Customer Reviews

Bosch AE115 PowerStar 2.6 GPM Indoor Whole House Electric Tankless Water Heater

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have used these units in several buildings. The biggest building being an 8 unit building all with 1 bedroom apartments. Each apartment has it own hot water heater.

We have OVER a 60% fail rate. First you do a LOT of electrical work to get to the point of being able to install it. Then you put it in and this what progresses:

- day one works great and you think "what a great idea I had"...

- few weeks or months later it is hot for a minute, then warm, then cold as it runs

- you reset the unit try and test everything, it works ok you think

- get a call a day later it is the same warm then cold then warm showers

- you take it out and return it to the store.

I have replaced 3 yes THREE in one single apartment alone. All in all I bought 8, for an 8 unit building, and have installed either new or replacements 18, in a eight unit building that only has 8 on any given day, at this time. I am a whiz at getting them in and out.

So if you are looking to waste money and a LOT of time as you replace it and try and fix it etc this is for you. These could not even sustain a 1 bedroom with ONE tenant. All my units have a single tenant in them....

I did call the company and they are very nice. The guy I was talking with was a technician on what they called the "pro side" for builders professional etc. I explained everything to him and told him of my fail rate and he said that was possible. So they know of the problem, over 60% fail rate did NOT even phase him, he obviously had heard about this plenty of times before me......

I recently bought an AE115 to replace the aging oil burner we have. I actually ended up installing its cousin the AE125.The AE115 was found to be a little on the small side for my geographical area. I hadn't initially known this when I ordered it and I thought maybe I would save someone else a little grief by telling you this. A lot depends on your geographical area. I live in the north east US where my well water gets cold enough to need the larger unit.

You most likely will need to at least get a few 40 amp breakers if you already have a 200 amp service at your house. I needed to make a total electric upgrade to my house to 200 amps from 100 amps. The AE125 takes THREE 40 amp breakers. Actual amp readings by myself prove to be much less than that and most circuits are protected to 20% over actual use so no need to get to nervous about this. Consider that this amperage is only on for the short time you take a shower .vs hot water heater that is always heating your water(unless you install a timer).

A few more tidbits of info that might be useful. Temperture fluctuations are more noticable than with a water heater but not in the extreme IF you do a little tweaking first. Most people expect no fluctuation right out of the box even though the manufacterer gives you a procedure that will minimize or eliminate this. I adjusted my thermostat and also adjusted the rate or flow of water entering the heater and even with well water It is almost unnoticable. Are you frugal/cheap? then take a bath and you wont notice it at all.

The AE 125 has six elements I think the AE 115 has at least four and they need good either filtered/softened or both before the water gets to those elements or you might experience premature element failure due to calcium and other hard minerals in the water. One last thing, check the connections and make sure they are tight. At the factory they are throwing these together and might miss this. A loose connection will eventually cause a failure.

All thing considered I am very pleased with my heater thus far. It sounds like customer service will work to either replace or repair a unit if there is a problem from other reviews I have read.

Works great most of the year. When it is 50 degrees or less, the water tempurature declines. Through the peak of the winter, it's pretty much a cold shower. Customer service is very pleasant and willing to help. They have sent us 2 replacements (the last one was a larger size)at no extra cost to us, but still having the same problem every winter. We are looking into a larger one again. Our house is 2 bath. I still won't ever go back to a tank.

We bought the AE 115 for a small 2BR house. We had to add two 240V 40Amp circuits (the AE 125 would have required three 40A circuits and upgrading to 200Amp service) and we had to refrain from using the dryer or stove at the same time as drawing hot water. It did provide enough water for any one fixture at a time, except the bathtub, which we had to fill slowly. After about seven months the water would change from hot to cold during a shower. After ten months, it stopped delivering hot water altogether. The heating elements and the transducer appear to work, so we suspect that the heat sensor failed.

While installing a new electric water heater, we deduced that cold water was being drawn into the hot water line through the old gas water heater (which we hadn't disconnected in case the next owner went back to gas). I suspect that the combination of our error and the slightly colder than recommended intake water eventually overwhelmed the unit's capacity. So I'd think the AEC 115 would work better in a warmer climate.

We bought this product to replace a 20yr old tanked water heater. We have been working for a week now trying to get a hot shower. We live in Texas so our water temp is okay with this unit but our electric is taking alot of re-do to get it to the point of a pleasing shower temp. I recommend that everyone have the unit professionally installed by an electrician/plumber and then stay on top of the problems before the warranty is expired. Good concept just not so great for DIY.

I've now been through 5 different units in slightly more than 5 years! Extremely poor reliability. One heating element failure, three printed circuit board component failures, most distressing! The units just won't last any length of time. I've spent a lot of time trouble shooting,talking to customer service reps and technicians and far too much time and money ripping out old failed units and putting in new ones. I remodeled the space and area when I put in the first one and don't have the space to put back in a tank style heater. It lasted 20+ years!

Provides more than enough hot water for our two-person family. In Florida, the water is boiling hot even when it's 30's F outside. Failed after three years of use (during which maintenance was required or completed) when one heater module started leaking. I called Bosch and they are sending a replacement unit that uses polymer heat modules (mine had copper units) after I explained the problem.

Overall very friendly customer service (I called when I first installed the unit too).

Sometimes runs hot and cold; but I think that it's related to my cold water pressure being very inconsistent throughout a single shower. The hot/cold cycles could be more than fixed with an automatic temp shower head.

I moved into a new home and was thrilled to find it already had a bosch tankless water heater. The savings on gas is phenomenal! Till the thing started having problems. Diligently I downloaded their user guide and read through the trouble shooting steps. But the problem persisted and got worse.

At first the hot water kept cutting out in the middle of a shower and would not come on again for a couple of minutes. I found that by running the hot water on the vanity sink the shower would stay hot. But then I'm using twice the amount of water, and after 4 months of doing so that didn't work any more.

It got to where sometimes I had to turn on 3 hot water faucets so that I could the heater to kick in.

I changed the scale filter,

I flushed the system

And when none of those worked, I called a plumber.

The plumber identified a faulty flow valve and called up Bosch. Bosch promptly refused to send a replacement valve even though the appliance is still under warranty. The licensed plumber becoming frustrated with the tech support person told me to speak to the support person that they might respond to home owner. Not only did he not respond, but when I offered to purchase the valve and have the plumber install it he refused to admit that the heater had any problems.

Finally I became frustrated and called the heater a piece of fecal matter. He did not hand up on me then but only after I insisted on speaking with his manager so I didn't have to get angry.

The guy was surly, rude and tenaciously refused even that courtesy. Instead, he hung up.

I called their retail department thinking that they would be trained better in customer relations, the same attitude persisted.

The customer care rep told me that I was yelling at the tech support person and using profanity and "The tech support person has no reason to lie". I basically called for the replacement part and to complain about the hang up. I got no satisfaction there. Customer support told me "Tech support has the say on who gets replacement parts"

So if you want to buy a product that

"Doesn't work"

"That doesn't honor its warranty"

And who believes the customer is always wrong; Bosch is the right product for you.

I've been using one of these for nearly two years to supply hot water for one shower and one sink. My water comes from a well and the pressure does fluctuate quite a bit, which causes the water to go hot-warm-hot-warm. This cycle will repeat several times during a shower and requires constant adjustments to maintain a comfortable temperature. After the initial installation I was not getting any hot water at the sink. It turned out to be a partially clogged screen in the faucet causing the flow rate to be too low to turn on the heater. I had not even noticed the clog before, it was still working fine. This heater requires more than a little bit of flow to turn it on. I used to leave warm water running slowly to clean my razor as I shave, not possible anymore with this heater, it must be full on to make heat. I used the heater here in the NE US where the groundwater temp is fairly constant around 54-56 degrees year-round, and the heater did not have a problem making very hot water even with the temperature setting at about 3/4. A few weeks ago while I was taking a shower I heard a loud bang from the heater and the water briefly turned black. I let it run for a few minutes until it cleared up, and the water got cold. I found one of the breakers had tripped and actually been destroyed (will not reset). I replaced the breaker, but the water heater still does not work, it goes hot-cold-hot-cold. I switched back to my other heat source (oil burner) and I'm not sure if I'll be repairing this unit because I really don't feel like fixing it every few years. I was never 100% satisfied with it. I expect any home appliance to last a minimum of five years trouble-free, especially one that requires fairly complex installation like this one. Very disappointing.

I'm quite happy with this heater, except for 3 months out of the year. I live in Florida Tampa Area and figured this a warm climate, but if the temperature goes below 40 degrees the heater won't work, I have it in a carport shed, so no insulation. If I put a space heater in my shed and let it run for about an hour I'll get some hot water after leaving the faucet running for 5 min. The whole thing is very annoying to say the least.

So overall I do not recommend this heater except if you live somewhere where it never gets below 50 degrees.