[jims69camaro]

something to check into... down in CR they had a direct source water heater. i am not sure how it worked, but it was electric. there was no tank either nearby or situated elsewhere. it seems to be a stand-alone system, and by system i am using that word very generally. it was just the shower head in the shower. it only heated the water coming out of the shower head. obviously if you need hot water elsewhere in the house, this will not work for you. it's truly something to marvel at, though. it's something i would consider here in my own home since we always wash our clothes in cold water and the only other place you need hot water, besides the shower, is the sink. even then, you might be able to get one for the sink and one for the shower, or make some other arrangement for hot water in the sink. since it's electric, it would cut our gas bill in half. i wish i had at least gotten the name of the manufacturer, but i wasn't thinking right the last time we were there. we'll be going again in february, if not sooner, so i'll be able to get the manufacturer and pricing information. i hope you have luck replacing the current unit.

btw, did it go out already or were you just looking for cost-effective alternatives? seems like a silly thing, but if you have a large roof i have seen solar alternatives with copper pipe. it only require a pump to get the water up to the roof where it is heated by the solar panel(s) and then shuttled back down to a holding tank. i've been seriously considering solar for about a year now. heating water would be another benefit from a solar system.