TACF Articles

Tank water heaters can result in a large electricity or power bill and a way to decrease your bill is by using a tankless water heater. Regular water heating systems account for about 30% of all the energy you use in a month. While many tankless water heater companies say they can reduce your bill in half, they don’t actually reduce your bill that much but it will make a difference. Additional names for tankless water heaters in clued on demand or instantaneous water heaters.

Instead of heating a full tank of water and keeping it at a hot temperature the tankless water heater heats water through a heat exchanger only when hot water is needed. You will still use power to operate the water heater but not nearly as much as maintaining a tank of water at a specific temperature. Tankless water heaters can be used for your entire houses water needs or for dishwashers, remote bathrooms, hot tubs, poolhouse, remote BBQ, outdoor sinks and more.

It is possible to purchase an electric tankless water heater or a gas fueled tankless water heater. Each type of heater has different requirement as a gas tankless water heater needs to have proper ventilation and the electric heaters require a specific voltage and need to be on their own circuit breaker. You may need to make some renovations to your home depending on the type of tankless water heater you desire.

An important consideration is what you want the tankless water heater to do. Is it only require for one sink or do you want it to heat the water for your entire house. Some single point tankless water heaters available include the Chronomite Instant Flow SR, Stiebel Eltron Point of Use, and Eemax Single Point. A flow controlled tankless water heater is good for two water fixtures, such as two sinks. A thermostatic tankless water boosts the water temperature for long pipes that may connect to your sanitation or dishwashers.

There are models available to provide hot water for your entire home or even your entire property depending on what you want. The Rheem Indoor gas fired tankless water heater, Eemax EX280T2T series three and Stiebel Eltron Tempra are all large enough to supply hot water to your whole house.

As with most of the current energy efficient products today the start up costs tend to be expensive but these are offset by the reduction in energy costs as you use the product. Using a tankless water heater uses much less energy then a traditional tank water heating system. You may need to do a few home renovations to install the system as electric models will need plugs and gas models will need proper ventilation. The systems should also be cleaned once a year and you may need to install filters depending on the quality of your water.

There are some disadvantages to the tankless water heater in that the temperature of the water is inconsistent. If you only need a trickle of warm water then there is a chance that the heat exchanger will not turn on and heat the water. It also takes some time to heat up the water so tankless systems do not provide immediate hot water. Since many tankless systems are electric you will not have hot water if the power goes out.