ECO 27

I've had this for 10 months (updated: 2 years now) and it's worked great. I have really high powered water pressure in the showers here, and sometimes also am running a laundry washer and sink. I tried running the washer on Hot, then I turned on 1 sink and both showers to very hot and they all had plenty of hot water.It was pretty easy to set up. While their disclaimer says that you need to have a licensed electrician install it to get the warranty, over the phone 2 people there explained that it's fine for a handyman to set it up, and that they will still honor the warranty as long as the problem clearly is not due to bad installation. In other words, if the problem is due to poor installation, then obviously they won't want to send you a new one. That's more than fair and means that you can save a lot of money having your handyman do it if he has electrical experience. I spoke to some people who said that most companies will put that a licensed person is required to install it for liability purposes to protect themselves. In real life, Ecosmart will cover it even if a non-licensed person installs it. Just write their name and phone number on the warranty registration card and send it in.Also, though their site says (I think from memory) that it needs 120 amps total, we asked them if putting it on a 100 amp subpanel would be enough, and they said yes, and we did that and it's fine. I was told by a number of people that if you put it on a 100 amp subpanel and for some reason it gets more than 100 amps, all it does is switch the subpanel off. That's the point of a subpanel. It makes it so only 100 amps can reach your main panel. So even with 2 showers, a large washer and a sink going, it didn't go over 100 amps. And my showers have great water pressure, so it probably would be like 3 showers in most houses.I only have 150 amps total, and everything has worked great.I found customer service great to work with. If you have a tech question, ask them if you can speak to one of their technical people. They were happy to help me figure it out.The price for this was much lower than other places I researched, and not much more than a tank. I've saved a lot of money on my energy bills as it only heats up water when you need it. I think the savings will pay for the difference in 1 year, and after that it's extra money in my pocket every month. I believe Amazon was a little cheaper than getting it directly through them but check because that could change over time of course.Also, it doesn't take more than about 10 seconds longer to get hot water than with my tank. With a tank, the water in your pipes cools off, so 90% of the wait for hot water is the old water running out. I used to have to wait about 1 minute to get hot water in my showers. With this unit, it adds only 10 seconds to the process as it quickly cranks up and starts heating the water flowing through it.For the occasional mindless person who claims that because their one unit was a dud, that all of them are - get a brain and learn some math. If you buy 40 units and 10% of them are duds, then you can make some claims about overall performance. If you go to any tank or tankless heater that has more than 80 reviews, you'll find at least a couple of reviews by people who got duds. It doesn't mean they all suck. Be honest and just say, "Mine broke and I was unhappy," and don't try to make up that everyone is going to have a problem because you did. In this day and age, pretty much all manufactured things have some duds, even high end computers like Apple. I got a dud iphone and had to have it sent back for a new one. Does that mean you will? Chances are low.I have another property where I still have a tank, and just as many things can go wrong with a tank as with a tankless. And when they go wrong with a tank, it can wreck the floor of whatever room it's in or close to, along with whatever things (furniture, cabinets etc.) are in touch with the floor. I can't wait to replace the tank with a tankless. When the time comes, I'll research what the best buy is out there for price and performance. Ecosmart was when I did, but I'm not wed to them or any other company.I also regained half a closet as it takes up almost no space. I put it in the upper corner of a closet out of the way. You can set the water temp with the turn of a knob. I love it. I will never go back to a tank.UPDATE: I've had it for 2 years now and still super happy with it.

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....

Reason(s) for purchase: 1. Save $ on energy cost 2. Our tank water heater wasn't getting the water hot enough (could have been goingout or was adjusted IDK) 3. Free up some valuable real estate in our laundry room (more like a closet)So, I managed to buy this model for $360 brand new. I had originally paid $505 and was on amazon about a week later and noticed that thisproduct was on sale as Amazon's deal of the day. Sent the other one back and bought the sale one lol. I decided to go with thisparticular model because I would much rather have too much than not enough. It's all about the incoming temperature and living in Hawaiithis product should do the job for us (4bd 3bth).I will update on actual savings in $ but keep in mind that each state charges differentamounts per kWh (Hawaii charges x3 of the national avg. so savings may appear more drastic) and families use different amounts ofhot water, but at least it will give you an idea.Pros: -Unlimited hot water -Supposed to save $ on energy-Frees up valuable space -Looks ModernCons: -Initial cost may be more than tank (will recoup $ over time) -In order to keep warranty must be installed professionally-Requires three 40 amp double pole breakers -Most likely need new electrical wiring ran-Seems to take a bit longer for hot waterInstall: Install "can" be fairly simple for the average DIYer if you can follow instructions and a few safety guidelines. The hardestpart is running the wiring to the electrical panel. Everything else is pretty easy. If your breaker box is in the same room as yourplumbing the install should be cake. Just make sure that your work is done to code. Wife and I installed it together (she helped run theelectrical wiring to the breaker box). Ours was across the room in the hallway. It actually took us two days working a couple of hoursto run our electrical (a different story for another day). After running the electrical it probably took me 30 minutes to an hour tofinish the rest (installing breakers, mounting and wiring the heater)After use: We have only been using it for about 3 or 4 days now and it is going to take some getting use to. The water definitely getshotter than it did before. The hotter water was the first thing that the wife noticed, but it does seem to take a bit longer to gethot water to the faucets. Not a lot of extra time but it's noticeable, but other than that I have no complaints. That's not even acomplaint..... More of an observation.Bottom line: I plan on installing one of these in our next home. I recommend this product to any who is debating whether or not to buya tankless water heater. Just do your research and makes sure that it will fit your needs. My wife regretted this purchase after havingto bust holes in our walls/ceiling and realizing how much work it was for us. Now that it's done she tells me all of the time that sheis glad that we installed our new tankless water heater. Plus it does everything that we wanted it to do.Update: Product is still working flawlessly and I haven't noticed any light flickering at all. Plus I am running this on a 150 amp service, but my incoming temperature will always be 60-70 degrees F all year round so shouldn't come close to maxing this thing out. After 1 1/2 months of service this is what I noticed: 1. Saved $14 on first full electric bill 2. Almost seems like a waste whenever I wash my hands because by the time the water gets hot I am long gone unless hot water is already in the lines (not the machines fought). I thought about purchasing some point of use heater but changed my mind (not my forever house) 3. Love the bit of extra space in the laundry room. Feels more like a laundry room now that we can actually fit some clothes baskets in there. 4. Wife still enjoys it quite a bit. We even turned it down to 115 degrees. I was hoping to save more per month but even at this rate it would pay itself off in about 4 years or so (including everything....wiring, drywall to patch, texture, paint, valves and filter= Roughly $600 ). Not bad....Hoping next month we notice more savings. Will see I guess. Either way this product performs as advertised. Highly satisfied.

My hot water heater sprung a leak so I decided to "upgrade" to the tankless unit. I have a 3 bedroom two bath home and this 27kw unit seemed to fit the bill for water supply, especially based on the reviews. I mean, who wouldn't love an endless supply of hot water. The rest of the reviews were so great, I figured it was worth the investment.The unit ends up costing around $600-$700 after you buy all of the supplies needed to install it properly (8-gauge wiring, breakers, etc). I was prepared for that so, not a big deal. I figured the investment would be worth it, especially with the warranty included...except there pretty much is no warranty. The lifetime warranty only applies if you have a separate and licensed electrician and plumber install the unit and have their license numbers sent to EcoSmart (unless you happen to have one person licensed in both). Basically, lots of $$$ that the manufacturer is probably gambling you're not willing to spend. The unit is a piece of cake to install though, a couple of wires and two pipes. Not really rocket science that the average homeowner can do. I went the self install route because a professional install was going to be more than another unit and I needed hot water soon.So, I get everything wired up and plumbed up. The unit is only a few feet from the breaker box so install was a snap for me. I fire everything up after purging the lines and was happy when hot water came out the faucet. Everything seemed good...until my wife wanted to take a bath. So it turns out that when they say "low flow", they really mean it. We could only turn the bath faucet maybe an 1/8th of full throttle to keep the water running hot. When taking a shower, I didn't even use the cold water to even the temp out like I normally did as leaving only the hot on kept the water at a tolerable temp. I don't have kids so scalding is not a problem. I was disappointed that the hottest setting wasn't unbearably hot but I let it slide as I was just happy to have hot water again.Fast forward to the next day and the wife is complaining that the hot water is taking forever to come on. I check the unit and nothing is working. I turn the breakers off and on again and it seems to start back up fine. Third day rolls around and the same problem happens. I go through the troubleshooting area and check all the values. Everything checks out so I reset it and hope it was just a glitch. The fourth day goes by and the unit just quits heating altogether. The temp lights stay on but the heating elements refuse to turn on. At this point, you have to decide to either call customer support and see if they can fix it or get something else. I figured if I was already having problems with a new unit, I definitely didn't want to gamble on it lasting six or more years as a normal heater does with ease, especially since you get no warranty support. I packed it up and sent it back and bought an old fashioned tank unit. Lesson learned...the world is not ready for this tech yet. Sure you don't have a tank that can get a leak, but you now have about 10 times the electronics that can go bad as mine did.

I have had this for six months now and figured I would relay my experience with it.I bought this at the same time as a new water softener and installed them together. I was excited to find this unit as a tankless water heater has been on my wish list for some time but prohibitively expensive. The cost on this one was within my budget and the technology seemed second to none, mix that with the lifetime warranty and I could not think of a good reason not to purchase one, especially with all the good reviews on Amazon.I installed it on a Thursday night and had I done a little more homework I may have waited on the purchase. The necessary supplies for installation cost me almost $300. In my excitement for finding a tankless water heater rated for my usage and in my price range, I neglected to look into the cost of necessary fittings and wiring to install it. Oh well, I do not regret it and am glad I purchased it. I found installation to be very straightforward and easy and would expect most people who have a little familiarity with plumbing and electrical to find the same. The warranty does state it is only valid if a licensed contractor installs it but (as will be seen below) the fact I am not licensed did not prevent them from replacing my unit - they did not even ask if I was licensed.After install I noticed small amounts of water pooling around the first heat exchanger. The leak was minor but still, I hesitated using the heater as I wasn't sure if the leak would grow under pressure and temp cycles. I watched it over the weekend then called the Support line Monday morning to get help. I was told everyone in tech support was busy and I would get a call back within the hour. No one called so I called back a couple hours later and was told Tech Support was at lunch and they would call back within the hour. Again no call so again, I called back a couple hours later and they were closed since they were in FL and I live in MT. In desperation I filled out the online form on their website asking what I needed to do to get tech support for my brand new *leaking* water heater. Within minutes I got an email reply from Carlos A. Cabrera, President of Operations apologizing no one got back to me and telling me he would schedule a replacement to be sent out the next day. Which he did.The replacement unit was shipped ground and so took a couple days to arrive, when it did I swapped it out and returned the leaking one to them. The new unit worked great and has been working ever since. When the first one started leaking I was concerned I had purchased an inexpensive water heater that leaked from a small company and I was going to be stuck with it. Not so, once Carlos got involved the new unit was sent within hours. I am very happy with their customer support (I can't speak for their tech support as they never called me back).We are on a private well and I have measured the incoming water to be just above 40 degrees. The heater is set to 120 and does a pretty good job of heating the water. I have not changed any of our shower heads, they are all 2.5 gpm and showering does not seem to be a problem - endless hot water. I have four kids and they can all shower back to back without the last couple complaining about cold showers. Two showers at the same time can be a problem but that is to be expected as the manual states with 40 degree incoming water it can only heat water to 105 degrees at 2.8 gpm, so one of my 2.5 gpm shower heads is pushing it right to spec. I also can not fill a bath tub if the hot is turned on all the way as the flow is a much higher rate and the bath water will not be warm. This unit was installed in the fall and has only been used over one Montana winter, maybe in the summer the ground water will be warmer and we can get a couple showers at a time out of it...I don't know.Anyway, I love the thing. It fits our needs very well and works for washing hands, showering, laundry and most everything else the normal household does. I have not noticed the dimming of any lights when it kicks on but most of my lights are CFL's or LED's anyway so I don't suppose I would. I can feel as the three elements ramp up, some reviewers have complained about the time it takes for hot water to come, but that is by design, to prevent the heater sucking 120 amps of current and browing out the rest of the house. (I will admit that sometimes this process takes longer than I think it should but that is a small price to pay for the energy savings I get with this.)If you are like me and stuck with having to buy an electric water heater since gas is not available and you want a tankless, I do not think you could do better than this one. Others cost more but have similar specs and worse warranties. I have been happy with its performance, and in my experience, it does exactly what the company says it will.

I purchased the Ecosmart water heater to put into my new home that I built last year. I hired a plumber to do all of the new plumbing work so plumbed it in for me, I did the electrical work myself.I ended up spending about $180 on wire and breakers. The ECO 27 requires 3-30amp breakers at the panel and 3 runs of 8 gauge, 2 conductor wire. I live in Canada and 8/2 wire is rare apparently, so I had to go with an 8/3 wire and simply didn't use the third wire, and taped it off. The electrical installation was pretty simple, I followed the directions, watched their YouTube installation video, ran through the tests with my tester, and viola, hot water.My complaints. The water takes awhile to get hot for some reason. I don't know why. It seems as if all the cold water in the lines has to disappear first, then be replaced with hot water, then the hot water starts to come out. Washing your hands in the bathroom sink or kitchen sink can be slightly frustrating, as you have to wait a bit before the water gets hot. This is different from how I remember the way a hot water tank works. That's it. On to the good stuff.First things first, the shower. In my master bath I have two shower heads in the shower. A Delta 57014 Slide Bar and an American Standard 10" Rain Head. I installed a diverter so I can use one or the other, or both. I had to tweak the temperature settings a little bit, at first I figured 105 degrees would be best, as I enjoy a nice hot shower. However it was a bit too cool, perhaps the distance the water had to travel cooled it down? So I stepped it up a bit to 128 degrees. With a single shower head running it is right on the edge of being too hot, but I really enjoy hot showers. If it becomes too much for me to bare I turn it down a little or just flip on the other shower head. With both running, it is a temperature I think most people would enjoy. I try, most of the time, to be energy and water efficient, I turn the shower off and soap up, turn it back on to rinse. But let me tell you! I've had a couple of mornings after being out late and having a couple too many drinks, and I have laid in the shower with both shower heads going for upwards of an hour. It doesn't stop, it doesn't slow down, it doesn't get cold. Even when it was -20 Celsius outside, it kept heating my water up for my shower :) The last thing I would like to say about the shower, since I have the Ecosmart set at a temperature that works for me, all I do is turn it straight to hot, no mixing. This allows toilets to be flushed, sinks to be ran, etc. without ever flinching a degree when I am in the shower.Next! I installed a Roman style faucet for my tub. This baby pours water out. It pours too fast actually. The Ecosmart cannot keep up. This was actually the first test I made with the water heater and I was very disappointed at first. However, if I turn the tap down a bit, it heats up, turn it down a bit more, and it gets even hotter. Simple fix really. The tub takes a little longer to fill, but it's not a huge deal. I don't bathe often anyway.The dishwasher.. I have a Whirlpool dishwasher that has an element in it to help heat the water beyond what the Ecosmart can do. I never had any problems with washing dishes, I'm not 100% sure how well it would perform without the element in the dishwasher to help heat the water more, but I purposely bought a dishwasher that would do this just in case.All in all, it's an excellent and aesthetically appealing unit. I don't have any complaints, and it seems as if it's only limitation is at higher flow rates. I cannot say if it's saving me any money, as I haven't anything to compare it to.

Update August 2023: After 10+ years of flawless service the heater finally had a problem! The first element closest to the cold water inlet failed - it cracked and shorted out. Device continues to work fine but capacity is reduced. I decided to buy a new one instead in case of any manufacturing improvements over the years and keep this one as a spare or for parts. I had never flushed it or cleaned the elements in vinegar in 10 years and I was surprised how pristine everything was inside in spite of our South Florida water! The only debris was from the cracked element and some light yellow calcification paste - the other two elements looked like they just came out of the factory! No pun intended but this tankless water heater is built like a tank!Original Review April 2013:I put in a SETS 24 tankless 120AMP electric water heater about 6 years that finally gave up the ghost last week The company was out of business so I was not looking forward to major wiring or plumbing changes with a new brand. I selected this EcoSmart 27 based on the amazon reviews and I was very surprised that it was a perfect drop in replacement for my old heater w/o having to do any plumbing or electric changes! It requires 120 Amp service with 3 double pole 40 amp breakers same as my old SETS. The inlet and outlet pipes location and spacing are identical to the SETS so I didn't need to change any plumbing.Having used tankless electric heaters now for 6 years, the technology has changed tremendously. The Eco-Smart is way better than my old SETS. The Ecosmart does not have the problem where water temp swings between scalding and cold and in fact maintains a rock solid stable temperature. This was a huge surprise as we thought temp swings were just a fact of life with tankless heaters; now we know better! On the inlet side it has a flow sensor so the unit wont turn on unless water is flowing and it has a temp sensor to measure inlet water temp. This is important as the idea is to maintain a constant outlet water temp regardless of the inlet water temp. It does this by calculating the delta between inlet and desired outlet temps and then powers up 1, 2 or 3 of the heating elements to get the desired outlet temp. So winter or summer, the unit should still deliver the same set temp on the outlet side. My old SETS did not have this feature so in the winter it was a guessing game as to where the water temp would stabilize. Becaus eof the temp stability, we followed Ecosmart/DOE recommendation and set the temp dial to 115. Now when taking a shower we need not mix in any cold water (or very little) to get the right water temp.The EcoSmart is well put together as well. The tubing is all shiny copper inside, the flow switch looks durable and th sensors on inlet and outlet are screw in type so they should be replaceable if they ever fail. The thermostats and Triacs look lik ethey are good quality as well and the internals are all well grounded to the common (which in my old SETS I was surprised to find was not the case so it caused a lot of corrosion).The best part is that this modern and well put together unit costs 50% less than what I paid for my old SETS 6 years ago. I am very happy with this unit so far. I will update this review if the unit fails to meet expectations in the future, such as in winter (not much of it here in Florida!).

8/1/21First time the unit has filed.Started making popping sounds.I called ecosmart to help me with diagnosing the problem. They sent me a pdf and told me to check the triacs.Followed the instructions and indeed it was a triac that was bad. Called again and they gave me the part number.After replacing the part the heater is once again operational! I am super happy and surprised thay after soo many years it still works!When I was diagnosing the unit before I called I looked at everything! The heating elements are still in very good condition! They are original! I have to thank the Aguapure softener for this... 30 bucks goes a long way! If you don't have it installed... do so immediately!10/27/19Still works, so far got my money's worth! At this point if it craps out, I dont mind replacing it with the same exact unit.I installed a remote for this thing... I dont even have to go to the basement to adjust the temperature!06/08/19Unit still works without a glitch!This winters freezing temperatures had no effect on its performance. I use this thing in the Poconos!I was very skeptical about my purchase of the Ecosmart ECO 27 Electric Tankless.I did my research and read tons of reviews. Some reviews scared me but took the risk.I got to say.......... I am completely surprised!Installed it on 6/15/13 and so far it works as advertised. I will edit this review if anything changes.If you follow the instructions and do everything the right way... you will have no problems.1. Make sure you have a 200AMP service2. Make sure you have room for 3, 40AMP 2 Pole barkers3. Make sure you get the 8 Gauge Wire and wire the unit as specified, DO NOT CROSS WIRES4. Make sure you get the correct piping and cut off valves, do not be cheap do it the right way5. Install the Aqua-Pure AP430SS Hot Water System Protector (worth the investment)6. Let water run through the system before you turn on the power!7. Turn OFF water, Turn ON the Power to the unit and test all electrical work, as specified in the instructions.8. If all electrical is good, you are ready to GO!Its easy..Heats water fast, and I have good water flow!I tested it on two open faucets, and water temperature did not drop. Will continue to test and post my findings here.Incase your wondering...looking at the pictures....since original installation, I've cleaned up wires.. etc. To make everything up to code.*It is reasonable for the company to request licensed electrician\plumber to honor the warranty. If you decide to do it yourself, make sure you do it the right way.. read and check your work! A simple screw-up can damage the unit or not make it work up to capacity!

I bought the Ecosmart Eco 27 a month ago to replace a Hubbell 280-3 tankless heater that LITERALLY blew up catastrophically. (You can read more about this below if you are interested).I have to say that this unit is head and shoulders above the Hubbell products in a number of ways and if you are in the market for a tankless heater I'd strongly recommend staying away from Hubbell after my experience.Overall, this unit does a great job in coastal British Columbia where inlet water temperatures in winter are 50 degrees F or below. Unlike the Hubbell unit, it doesn't struggle to put out 140 degree water with a faucet fully open. The Hubbell never achieved this kind of performance even in the summer months even though it was exactly the same power. Of course, if you open multiple faucets or showers you are likely to see a drop in the temp but most people do not require 140 degree water and should have little problem.The controls on the unit are easy to use but you may need to go to the Ecosmart website to find full instructions as the Owner and Maintenance (O&M) Manual they provide doesn't describe things like trouble shooting and the various Error messages you can get. But they are on the website.The Eco 27 digital display only lights up when there is a demand for water, and the temperature display can be switched quickly from F to C just by pressing the main rotary temp control knob. Pressing and holding the knob brings up further information including inlet and outlet temp and flow rate. All very easy to access. (Not nearly as easy on the Hubbell)I installed this unit myself and as you can see in the photo had to install an additional electrical sub-panel in order to comply with the need for three separate 40 Amp breakers because my main panel didn't have enough space to add extra breakers. Not that difficult if you know what you're doing but it did add about $150 to the cost for the sub-panel, breakers, and cabling. Conveniently, the spacing of the inlet and outlet connections is exactly the same as the Hubbell unit so I only had to do minimal plumbing work. Additionally, the mounting holes are at 16" centres so it can be mounted to standard wall studs.Lastly but certainly not the final or least great feature of the Eco 27 heater was the price which is about 1/3rd that of the Hubbell 280-3 it replaced. As I mentioned previously, the Hubbell blew up and the price I was quoted to replace JUST the heating chamber on it's own was DOUBLE the total price of the Eco 27!!So, overall, I've been very impressed by this unit.For those interested, my Hubbell 280-3 caused me a number of problems over the years including the fact the the original flow meter was made of a hard plastic compound and when I disassembled the unit in order to replace burned-out heating elements, the threads crumbled and rendered the unit unusable due to leakage. I finally replaced the flow meter with a newer brass-bodied unit (that on it's own costs about 1/4 of the total price of the Eco 27) but when I turned the unit back on one of the heating elements burned a hole the size of a pea through the side of the heating chamber in what was, literally, a catastrophic explosion. Very fortunately, I was standing right by the heater when this happened and was able to shut off the power and the water otherwise significant damage from flooding or fire could have resulted.What makes this failure most alarming is that, when I contacted Hubbell about it they admitted that they KNEW this could happen but fail to mention it in the O&M manual! I was using the unit 100% in accordance with the manual and yet it still blew up.To make matters worse, once this issue came to light Hubbell completely stopped communicating with me, taking absolutely no responsibility for the fact that their unit can fail catastrophically in normal use. Buyer Beware!!

After some conversations with the Ecp Smart company, and a few emails, I order one. The unit was delivered faster than expected. It seems to work only fantastic! Electric hookups took about 90 minutes, and copper work took me about 4 hours with trip to hardware store for parts I didn't have on hand. If you're handy, and are familiar with plumbing and electrical, you can do this no problemo! I installed my first HWT at the age of 10 unsupervised, so this was an easy job. I ordered the 27 instead of the 24 because it was cheaper, and I have the available electrical supply-otherwise the 24 would have done the job. In fact, the 18 would have been fine too.This is installed in our cottage which is used only about 5 months out of the year, and mostly on the weekends (Friday-Sunday). I say that to clarify that it is not being used in a house 7 days a week with large hot water requirements. There is one lavatory, one shower and a kitchen tap. We do not have a washing machine at the cottage. There are only 3 of us. Using all 3 taps at the same time, we have plenty of hot water. The unit is set at 120 degrees F. We live in rural Manitoba, and the well water coming out of the ground is about 37 degrees F. COLD! The unit has no problem making enough HOT water.The unit is absolutely quiet. I would buy another one in a heartbeat if I needed one. I installed a water softener to treat out hard water which was 390 mg/L. Manufacturer suggests no higher than 200.I did consider getting 2 smaller units to place one in the kitchen, and the other in the utility room for the washroom. If it was new construction, I think I would do that instead, rather than using one unit to take care of all locations, quick fix way. But, you do have to wait to get the hot water from the unit to the faucet-just like you do with a HWT. Installing one in the kitchen would have taken care of the wait!I will be blowing out he unit in the fall after I do an internal vinegar wash as suggested by the manufacturer.Making the 2 connections leak proof was a challenge though, using the Webstone 44043PR IUPS Isolator valves. in the directions, it says not to use teflon tape or pipe dope. I'll guess the reasoning is that they don't want ANY tape or pipe dope debris in the heating elements. I get that. BUT, the fitting to hold with a wrench at the bottom of the unit is really tough to hold onto, and even though the metal cabinet fits fairly snuggle around that fitting, you cannot rely on it to hold the fitting tight while you are super tightening the connections. After 3 failed attempts, I carefully used teflon tape, keeping it about 2 threads away from the open ends of the pipes. One slip of the wrench, and you could probably write the unit off. I would suggest better placement of the fittings at the bottom of the unit, by making them 1/2" longer or beefing up the bottom of the cabinets that the fittings are securely held in place, or considering a shark bit type of fitting.Hopefully this unit will last as long as the 28 year old HWT it replaced!

We replaced a 60 gallon tank with the 27 Kw unit. It was overkill. In hindsight, half that would have been more than enough. I reduced the water temperature from 135F to 118F and I still have to blend cold water to take a shower. The only difference in performance that is discernible is that it takes a little longer for the water to "get hot" at the faucet. Once hot, it stays that way until shut-off, never getting cold. We're on city water, mid-September 64F, down to mid 50's F in winter, and it does the work. A wifi control would be nice to enable remote temperature change.The unit failed on August 10, 2019. I followed the trouble shooting guide on Ecosmart's web site and was able to easily determine that the impeller in the flow meter had melted. This morning (Monday) I called the companies help line and the technician explained that this is probably due to reverse flow from the heating element. They will ship replacement parts today. He also suggested that I de-scale the unit to help prevent this in the future. Their recommendation is to do this yearly. As we have never had a water tank failure due to scale build-up, i thought that yearly was too pessimistic for our quality of water. To be sure, I also ordered a circulation pump today to de-scale theunit.All to say, excellent service.Now, end of November, after 18 months, one heating element has failed. It is considered a "wear" item. Other manufacturers give a five year component warranty. For the heating element to fail unacceptable. I have buy a new element.

One of the cheapest units to get, was sceptical to buy. Did some research and chanced it. I’ve had the unit installed for about 5 months now, and has reduced my power bill by about $35-40 a month (water heater rental of $17 included). Always hot water within seconds, even on city water in canada on a -25° day. Costed $500 for local plumbing company to install it for me (I had water tank removed prior), was quoted $700 from electrical company to run wires, but had friend do it for about $350.However, it does draw ALOT of power when it kicks on, and will dim some led pot lights from the draw. Can be annoying at times. Hot water keeping up to demand, not too bad, we can run up to 3 items in the house at a time before noticing not as hot water coming out. But really how often is 3 things all on at once needing hot water. (I.e dishwasher, shower, washing machine)Currently Overall, worth the investment, it will pay for itself in 4.5 years providing it last that long.

I have now had this installed for 8 months. The unit is OK, does take a lot of time/water to heat up to temperature, even after using just 5 min apart. Takes about a gallon of running water before the water temp is hot. My sink is only 4 feet of plumbing away from the unit. When unit is up to temp it is great, I am on a well pump & the water stays the same temp even with the fluctuation of pump pressure (42-60 PSI). You could shower all day & have hot running water.The price/value is great as most other units are noticeably more expensive. I did have to exchange this right out of the box as the 1st unit temperature was inconsistent when running. Amazon was great with the return, no issues there. However if you are paying a plumber to do the install, could get expensive for that.I would recommend this unit for a cottage (if you have 200 amp service) or a garage/shop as it does not take up much space or waste electricity when not in use.I give this product 3.5 stars.