Energy is a huge concern in America today, and more people are wondering how they can become “green” in their households. While recycling is always a great option, did you know that there are appliances that can save energy? These are now more available than ever and can save you money on your energy bills while getting your tax incentives as well. One example of something you might want to consider is the tankless water heater. This is one of the most popular energy-efficient home appliances because of how beneficial it can be inside of the home. If you want to go tankless, then it’s something that can give you long-term savings and benefits that traditional water heaters just can’t offer.
Traditional or Tankless?
A lot of people still have traditional water heating systems in their homes, and these provide you with hot water using electricity or gas. These also store water for future use so there’s always a small supply available to use. Unfortunately, a huge drawback to this is that energy is always being used to keep that water hot, and it’s always being used to replace the hot water that you use within your household. These water heaters even end up staying on when they aren’t in use, as standby losses of heat will cause the unit to turn on and cycle. Breakdowns are also quite common with traditional water heaters because of scale and corrosion, which occur both outside and inside of the tank.
When it comes to tankless water heaters, these work far differently. These only give you hot water when you actually USE it, which means it’s an on-demand system. With this, you don’t have much standby loss, and the water will get heated within just a short amount of time through gas or electricity. In addition to this, these units are a lot smaller because they don’t have the huge tanks attached to them. They can be attached right to a wall where they can be tucked away. Tankless water heaters are great for any size family, but if you have a really large family then you might want to consider getting two of them as many do. This can ensure you have hot water to meet the demands of your entire family.
Cost and Efficiency
Did you know that the average household in the United States uses around 60 gallons of hot water PER DAY? That’s a lot of water, and if you have a traditional water heater, then you could spend around $600 each year just operating it. If you were to go tankless, then you could end up spending much less! In fact, a report by the U.S. Department of Energy found that tankless water heaters can use up to 50% LESS energy than traditional water heaters. But, in order to find out how much your savings will actually be (depending on your household usage), you have to do your own calculations. This is important because this is one of the biggest expenses that you’ll face inside of your home.
Durability and Dependability
Have you ever hopped in the shower right after someone else; only to discover all of the hot water is gone? This is likely because you have a traditional water heater, which only stores a short amount of water before it needs to re-heat a new supply. With a tankless water heater, this is a scenario that you can actually avoid. These provide you with on-demand hot water WITHOUT having to wait. The heater turns on when you need it to, and will continue heating the heater as long as you need it to. You could have five or six people take a shower before you without having to worry about the hot water going away.
If you own a traditional water heater with a tank, then it will only last for around 10-12 years. Unfortunately, this number will shrink if you live in an area that has hard or mineral-rich water. If you were to invest in a tankless water heater, then you’d find that it has around double the life than a traditional water heater does. This is because it’s not as affected by hard water, and runs much more efficiently. It’s important that you still get routine maintenance on this, as that will ensure it lasts longer. If you want to learn about more benefits of these water heaters, then go to Energy.gov and you’ll find some great information!
