Point-of-Use Tankless Water Heaters: The New Stiebel Eltron DHX Series Tankless Water Heaters

As a homeowner, you are often faced with the challenge of deciding what repairs and upgrades are right for your home. You need to consider cost, logistics, functionality, and more. Plumbing and electrical upgrades and repairs definitely come in as some of the most intimidating tasks on your to-do list. What if you could upgrade your home’s hot water system without the cost and downtime of upgrading your plumbing or electrical system? That’s where the Stiebel Eltron DHX Series Point-of-Use Electric Tankless Water Heaters come in. Read on to learn more.

Traditional Water Heaters vs. Tankless Water Heaters

The traditional water heater takes up a lot of space, storing anywhere from 20-80 gallons of water. It is insulated which helps keep the water hot, so when you turn on the hot water handle to your kitchen sink, hot water is pushed out of the top of the tank and makes its way into your faucet. Since the 1970s, the distance from a water heater to its furthest water fixture has increased from 30 feet to 80 feet! This means it is taking up to 3 times as long for hot water to reach the fixture. That’s a lot of wasted water and energy.

With a traditional tank, if the demand for hot water is coming from several different areas at the same time–a shower, the washing machine, the dishwasher, and someone filling a bathtub–it is pretty easy to run out of hot water. At that point, you have to wait until the tank, refilling with cold water, heats up that cold water which can usually take at least 30 minutes.

A tankless water heater is different. A high-powered heating mechanism heats the water quickly when the water runs through the heating mechanism. Instead of storing hot water in a tank until you need it, a tankless water heater is an on-demand appliance. Right when you need hot water, a tankless water heater almost instantaneously pushes hot water through your faucet.

While Stiebel Eltron has several electric tankless water heaters to meet your needs, the DHX Series can suit all of them. These units are small enough to fit under a sink but efficient enough to heat enough water for your entire house.

Efficiency and Energy Savings

Tankless water heaters last quite a long time–over twenty years! A tank water heater can usually only last ten to fifteen years. In the long run, tankless water heaters will save you time and the hassle of replacement every decade. And because tankless systems are so much smaller, their installation can be a lot easier; they can fit in spaces where a traditional water heater simply can’t.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, tankless water heaters are up to 34% more efficient when you use less than 41 gallons of water a day as compared to a tank water heater. Because the tankless water heater only heats water when you need it, they use a lot less energy than your traditional heater that has to store and heat gallons of water all the time.

Perhaps one of the best benefits of a tankless water heater is that you never have to wait for the water to heat up. It delivers hot water almost immediately, so instead of waiting for your shower to heat up (and wasting all the water that comes with the waiting), you can turn it on and jump in.

How Does an Electric Tankless Water Heater Work?

Tankless water heaters use a heating element (powered by electricity or gas) to heat water as the water passes over the heating element. This heats the water directly. Cold water enters the tankless water heater, and once you turn on a faucet signaling you want hot water, an internal sensor is triggered that calculates the temperature of the cold water against how hot the heating element needs to be to heat the water to your desired temperature.

This creates an endless supply of hot water whenever you turn on a hot water knob inside your house. Instead of using up all of the hot water stored in a tank, you never have to worry about running out of hot water because a tankless water heater is actually making the water hot instantaneously when you need it.

The tankless water heater only turns on when you need it, saving you energy and cost, unlike a traditional water heater that must run constantly to produce and save hot water all the time. When you are done using hot water, the tankless water heater automatically turns off and stops using any energy.

What Is a Point-of-Use Water Heater?

While some tankless water heaters are used for the whole house, some can be used for garages, cabins, and other small spaces–these types of tankless water heaters are called point-of-use tankless water heaters. A point-of-use tankless water heater is designed to supply hot water to a single fixture. You can have one tankless point-of-use water heater for each shower, sink, bathtub, washing machine, or dishwasher in your home. They are usually much smaller than whole-house models, and can easily be installed in small areas. What makes the DHX series of point-of-use water heaters stand out among the rest is that in addition to these features, the DHX 15 Plus provides enough hot water to heat an entire house. In warmer climates, the 3 gallons per minute provided by the DHX 15 Plus is enough to run a shower and maintain a 105°F water temperature for reliable comfort.

Many businesses and homes use under-sink tankless water heaters for their bathrooms, kitchens, and janitor’s closets because they are so cost-effective and energy-efficient. Mounted under a sink or right beside it, there is instant hot water when you use a tankless point-of-use water heater for your sinks. There is no wasted cold water while you wait for the hot water to move through your piping—the pipes are connected inches away from the faucet handles and create hot water immediately.

Feel the Pressure

A common problem in older homes and businesses is that certain pipes don’t give as much pressure as others. The water cannot travel effectively to the faucet to provide adequate pressure. With the versatility of the DHX Point-of-Use water heater, it can be placed right at the source to provide an immediate boost in water pressure that could only otherwise be achieved with a complete overhaul of the system and installation of new, rerouted piping. By simply connecting older parts to a brand new DHX Series water heater, the water will be plentiful and hot every time.

A Point-of-Use Tankless Water Heater for an Entire House

Despite their small size, the all-new Stiebel Eltron DHX series tankless water heaters are capable of supplying enough hot water for a whole house. Advanced Flow Control™, a feature found in the Tempra® Plus Whole-House water heaters, is also available on the DHX Plus units. This feature monitors the water demand and adjusts the flow rate to maintain a constant temperature of the water being used, no matter how many taps are in use. If you don’t have the budget to upgrade your electrical system or plumbing to accommodate an upgraded water heater, these affordable water heaters provide better heating for your home without the cost and headache of a plumbing or electrical overhaul–they are the perfect addition to any home.

Stiebel Eltron DHX Point-of-Use Tankless Water Heaters

Stiebel Eltron stays ahead of the game in electric tankless water heater technology, and the point-of-use water heater is no exception. The all-new Stiebel Eltron DHX Trend and DHX Plus Point-of-Use Electric Tankless Water Heaters boast several features that cannot be found in other units. Ideal for residential and commercial point-of-use applications, DHX models heat water endlessly on demand at 99% efficiency with an activation rate for DHX models is a low 0.264 GPM. They have no stand-by energy losses because they do not store hot water like tank water heaters. Some other outstanding features for the DHX Point-of-Use series include:

• Ideal for any residential application including bathrooms, cabins, and cottages
• Heats water on demand, for endless hot water as long as it is needed. The model size must be carefully matched to the application for proper operation
• Electronic self-modulation technology ensures the least amount of electricity needed is used
• Sleek European design is considerably smaller than a tank, requires no venting, and allows space-saving installation close to the point-of-use
• Digital temperature display for easy adjustment
• Direct Coil™ heating system provides fast heat-up and response
• Direct Coil™ heating system’s proven and trouble-free technology self-cleans for increased limescale resistance

What the DHX Series Has to Offer

Direct Coil™

Stiebel Eltron is revolutionizing the tankless water heating industry with its most advanced water heating technology. The robust and trouble-free Direct Coil™ heating system is self-cleaning for superior limescale resistance. When the water heater is powered on, the coil element vibrates, eliminating any calcium particles that may have built up on it. The newest models to contain Direct Coil™ technology have an astounding failure rate of less than one-half of one percent across the board. When compared to the 8-10 percent failure rate of standard water heaters, the superior performance of the Direct Coil™ is unmatched.

Our new Direct Coil™ heating system found in the DHX Select series offers many advancements over other units on the market. With its self-cleaning abilities, it minimizes maintenance needs–one less thing to worry about with your home maintenance.

Energy Efficiency

Notably, the DHX Select brings you these unique benefits without being an energy “hog.” In fact, DHX Select gives you more for the same, because the same 60 amp breaker you need to power a thirteen kW unit can power this fifteen kW DHX Select unit – and who wouldn’t want more hot water through more fixtures for the same 60 amps?

Advanced Flow Control™

Advanced Flow Control™ is an exclusive Stiebel Eltron DHX feature in which the tankless water heater automatically maintains a set temperature even when demand is greater than capacity. Other advantages of the Advanced Flow Control™ include rapid heat-up and response time so that you never have to wait for hot water again.

All tankless water heaters provide unlimited hot water on demand, but unlike other tankless water heaters, the patented technology in Advanced Flow Control™ maintains your desired hot water temperature all the time, every time. There is no cold-water “surprise” in a shower with Advanced Flow Control™. No competing unit offers anything like it.

The Industry’s First, and Still the Best

Stiebel Eltron invented the first electric tankless water heater nearly 100 years ago. But they didn’t stop there. Always a leader in the industry, their new DHX Series Point-of-Use Water Heaters are revolutionary and the perfect addition to any home looking for the best in water heating. Their website has resources available from determining which electric tankless water heater is right for you, to where to go to purchase your unit, to finding a plumber to help with your installation. Stiebel Eltron stands by every piece they produce. The DHX Series holds a 7-year warranty against leaks and a 3-year warranty against manufacturer defects, so you know your purchase is protected and Stiebel Eltron will keep your water heated for many years to come.

Shop the DHX today, and see why our German engineering heritage, advanced technology, and commitment to your complete satisfaction make our units Simply the Best.