Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless Water Heaters The popularity of tankless water heaters is growing because these heaters only heat water as it is needed allowing better energy efficiency over their counterpart water heaters that have tanks. Tankless water heaters do not store water and can supply unlimited amounts of hot water. Tankless water heaters that have an energy efficiency rating over 80 may also qualify the buyer for a $300 Federal tax credit. Why Do Some Reviews Say They Are Not For Everybody? Tankless water heaters do not start heating water until the tap is turned on, so, there is a delay of about a gallon of water before the water heats up and that occurs every time the water tap is turned on whether you just used it or not creating wasted water. Tankless water heaters can be twice as expensive as water heaters with tanks and the possibility of making that expense back up in energy savings is unlikely. Installation of tankless water heaters may be difficult and gas units may require wider vents and gas pipes to run the meter for the unit which can increase the initial installation cost, and, installing them in an older home can be a lot harder to do. It may also take longer for the hot water to reach remote rooms of the house using a tankless water heater. How The Tankless Water Heater Works. Tankless water heaters do not have storage tanks. That is why they are energy efficient. There is no standby heat loss and no energy wasted heating water stored in a tank like on conventional water heaters. Tankless water heaters can either be point-of-use heaters or a whole-house unit. Point-of-use models only heat water where the unit is installed as opposed to ones that heat water in the whole house. Cold water enters the unit and is then heated by a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is either an electric resistant heating coil or a gas fired burner that will use natural gas or propane. This is the typical whole-house model and gas units have more heating capacity then models with electric resistant heating coils do. Three decisions that must be made to determine sizing the tankless water heater are the volume of water needed, the cold water temperature entering the unit, and, the hot water temperature desired. These needs determine the type, size, and, number of tankless water heaters that are needed to be used. Which Type Of Unit Is The One Needed? Point-of-use water heaters are designed to only heat water where they are installed. They are smaller units that fit inside the cabinet under the sink or in a closet serving only one sink, faucet, or, shower. These are less expensive models costing just a few hundred dollars before adding the expense of installation. Whole-house tankless water heaters are much more expensive than point-of-use models, and, the size and number of units needed may vary determined by the number and types of fixtures running at the same time. Groundwater temperature is a key factor in determining the number and type of units needed and that is based on what part of the Country you live in. Colder regions will require more units than warmer climates of the Country do.