Tankless water heaters have earned rave reviews for their
ability to produce endless, on-demand hot water for your home. However, there
are drawbacks as well as benefits to replacing your storage water heater with a
tankless model. If you’re ready to replace your water heater and aren’t sure
whether you should go tankless, keep reading to explore some of the pros and
cons of switching to a tankless water heater.
Tank Water Heaters
Traditional tank water heaters store heated water inside a
tank. Because water is kept hot even when it is not needed, your water heater
experiences standby heat loss. Standby heat loss refers to heat that is lost
through the insulated walls of the tank. Energy—which costs money—is used to
compensate for this heat loss whenever the temperature of the water inside the
tank falls too low. A tank water heater also produces a limited supply of hot
water. Although water is continually fed into the tank and heated to replace lost
volume, if you use all the hot water in your tank at once, you must wait before
you can enjoy hot water once more. However, a properly-sized tank water heater
can provide sufficient hot water for all your needs and represents a lower
initial investment than a tankless model.
Tankless Water
Heaters
A tankless water heater does not maintain a reservoir of
heated water. Instead, these appliances work by heating water quickly as it
flows through a heat exchanger. Water is only heated when you turn on the hot
water tap, meaning you are only paying to heat the water you’re using. Tankless
water heaters don’t suffer from standby heat loss, and a properly-sized water
heater can provide enough hot water for many plumbing fixtures inside your home
simultaneously. Because hot water is produced on demand, as long as you don’t
exceed the
capacity of your water heater, you will never run out of hot water. Additionally,
installing a tankless water heater may qualify you for a federal tax credit or
rebate on your purchase.
Considerations Before
You Go Tankless
While tankless water heaters have many benefits over storage
models, there are some drawbacks as well. A tankless water heater is harder to
flush and clean than a tank water heater, and is more likely to require
professional servicing if there is a problem. Tankless water heaters cost more
to purchase and install than storage models, and you may need to increase the
capacity of your home’s natural gas line to accommodate its energy needs. A tankless
water heater requires a minimum flow rate of 0.5 gallons per minute to activate
its heat exchanger for the production of hot water. If your home utilizes
low-flow fixtures at or near this rate, you may experience problems with your
hot water. While tankless models advertise instantaneous and endless hot water,
if you exceed the capacity of your water heater, you can still experience a
shortage of hot water.
Are you considering installing a new water heater in your
Knoxville home? You can explore your options with the help of a professional
plumber when you visit our website.
We invite you to click through the articles on the Mrs. Rooter blog to find more information about home
plumbing appliances and how to choose the right one for your needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment