I have one and I have mixed feelings. If your power goes out you won’t have any hot water. With a tank you can easily have 2 days of warm water if you conserve. If you have hard water you need to worry about getting it cleaned out or the smaller pipes can get clogged. They say you should have it cleaned once a year anyway, I don’t know how true that is. What’s great about it is endless hot water. I can take a long shower, while someone else fills a huge bath, and then I can get right out and start my laundry with hot water for cottons, and the hot water continues. It also saves on your utility bill, because it only heats on demand. My tankless is gas. I have heard the electric ones don’t heat as well, but I don’t know if it’s true. I figure if a coffe maker can hear water to 220 then why not a tankless heat to 120? I don’t understand logically why electric wouldn’t work well.
That doesn’t help you at all probably. I think if I were to do it again, I would not pay a lot more for a tankless. Usually they are double the cost, but you say it will be cheaper.
If you’re worried about water waste the tankless does not change having to wait for the water to warm up. The water still has to travel through the pipes. But some sort of water heater right at the shower, bathtub, or kitchen sink would take care of it.
I would be interested in hot on demand at the actual location, but I don’t know how expensive it is or how bulky. I don’t even know if it is very available, and maybe it’s only practical when building a house from scratch.