Choosing the Best Water Heater for Your Home

A conventional water heater typically lasts just over a decade. If your unit is reaching the end of its service life, it’s a good time to start looking for a replacement. Since a water heater accounts for more than 15 percent of a home’s energy use, weighing the efficiency as well as the price of a replacement model is important. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started.

Conventional Storage Water Heaters

Conventional storage water heaters are the most common type of water heater available. They offer a reservoir of hot water perfect for heavy home use. One of the main advantages of conventional water heaters is their flexibility; you can power them from a range of sources, including electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and propane. On the other hand, the costs to heat and store water while not in use are a significant disadvantage. If you don’t use much hot water in your home, it may be best to look for alternative models.

Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters provide hot water whenever it is needed, avoiding the standby costs of conventional units. They’re a good choice for homes with low hot water usage—as even the most demand-intensive models can have trouble supplying water to multiple sources at a time. Tankless water heaters come in multiple varieties. Large gas-fired and electric-powered models can meet the hot water demands of an entire home. For maximum efficiency, however, you can install individual water heaters at each faucet and showerhead.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

Heat pump water heaters move heat rather than generating directly into water. These are a good option for mild climates like that of the Portland area as they use warmth from the surrounding air to heat up water. Installing in a warm space such as a furnace room will produce the best results. In the winter, heat pump water heaters can be combined with conventional heating methods to create a year-round system.

Alternative Water Heaters

In addition to the “big three” water heater varieties, there are a host of alternative water heating methods available to the homeowner willing to think outside the box. If you use geothermal heat pumps to heat and cool your home, you can integrate it with a water heating system by installing a desuperheater. Solar water heaters use the sun’s heat to produce hot water, but they’re a poor choice in the cloudy Pacific Northwest. Finally, tankless coil heaters produce hot water directly from a furnace or boiler. They’re a highly efficient option for the winter months, but won’t do you much good during the height of summer.

Learn more about the anatomy of a conventional storage tank water heater at our water heater page. For more insight on water heater maintenance and replacement, visit our Ask the Expert page.