't exactly a remote in the sense most of us are used to: it isn't wireless.

As for impact on our natural gas usage, we went from using 1 therm every other day to 1 therm every 3 days -- note we also use a gas range and oven. That is a significant reduction, even with intelligent preheating on. I'm stoked that we no longer have any pilot lights!

As for regular maintenance, you can easily clean out the air intake filter and the cold water intake filter. Be sure you have a flush kit installed for flushing lime scale, when needed. Supposedly since BOTH heat exchangers are made of stainless steel it will need flushing less often than copper heat exchangers. I'm not sure what the science is behind this and I've looked. Can someone explain it to me? Generally, though, scale should have a hard time building up since most (?) precipitating minerals should flow out of the exchanger.

Overall, this is a great unit with some caveats. Positives are that it is very efficient; it maintains hot water despite multiple high flow draws; it quickly corrects temperatures if draws suddenly stop; it has an informative display; is easily maintained; uses little electrical; buffer tank, when filled with hot water, is great at preventing cold water sandwich; it is generally quiet; has a great 15 year warranty on the heat exchanger. Negatives are that the buffer tank may have you wasting 0.5 gallons of water on initial draw if internal tank temperature has dropped below hand washing temperature and recirculation mode isn't constantly on; the NPE-240A can be heard when force exhausting gases; it doesn't come with a remote (would be useful to program recirculation times).

My recommendations to the manufacturer are to: include the remote; better insulate the buffer tank and perhaps put in a valve to bypass it; make it easier to set recirculation modes without dip switches; better explain intelligent preheating; better explain required periodic maintenance (just how often is flushing necessary under certain hard water conditions?). I'm also unsure if the unit can detect lime scale buildup.

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