It will be better because of the faster heat transfer but regardless of how you heat water It's thermal dynamics won't change. Water boils at 212 degrees and freezes at 32 degrees. Applying too much energy to a gallon of water will cause it to boil over. In a standard heater we have a very primitive technology, the temp sensor opens the gas or Turns on the heating elements without any kind of safety mechanisms, it doesn't if there is water in the tank, if the tank is leaking or if the flue pipe is disconnected. All it knows is there is a call for heat so fire up the burner. In a tanklesss all those things are taken into consideration and micro switches are added to prevent the heater from turning on, in the case of a overheating I like the units that have 2 or more high limit switches to monitor the temp.