Tankless Water Heater in Littleton, CO

Do I need a City permit, or does the county handle it?

It depends on whether you're inside city limits. Littleton mailing addresses, including ZIPs 80120 through 80123, 80127 and 80128, also cover unincorporated communities such as Columbine, Ken Caryl and Highlands Ranch, where Arapahoe, Jefferson or Douglas County handles permits. Inside the city, Littleton's Building & Development Permit Center requires permits to install, alter, repair or replace any plumbing, gas, mechanical or electrical system, and homeowners doing single-discipline work themselves complete a Homeowner Affidavit. The Permit Center is at 303-795-3751, and the City's District Map Tool confirms jurisdiction. Most owners let the plumber file.

Will my older Littleton house take a tankless unit?

Usually, with some changes. Littleton grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and homes from that era often have the water heater in a basement venting through a chimney shared with the furnace. A gas tankless heater needs its own sealed vent, typically out a basement wall, and condensing models also need a condensate drain. The gas line is the other hurdle: Xcel Energy supplies gas in Littleton, and a tankless burner can pull several times what a tank does at full fire, so older piping often needs a larger run from the meter. Taking the water heater off a shared chimney can also leave the furnace in an oversized flue, which should be checked.

What water will the heater see?

The City says all City of Littleton residents are served by Denver Water; the city itself doesn't provide water. Denver Water publishes an annual water quality report with current hardness, and moderate hardness is enough that a tankless heat exchanger should be flushed on the maker's schedule, roughly yearly. Isolation valves added during installation make that a short job. Sewer, by contrast, is a City of Littleton service, treated at South Platte Renew, which Littleton owns jointly with Englewood.

A Littleton note

If you smell gas near the heater or anywhere in the house, leave first, then call 911 and Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-2999 from outside. Don't flip switches or try to relight anything on the way out.