Recently, more and more customers are inquiring about having tankless water heaters installed in their houses or apartments. In fact, there are several factors to consider before making a decision, related to the cost of installation, energy efficiency and capacity of the electrical system.
There are several brands and models available in the market, from low power units to units capable of feeding a large house or a business. So, let’s review Pros and Cons
Benefits:
1. Energy Efficiency: According to Energy.gov, for homes that use 41 gallons or less of hot water daily, tankless water heaters are estimated to be 30% more energy-efficient than conventional storage-tank water heaters.
2. Longer useful lives: Tankless water heaters typically last 20 to 30 years, which is twice as much the forecasted useful life of a storage-tank water heater. You should keep in mind that “hard water” areas may reduce the useful life of both types of water heaters.
3. Instant hot water: The main benefit of instant hot water is that you won’t have to wait even 15 to 25 seconds for your water to become hot. On the other hand, tankless water heaters deliver two to three gallons of hot water per minute. Many storage tank water heaters take longer to heat water because of the larger volume of water they must heat.
4. More Storage space: On-demand water heaters are small and may be installed in “tight quarters.” They can even be installed on outside walls.
Drawbacks:
1. Purchase Cost: Higher purchase cost than storage tank water heaters.
2. Installation Cost: Tankless water heater installation can be costly if you’re replacing a storage-tank water heater with a tankless-type water heater.
3. Output Challenge: Simultaneous hot water uses, such as showers and doing laundry can cause your tankless water heater to fail to keep up with the hot water demand on it.
4. Electric System: Your electric System should need to be upgraded, since they could take from 40Amps through 160Amps, compared with a storage-tank water heater that takes 30Amps in most of the cases.
This issue makes installation in a condominium virtually impossible because the service to the building was sized to a load of all of the units with a minimum amount of extra capacity..
Homes with natural gas can install the gas model tank-less heaters either in the existing location or on the outside of the house. The gas units are more efficient than the electric but will cost more to install. However, they will quickly make up the difference in energy savings.
Al is a State Licensed Electrical Contractor and owner of Al Siefert Electric. The articles he writes are about items of interest and questions from his customers. Please call Al if you have questions concerning electric service, installation, and repair.
(954) 493-9411
