High Capacity Tankless Water Heaters - Finding One That Fits
Who isn’t looking to save some on their utility bill these days? One way to you can do this is by upgrading to a new hot water heater. New high capacity tankless hot water heaters offer the advantages of both convenience and lower utility bills. With hot water accounting for about 20 percent of the average home’s utility costs it could be worth looking into.
Trying to get a clear picture of what’s good and bad about hot water heaters is often complicated by misinformation. The best thing to do is get your own facts before you buy. Along with government sites there are other reliable sources you should search.
energy efficiency ratings can give you an idea of how much you can expect to save by replacing an old tank type heater with a new tankless model. The improvement could be as much as 60 percent. Over the life of a tankless heater, which is expected to be about 20 years, this could be a significant amount.
A good source of information about tankless hot water heaters is manufacturer and seller’s sites. Both have detailed descriptions of the capacity you can expect from each model and the cost. Don’t be bothered that these tankless heaters are a bit more complicated than tank type, when it comes to figuring the right capacity to fit your need. Finding out the right answer is worth the effort, as you will see.
If your family needs call for a high capacity hot water heater then your best choice is probably going with natural gas. Natural gas powered tankless water heaters are common in the 7-14 gpm range. This is enough capacity to fit most family needs. You can figure that a shower uses about 1-1/2 gpm and a washing machine or dishwasher about 2 gpm.
Measure your hot water requirements with care and know the capacity of the tankless model you are interested in. While a tankless unit can heat a lot of water very quickly, outside temperature plays an import role. During winter months ground temperature can drop 25 F degrees, reducing hot water output by half the advertised rate
When it comes to high capacity tankless water heaters, most manufacturers require that their models be installed by an approved contractor. The advantage here is that companies and home improvement centers are experienced in this type of installation and can do the job efficiently. And there is also the advantage of reliable service, if needed.
Fuel efficiency is one of the big buzzwords these days and it applies to home appliances as well. Home hot water use is estimated to consume 1/5 of the household utility budget. But scale is changing - new homes are much larger today, meaning that heating, cooling and bath water are on a bigger scale.
This is one reason why the DOE is stressing their Energy Star program. For a tankless water heater, which can have high initial costs this is important. Efficiency is what will make the difference with a tankless water eater, which has a life expectancy of 20 years.
