We “ upgraded” to a tankless system ( on demand) in our new house and so far we don’t like it. It takes forever for the water to turn hot. Meanwhile now we are paying for water for the first time.
Good thing we are only 2 living in the house because you can’t have more than one appliance or shower running at the same time either.
The tank in our former home went last spring just before we put it on the market and we had to replace it. It was 10 years old. One thing- we always had plenty of hot water as it was a combination 40 gallon reserve tank with an on demand system. We never ran out and it was hot enough. We had it set at 120 degrees.
Sounds like something is broken in your tank. 130 degrees - that tank should be maintaining that temperature
Living in the Northeast in a big house it used to take awhile for the water to get hot out of the faucets. The more we used the faucets the quicker the hot water would come out since it was being circulated all the time. We also had hot water baseboard heat.
This is also what they tell us with our new tankless one. The more we use it when we are actually living in the house, the faster it will come out hot.
A tankless system doesn't heat water UNTIL you ask for it. The reason it is cold 'longer' than a tank system is that the pipe that carries the water from the tankless needs to clear of cold water that's in the pipe before it sends hot water. A tank will cause the hot water lines to have warmer/hot water in them close to the tank just because it's always heating water so 'surrounding pipes' get warmer too.
Sounds like your tankless system is too small for your needs. Gas (natural gas) tankless units are much better than electric. An electric tankless will use a LOT of power to get water hot and my experience with electric is 'not so good'. Probably because we're in Ohio. Put a small electric tankless in a Florida home (for one bathroom that was far away from water heater) and it does fine. No gas available there. A gas tankless will use more gas to get things hot but most gas tankless units require a larger diameter pipe for gas (at least 3/4" versus 1/2" for gas tanked heater). The bigger the unit (energy-wise) the more hot water you can get at one time. We have had a tankless for years (over 15) and can do dishes, take a shower in one bathroom and also in another bathroom. My gas bill is lower but my water bill is a bit higher (because of all that pipe clearing).
Most people make the mistake of adjusting the water (both with tank and tankless) when they first turn the water on with both cold and hot on. The tankless has to clear the hot water pipe of cold water before you get hot water. It relies on a certain volume of water moving through the tankless for it to get warm/hot. By mixing cold and hot at the start, it may not be getting enough 'volume' to heat well. Turn on only hot until you're getting hot water. Then add in cold. Tanked uses the same theory - hot only first then add cold. This way you're mixing cold and hot when you need cold to adjust. Running both while you're waiting for hot is just running cold water from the cold pipe down the drain.
AND if you're going to be filling a large tub - you will not drain the tankless of hot water. It will heat as long as you have the hot water valve on. That's one of the reasons many people switch to tankless - the 'endless' hot water. Caveat - if you or someone in your family takes long showers - they can. No more chance to use the reason, 'save some hot water for the rest of us.' When our tankless goes - we'll get another one.
