Noritz Sizing Calculator Designed to Support Tankless Water Heater Selection for Consumers, Contractors

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. — Looking to smooth and simplify the water heater selection process for both homeowners and contractors, Noritz America has unveiled a tankless water heater sizing calculator as part of its newly updated website at noritz.com. The “Find the Right Model for Me” calculator is intended as the first critical phase in a three-step, online process designed to identify:

• The correct Noritz tankless model for a given application
• A qualified, Noritz-trained contractor to quote and install the unit
• All available tax credits and utility rebates to lower the installed cost and shorten the payback period

“Consumers, of course, come to our site for basic information on tankless technology, products and—most especially—product costs,” explains Jason Fleming, marketing manager for Noritz America. “But they don’t always know where to go next for a solution and a final quote.”

The new calculator jumpstarts the process of finding an actual solution by offering a preliminary idea of how big a unit is needed, notes Fleming. The site then helps locate a nearby professional who can make a final determination on water heater size, as well as the gas line and venting options, before quoting the cost of the product and its installation. All the consumer needs is access to the Internet.

“We want to give consumers a better idea of what they need and where to find it, so they feel more confident in their purchases, especially when switching from a tank heater to a tankless solution,” says Fleming. “Meanwhile, we also want to make it quicker and easier for the contractor to pinpoint the Noritz model that best fits a given application.”

How it works: Consumer visitors to noritz.com can link to the online calculator, free of charge, right from the Noritz Web page. They are then prompted to enter two small, but vital numbers:

Home zip code
This geographic reference triggers an automatic calculation of the “worst-case” (i.e., coldest) ground water temperature, wherever the homeowner lives. The colder the water entering the unit, the larger the burner that is needed to raise that temperature quickly to the set point—usually between 110 F and 120 F. For a Chicago resident, the system would peg the coldest ground water temperature at around 40 F and calculate the model size accordingly. But the same household application in Florida or even North Carolina would likely require a smaller model.

Number of showerheads
This second key variable alerts the program whether more than one shower is operating at once, thus indicating a larger water heater is needed. If the home has more than two conventional showers; or, if high-flow showers, multiple body sprays and whirlpool tubs are in the hot-water mix, the visitor is advised to contact Noritz directly for a more precise, customized consultation, according to Fleming. “We didn’t want our online calculations to assume anything beyond the basics of one or two conventional showerheads.”

Once the two questions are answered, the program indicates a model number with a few basic specifications: burner size (Btus per hour), maximum flow rate in gallons per minute and the overall energy efficiency. The user can print out this information along with a specification sheet and hand them to the plumber he or she has found by clicking the “Get a Quote” button.

“The calculator simply provides a baseline that the installer can fine tune as needed,” says Fleming, who stresses that only a Noritz-trained, professional contractor can make the final product recommendation and accurately quote the installed cost.

For more information on the sizing calculator, visit noritz.com.