Nortiz’s NRCR series is an attractive option for both new homes and retrofits.
Rather than risk the shock of ice cold water on their skin, most people turn on the faucet and let the water run until reaching their ideal temperature for bathing or doing the dishes. The practice is extremely wasteful, which is why Nortiz is launching a brand-new tankless water heater series to ensure the pipes are primed with hot water at all times.
Its flagship NRCR Residential Condensing Tankless Water Heater series combines hot water recirculation with best-in-class efficiency. The NRCR series uses a fully integrated recirculation pump to keep hot water close to even the furthest outlet in the home, minimizing the wait and the waste of unused water.
“Tankless water heater recirculation is starting to get more popular,” Marketing Manager Andrew Tran says. “In California, where Nortiz America is headquartered, there are codes requiring a push button to prime the pump and fill the line with warm water so you are not bleeding the line with cold water first. People want to reduce the amount of water waste and tankless efficiency is good, but when you add in a recirculation pump that reduces waste, it gets even better.”
Nortiz is launching two models for residential use: one with inputs of 165,000 Btu per hour and one with 199,900 Btu per hour. Both of these models carry an ultra-high Uniform Energy Factor of 0.97, while offering the superior durability of dual, stainless-steel heat exchangers.
In addition to whole-home hot water service, additional features of Nortiz’s NRCR series include intelligent auto learning of household water usage, industry leading venting flexibility, Wi-Fi capability, low-Btu performance, digital display and an easy-to-install crossover valve kit.
Nortiz’s NRCR series is an attractive option for homebuilders developing new homes, but the crossover valve kit allows the tankless water heater to be installed in older homes as a retrofit solution. The simple-to-install component effectively provides hot water recirculation without the need for a conventional, dedicated return line from the farthest fixture to the water heater.
Product Perfectionists
Tankless water heater recirculation is not new to the industry, but Nortiz took its time filing this gap in its product offering to ensure best-in-class efficiency. The company may move at a slower pace than its competitors, but in doing so it has earned a reputation for high quality. “It’s because our R&D team is so detail-oriented,” Tran notes. “When we release something, we make sure it’s of good quality.”
Nortiz is so confident in its new NRCR series that it is offering a 15-year heat exchanger warranty, which is five years more than the industry average. “We have made it best-in-class efficiency and offer the best warranty in its class,” Tran notes.
Noritz, based in Japan, sells tankless water heaters that use heating plates to flash-heat the water, giving users “endless hot water.” The technology was originally developed in Japan in the 1950s to help users save space.
Tankless has been on the rise more recently with the increased interest in green projects, including net zero-energy homes, which led the company to continue innovating.
Noritz has sold its water heaters in the United States and Canada since 2002. Although the technology is still somewhat in its infancy in North America and an educational process, Tran says it is slowly starting to catch on here.
