Customer Reviews

Bosch AE125 PowerStar 4 GPM Indoor Electric Tankless Water Heater, White

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I purchased the Bosch AE125 Electric Tankless Water Heater 4 months ago and have regretted it. Several considerations should be taken.

First the unit is not an analogue to a conventional tank-type water heater. It delivers hot water based upon a system that measures the incoming water temperature and flow rate and then "calculates" the number of elements (it actually has 6) that it turns on to provide an outflow temperature based on the setting of the temperature control. This system is not satisfactory for a water supply which varies in pressure, SUCH AS A WELL, as the unit itself provides substantial resistance to flow and thus the flow rate through the unit varies and thus the temperature of the outgoing water. This causes the delivered water to vary widely in temperature, from VERY HOT to VERY COLD. The unit would be improved if it was "smart enough" to not only measure incoming temp, but, also, outgoing temperature and flow rate and maintain the outgoing temp at a constant level.

Second: The unit has a flow sensor, which will shut the heaters off at low flow, so, therefore, if you wish to have a small amount of hot water flowing into your sink for shaving purposes, the water will not be heated at all. This "Feature" also has considerable influence on the use of "low flow" faucets.

Third: If you have a home which is heated by electricity and you install this unit, be aware that it consumes 120 AMPS at maximum heat rate. In my case, my electric heat consumes 120 Amps, also; my home has a 200AMP panel. Do the math, turn on the heat to warm the house and then take a bath, and suddenly the entire house is plunged into darkness. I have decided that I must sense when the water heater is turned on and prevent the central heat from coming on. This should be doable, and since the unit only runs when hot water is required, should disable the central heat only for short periods. HOWEVER, this is a feature that should be provided by Bosch and/or their literature should make clear to the potential purchaser that this is a problem with the electric heater.

Fourth: The unit apparently switches one or more of its six elements on or off as it attempts to heat the water. There does not appear to be any partially on for any of the elements. This leads to the problem of "stepped" heating of the water. And because the unit measures flow in and calculates the outgoing rate, if the water is mildly too hot or too cold, simply changing the mix at the faucet does not necessarily result in mild changes in temperature, a tiny change at the faucet can cause one or all of the elements to switch off resulting in a dramatic change at the faucet. AGAIN an argument for sensing the outgoing temperature and maintaining it by modulating the elements for a smoother temperature curve.

I would rate this unit as unsatisfactory for any home with a well, and only marginally acceptable for any home with electric heat (but only if modified as I indicated above).

Had I known then, what I know now, I would have saved myself a lot of money and frustration by purchasing a conventional tank-type water heater.

My wife and I bought this from Lowes in summer 2006 thinking it would save our energy bills even though the initial cost for the unit and the required installation for a new electrical service to it was expensive. Right out of the box, the electrician we hired to install it had to order from Bosch a replacement control board because the one we got was bad. Fast forward to February 2008, and we had issues with the control board again and no hot water for showers. Now we are screwed because that part is not covered in the warranty and costs roughly $300 dollars. Not to mention, it was difficult to reach Bosch Hot Water Technical Support because they put you on hold for God awful long time and they are really not that much help. All it is now is a hanging piece of junk on our wall. So, now my wife and I have decided to invest in a normal electric water heater that would just cost more or less the same as purchasing the control board. Buyers Beware! The concept is great but, I do not recommend getting this product.

I like this hot water heater, but it has stopped working after 14 months. I live in a city 60 miles from Seattle. Unfortunately, the nearest tankless-skilled repairman is in Seattle. Roto-Rooter claimed to have a skilled repairman, but when he arrived he admitted had never seen one of these before. That's not good, since he would have charged $330 per hour. I called Bosch, who manufactures this item. After being on hold 35 minutes at 6:30 am PST, the company offered to send me a new heating component part, but who will install it? As I ponder tomorrow's cold shower, I'm leaning toward cutting my losses and spending $900 to return to an archaic yet reliable tank hot water heater.

This is fine if you have room in your circuit box for 3 separate 40 amp twin pole breakers because it requires 120 amps to operate. Most people have only 100 amp service to their house and if they do have 200 amp service rarely do they have a spare 120 amps. It must be wired with #8 wire.This is for one fixture at a time and no more. There is very little that can be serviced on this and if it comes to that, it must be replaced. Water quality must be pristine because the hall effect switch is susceptible to fouling and is not replaceable. Power surges during storms are the death knoll of these. It has a rheostat type temp control you must bend down to see. Its easy to install but you have to purge the air out before starting or you will burn one or more of the three heating elements out. the older version was very crude and the heaters looked home made, the new plastic ones are an improvement. Take it from a former Bosch Authorized Service Rep do your homework carefully. Plumbers do not generally have the electrical background to work on these and Bosch does not publish the electrical values needed to test for performance. Even the most adept technician is going to be confused as to where to test if the heaters have failed and there is even less hope for the homeowner. Close but no cigar...

We bought this water heater in the beginning of 2005 the first one didn't work so we returned it for another. That one worked for right at 1 year then quit. I called the tech support and after being on hold for an hour was given an email that showed a diagram on how I could try to fix it. IT didn't work called them back and sat on the phone again for ever and when I finally spoke with someone the told me they would send out a replacement. I was then on the hook for another installation charge. The replacement work for just under 2 years and the water wouldn't get hot so I took the cover off to see if the reset buttons were tripped. One was so I reset it and flipped the breaker back on. The grey plastic box inside the unit lit up and sparks started flying out of it and that didn't stop until I shut the breakers off. So now we are with out hot water and need to buy a new water heater and pay to get it installed. I would tell you to heat water on the stove before you purchase one of these. I gave it a one star rating because there was nothing lower.

We bought this for use in a 2000 s.f. cabin we are building, and it has lived up to all it's promises. The water comes out of the ground really really cold - we're up north in the mountains, but this gizmo heats it up in an instant. We have enough hot to wash dishes and take a shower at the same time. Just a word of warning - my husband is a do-it-yourselfer and installed it himself, with jsut a little bit of help from an electrician friend. Well, for the first few weeks, we were taking virtually cold showers. I was ready to rip the thing down and send it back. But then we realized we had the power turned all the way down. (We thought it was all the way up - instructions are not clear on this). Even turned all the way down, the water was still a little bit warm. Anyway, we turned it up (slightly) and the water is as hot as can be! We are loving not having to pay to keep a tank of water hot all winter, in a home we won't use until spring.

I have had the Bosch AE 125 since January 2004. Recently I encountered a problem with the cylinders seeping water and loss of hot water altogether.
I contacted BOSCH and as mentioned in other reviews, I experienced the automated answering system and elected to leave my name, phone number and brief message rather than waiting for a rep to answer. I was surprised to receive a call within an hour from a rep and the customer service was superb!!! Still under warranty, They shipped out a new unit to me that day and I received it within 24 hours!
The issue with the cylinders has been addressed by BOSCH and the new unit included the upgraded cylinders which are no longer copper.
Any appliance can encounter problem every now and then, I rate my satisfaction based on customer support when needed and BOSCH has impressed me.
Great Product, I have saved alot of $$$ on my electric bill since I switched to the tankless water heater. I will not go back to a standard water heater.

My reason for ordering this was all about saving space. Now I have a nice-looking 12" x 12" white box hanging on the wall in my laundry room and have hot water in an instant. This unit also qualifed me for a $300 tax credit as it is very energy efficient. I recommend this to anyone who wants to save space and/or money!

I decided to purchase the Bosch unit because it seemed to have the best warranty. The unit failed upon start up, spent hours waiting on phone for tech support, tried to leave callback number by pressing 1, tried this several times and the line would not transfer to operator (zero)or voice mail (one), upon waiting several hours for tech support, and then going through several troubleshooting processes, I was advised that the unit was defective. I ended up purchasing a Stiebel Eltron 29 and I finally have hot water again. Also, after review of internal components, the Stiebel contained a much higher level of workmanship. The warranty is not as long as the Bosch unit, but it worked upon arrival and I have had zero problems or complaints thus far.

I would rate the unit at a negative 100.

One of the worst items I purchased. Water would fluctuate, be too hot to stand on the lowest settings. This was installed by professionals in a new house. I got several error codes. Finally had enough and called tech support. I was on the phone 2 hours the first time I called and that was on hold. Then I spent another hour playing games with the unit.

We spent over 10 hours talking to tech support over a month's period. I had to switch the unit on and off to get a bath. Tech support said the supplier told me the wrong unit to buy. Another tech support told me that that was wrong. I had to take off a lot of time to get the gas and plumbing installers to come back and check their work which was correct.

Finally I had enough and called the supplier. They worked with me to get me a credit. By the way that supplier no longer sells Bosch. Just give me your money instead of buy the Bosch unit. I can hand deliver consistent and dependable hot water better than Bosch. Oh yeah and you can get a straight answer from me without the long wait. Maybe the long wait shows that there are a lot of consumers that are having the same problems.

Replaced with Rinnia and it works as designed.