EcoSmart 7.2 kW Electric Water Heater Booster Model # ECOTB240

After spending a couple of weeks researching tankless water heaters and regular water heaters I decided to give this a shot. I was tired of getting none of the hot water after the rest of the family got to it first. I didnt want to spend $2k on a 100 gallon install nor did I want to pay $3k to upgrade my electrical service and have the tankless installed.I spent a couple of hours talking to a plumber and learned on a 50 gallon tank you only get about 28 gallons of water at the temp you set it at and then it starts to cool off. I found on another tankless review the formula for calculating the power required to raise the temperature of water at my flow rate to 105 (which is what my family likes in the tub).If your water heater is set to 120 but you take your bath at 105 then only about 80% of your flow rate is coming from the tank, the rest is cold water mixing in. Based on this the math suggested I could get another 15 min of run time in the shower with this unit...so I bought one.Bottom line is it works like a champ!The install instructions were pretty decent and fortunately I didn't have to do any cutting on pipes since I had some flex connects already in place. The wiring part was super simple. The website doesn't go into the technical details for the layman on how this thing actually works for those that wanted to know but after another few days of looking around here's what it does:You set the unit to kick on when the water in the water heater declines to a certain temp (105 in my case). Once it gets below that, the EcoSmart kicks on and begins to heat the water to your set point (105 in my case but could be as high as 140 if you wanted). As the temp in the tank drops below your inlet temp setting the EcoSmart heats the water more and more up to compensate. On mine with a flow rate of 2.8 gpm it kept the water at the tap at 105 until the tank temperature reached 87 degrees. The unit is maxed out power wise at that point.The reason it doesn't trip the 30 amp breaker is because its wired in series with the water heater on that same breaker and has electronic controls that switch off the power to the tank elements while the EcoSmart is heating the water. This way you never exceed the max rating on the 30 amp breaker.This is how you get 40% more hot water out of your water heater for those that were on the fence or just wondered how this thing pulled it off. Short of a defect I'll be keeping mine. (Note: if you just take showers, this unit will keep the water at faucet 99 degrees at a flow rate of 2.5 gpm while the water in the tank drops to 77 degrees. Both the math shows it and I tested it with this unit today).

Made several attempts to contact the manufacturer by phone and email for technical support but never received a response - returned the product

My cold showers disappeared.This unit is great because it requires no new electrical wiring. Plumbing wise, it runs downstream of your existing hot water output, and electrical wise, it runs upstream of your electric hot water heater's electrical input. You just unhook the same electrical wire from your existing WH and wire it into this unit. This unit is much more affordable than a real tankless water heater, and much easier to install into your home.I did need to go to the plumbing store to get a different fitting, but the box includes fittings needed for common scenarios. All in all, it was a pretty painless install - much easier than the tankless installs I've done.We're a large family with a small water heater, and we now have plenty of hot water to finish showers. It's made a huge difference in the satisfaction level of showering. We have the output temp set to 115, and usually it is only boosting the water a few degrees. The rotary knob and display on the unit is informative and easy to use also.

Awesome price (half the price of a major chain home improvement store). This thing works extremely well. I strongly suggest wiring a 40 amp circuit for this since when it runs at full power, it will pull a full 30 amps. Also, if you have hard water, I suggest putting a valve with inlet/outlet above and below so that you can flush with vinegar to remove calcium salts on a regular basis.

TLDR: Overall, this is a great product, but it's not without faults.I finally got this thing installed and running, but ran into several issues.First and foremost, almost every single water heater uses a 3/4" connection. This unit requires you to downsize to 1/2" out of the water heater (although it does come with the correct piece to do it). The installation would have been a snap had I been able to simply disconnect my 3/4" flex hose, mount this to the water heater, then connect my flex pipe back to the outlet of the booster unit. But, instead I had to purchase additional components at the hardware store to make the connection.Once that was done, I connected the wiring up, and let it go. It worked great, until my circuit breaker tripped, and left me with cold showers the next morning. I reset the breaker, and ran some tests on the unit. I found that whenever it would hit 100% power usage (PWM) for any lengthy period of time, my 30A circuit would trip, every time. I was using 10/2 wire as suggested. I thought my breaker could be bad, so I replaced it with a new one, and the same thing happened. Next, I pulled a new 10/2 wire, thinking the old wire might not be sufficient. No luck. I emailed tech support, and got a very quick response. They suggested I upgrade to a 40A circuit, which required running 8/2 wire. So, another trip to the hardware store. I ran the second 8/2 to the booster unit, and skipped the pigtail connection to the water heater, instead, running the water heater direct wired to the 10/2 30A circuit. (Now my tank and booster can both be on at the same time)Now I'm in business! My water heater pulls 4500 watts from the 30A circuit, and this guy pulls 7200 watts from the 8/2 40A circuit. (theoretically... I haven't put a meter on it to test actual power consumption)In winter, my incoming water temperature is fairly cold... 47F. So, before installing this booster unit, I'd never have a warm shower after my 3 boys took their turns. So far, it seems to be helping out quite a bit, and I'd say everything is a success.In my testing, I was able to see a 30 degree temperature rise with a flow of 1GPM. At 2GPM, I'm seeing about a 15 degree rise. This does not quite match up with what I expected to see...but it does keep my shower usable.Also, I've noted that when the unit is off (not boosting heat), the outlet temperature always reads about 2 or 3 degrees lower than the inlet temperature, while water is flowing. It seems the calibration of the two temperature sensors is not quite right... but 2 degrees isn't such a huge amount that I am too concerned.If you need to pull a new circuit for this unit, I'd suggest starting with 8/2 @ 40A, and skipping the 10/2...

Keeps our baths nice and steamy hot!