A Tankless Water Heater Installed - Compare First Before You Buy

Whether you are using gas or electricity to heat and power the appliances in your home you are familiar the bills that come to your mailbox each month. And you’ve probably heard some of the myths associated with the cost and efficiency of gas and electric power. When it comes time to install a tankless water heater don’t let this deter you from doing your homework.

You’ve heard for years that electricity was inefficient and too costly. But I wonder if those people have noticed that gas prices have doubled in the past decade and are still climbing. Electric, on the other, has remained relatively flat.

So what about efficiency?
Water heaters are part of DoE efficiency system, so it’s relatively easy to make comparisons of these products. What may be a surprise to learn is that electric tankless hot water heaters earn a 95-99 percent energy efficiency rating.

With electric tankless hot water at the top of the list the other major model follow in this order:
Electric storage tank at 90-95 percent
Gas tankless at 80-85 percent
Gas storage tank at 60-65 percent

The DoE asks manufacturers to follow their voluntary Energy Star guidelines but as you can see, there is still a ways to go.

The rating is calculated on how much energy goes to produce usable heat and with gas it looks like only 80-85 percent goes to heating water - the rest, well, it goes out the flu.

This is why an electric tankless water heater can look so good - an electric tankless water heater isn‘t noticeably warmer to the touch. Try that with a gas model. A tankless gas model, on the other hand, needs to be installed according to code because of the exhaust heat and fresh air issue.

This is what makes an electric tankless so popular; it‘s energy efficient and much cheaper to install. You can see reviews of tankless hot water heaters and compare their costs

Again, the DoE site will show you that energy prices vary widely throughout the US and time of year. Be sure to do a calculation based on gas rates during winter months when gas rates are usually much higher. Then compare.

So if you are wondering whether it’s a good choice to install tankless hot water heater and what type to get, you can see how important it is to collect the information, not other people’s opinions.

Start looking into tankless technology today, before there is a leak.

An example of how easy it is to install a tankless water heater will give some ideas of your own.

Here more information about the benefits of an installed tankless water heater can be found.