 Perfect for small condo/house |
| Review Date: January 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mike R. Wood, |
| This is perfect for a small condo/house. We have a one bath condo that we installed this in. It works great. It does take some getting used to because it seems to me that you have to run the water just a little bit longer to get it hot (compared to a tank water heater), but then no problems. Best to use it with only on fixture, i.e. dont start the washer when someone is in the shower. But you can wash your hands in the sink with hot water while someone is in the shower with out them noticing. If you have more than one bedrooms, get that larger Bosch AE125 unit. |
All Things Considered
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| Review Date: October 3, 2008 |
| Reviewer: T. Smith, Christiana, PA |
I recently bought an AE115 to replace the aging oil burner we have. I actually ended up installing its cousin the AE125.The AE115 was found to be a little on the small side for my geographical area. I hadn't initially known this when I ordered it and I thought maybe I would save someone else a little grief by telling you this. A lot depends on your geographical area. I live in the north east US where my well water gets cold enough to need the larger unit.
You most likely will need to at least get a few 40 amp breakers if you already have a 200 amp service at your house. I needed to make a total electric upgrade to my house to 200 amps from 100 amps. The AE125 takes THREE 40 amp breakers. Actual amp readings by myself prove to be much less than that and most circuits are protected to 20% over actual use so no need to get to nervous about this. Consider that this amperage is only on for the short time you take a shower .vs hot water heater that is always heating your water(unless you install a timer).
A few more tidbits of info that might be useful. Temperture fluctuations are more noticable than with a water heater but not in the extreme IF you do a little tweaking first. Most people expect no fluctuation right out of the box even though the manufacterer gives you a procedure that will minimize or eliminate this. I adjusted my thermostat and also adjusted the rate or flow of water entering the heater and even with well water It is almost unnoticable. Are you frugal/cheap? then take a bath and you wont notice it at all.
The AE 125 has six elements I think the AE 115 has at least four and they need good either filtered/softened or both before the water gets to those elements or you might experience premature element failure due to calcium and other hard minerals in the water. One last thing, check the connections and make sure they are tight. At the factory they are throwing these together and might miss this. A loose connection will eventually cause a failure.
All thing considered I am very pleased with my heater thus far. It sounds like customer service will work to either replace or repair a unit if there is a problem from other reviews I have read. |
Works fine in FL
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| Review Date: December 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. Wells, Orlando, FL |
Provides more than enough hot water for our two-person family. In Florida, the water is boiling hot even when it's 30's F outside. Failed after three years of use (during which maintenance was required or completed) when one heater module started leaking. I called Bosch and they are sending a replacement unit that uses polymer heat modules (mine had copper units) after I explained the problem.
Overall very friendly customer service (I called when I first installed the unit too).
Sometimes runs hot and cold; but I think that it's related to my cold water pressure being very inconsistent throughout a single shower. The hot/cold cycles could be more than fixed with an automatic temp shower head. |
Buy Tankless
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| Review Date: January 29, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Fields, Savannah, GA |
I have a 100A service breaker in my house and this thing is fine. Sure my wires might overheat sometimes, but for the amount of time you are going to be heating water, there will be plenty of time for the wire to cool. If the wires heat too much then the breaker trips. Just be sensible about your power usage when heating water. As for failures, some people may have had failures due to not installing an expansion tank that allows the pressure increase created by heating water to be absorbed.
Another competitor to tankless is the heat pump assisted water heater. Give me a break, how many times has your air conditioner broken? The heat pump is essentially and air conditioner strapped onto a tank. Tons of moving parts and things that can go wrong. The corporations want you on a determined replacement cycle that they have factored into their business model. Go with TANKLESS anywhere with only one moving part (a small flow sensor that detects you need hot water). I have had this unit for 5 years and it has paid itself off many times more. Do the calculations, yes the heat pump assisted units have high energy factors (2 or more), but give me a break, you are still heating water all of the time during the night when you do not need it and using more electricity. If you are concerned about the electric tankless, then go with gas tankless, either way go TANKLESS. Do the math and you will find out that these heat pump assisted units add complexity and ridiculous amounts of failure points. All my tankless has is two 7,000 W heating elements, two 1/4 gallon tanks, one flowmeter and one logic board coated in epoxy to reduce failure. Gas units are similar, instead having a boiler to heat the water. NO moving parts = RELIABILITY. |
Use in warmer climate
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| Review Date: August 27, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Donal Fagan, Baltimore MD United States |
We bought the AE 115 for a small 2BR house. We had to add two 240V 40Amp circuits (the AE 125 would have required three 40A circuits and upgrading to 200Amp service) and we had to refrain from using the dryer or stove at the same time as drawing hot water. It did provide enough water for any one fixture at a time, except the bathtub, which we had to fill slowly. After about seven months the water would change from hot to cold during a shower. After ten months, it stopped delivering hot water altogether. The heating elements and the transducer appear to work, so we suspect that the heat sensor failed.
While installing a new electric water heater, we deduced that cold water was being drawn into the hot water line through the old gas water heater (which we hadn't disconnected in case the next owner went back to gas). I suspect that the combination of our error and the slightly colder than recommended intake water eventually overwhelmed the unit's capacity. So I'd think the AEC 115 would work better in a warmer climate. |
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