Rinnai Tankless Water Heater My 2012 Reviews – Rinnai RL75i-P 7.5 GPM Propane
Overall Rating 
Durability
Price Per BTU 
Rinnai RL75i-P Propane tankless water heater is the new and improved version of the old R75LSi-LP. The 7.5 GPM model is one is not Rinnai’s best selling water heaters, it has years of satisfied customers. Like the Natural gas model they are specially designed to combine high efficiency hot water with a refreshingly quiet operation which allows it to be installed essentially in any room or closet.
It’s commercial grade heat exchanger that’s so reliable it comes with an amazing 12 year warranty. Rinnai is so confident in this water heater that all parts and labor are covered for the first 5 years. Any company that is willing to cover all expenses for 5 years has my vote for a high quality product.
Another very cool feature of this RL75i-P is that it’s compact enough to fit in your existing water heaters closet. You simply mount it to the wall and vented up through the roof or out an outside wall.
An easy way to save hundreds of dollars is by purchasing your own tankless water heater online then finding a qualified contractor / plumber second. At the bottom of the review I explain how to hire an qualified installer.
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The Rinnai RL75i-P Key Features
- 7.5 GPM (40° F rise) is great for 2 to 3 bathroom home, it can handle up to 3 shower at once
- ENERGY STAR® Qualified
- Min/Max Gas Rate = 10,500 to 180,000 (Input BTUs)
- Thermal Efficiency = Propane: 82%
- Indoor Installations
- Temperature Settings Residential: 98°F – 140°F
- Pre-set at 120°F
- Commercial grade Heat Exchanger
- Digital temperature control
- Digital Controller has an Error Code Indicator
- If you like what you have read and want to buy this tankless water heater you can get it for the cheapest price on Amazon through this link.
- ENERGY STAR® Qualified
- - Save money with clean and affordable Natural gas.
- No storage tank to heat up in the middle of the night
- Meets California and Texas NOx emissions standards
- Electronic Ignition.
- - No gas pilot light running all day and night.
- - The gas is ignited by electric starter than shuts off
- Quiet Operation
- Warranty (Residential)
- - 12 years on the Heat Exchanger,
- - 5 Years on all other parts
- - 5 Years Labor
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Like all tankless water heaters in takes a few seconds to heat the water and travel to you faucet.
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Like all tankless water heaters a minimum flow must be sustained to keep the water hot.
- Natural gas is easier to work with.
This tankless water heater is for :
A standard 4 person family with 2 bathrooms. Here is an example on how to add up your GPM’s in sizing a tankless water heater.
Example for the RL75i-P if you have 55°F tap water:
- Shower One = 2.0 GPM
- Shower Two = 2.0 GPM
- Sink = .5 GPM
- Total = 4.5 GPM
I found that the actual GPM’s with 55°F tap water is around 4.6 GPM’s.
Rinnai RL75i-P Tankless water heater reviews:
I had a Rinnai installed a few weeks ago and its as good as the company said. In the morning a bit longer to get hot water to the shower head, but beyond that it works great. It will take some time to calculate the pay back period, but since I had an electric heater, my guess is a payback period of about 3 years. Given the avg life of 20 years for these type of units, it’s well worth the initial expense.
These reviews are paraphrased for size – view the originals here
You bought a tankless water heater online now what do you do?
1. Call a plumber first
Tell them you have a new Rinnai RL75i-P in your position and you would like a quote on installing this tankless water heater.
Note: if you don’t have a 120 volt electrical outlet near the tankless water heater you may need to call an electrician to install an outlet. No matter what type of water heater you pick you will need a 120 volt outlet nearby to plug into.
2. Pull a permit
Someone will need to pull a permit and set up an appointment with the town / city gas inspector ask you plumber to do this. The inspector will come to your home and check to see if the gas line is holding pressure before they place a tag on gas connect. Many people do not like having to pull a permit and contact the inspector on a home improvement projects. I understand that BUT, without this inspector’s gas tag, the gas company will look at your gas pipe and go home 100% of the time.
3. Call around for the best Propane supplier in your area.
Contact your existing or new propane supplier. A plumber can run all the internal gas lines to the water heater, but the gas company makes the last connection. After the gas company is done, your plumber will start up the tankless water heater. Make sure the training is in the contract, some plumbers may try to cut that out of the install.
What could happen when you start this process? Everyone is going to want to sell you tankless water heater, the plumber and the gas company. Why are they pushing to do this? They want to double dip, the want to put a profit on the tankless water heater and the install. If they can package the deal you have no idea how much your water heater really cost. They can show you a reduced price for the heater and increase the profit on the install. This happens every time you go to your mechanic, parts and labor.
Take control and buy your own parts and get quotes for the labor. You can do this just be clear in what you want done.
Plumber = Tankless water heater Installation should cover,
- Disconnect and remove existing water heater,
- Connection water lines
- Connecting gas lines
- Basic wiring,
- Venting outside (wall or ceiling)
- Pull permit
- Ask them to contacting the gas inspector and letting you know when they are coming so you can tell the Gas company (I got caught on this detail last year and lost another day of work).
- Start-up training.
- After its running you can talk about a possible maintenance contract.
About Jarod:
I spent 16 years working as an HVAC Commercial Sales Rep in New England. I’ve been worked with everything from hot water heaters, heat pumps and even indoor swimming pool dehumidifiers.
As you have already noticed reading about heating and cooling systems can get tricky. I’ll do my best to help you understand what just factory lingo is and what’s really important from a buyers / home owners point of view.
I have oil heat in my house but I just recently bought a tankless water heater. I learned a few things on what to look for when upgrading to a tankless water heater. At the end of every product review I will try and help you through the process with my “You bought a tankless water heater online now what do I do?”
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