If you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint or want to find other ways to live a greener lifestyle, then you may be considering getting a tankless water heater. The professionals at Edwards Royal Comfort have found that tankless water heaters are a great way to lower your energy consumption without sacrificing on-demand hot water. Continue reading to learn more about how tankless water heaters work. Then decide if a tankless hot water heater is right for your home.

How Do Tankless Water Heaters Work?

A tankless hot water heater system is sometimes referred to as “hot water on demand.” You’ll always have hot water when you need it without keeping it in a big tank. Tankless hot water heaters can be used for your entire house or at each individual sink and faucet. 

A tankless water heater works by using a powerful heat exchanger to rapidly raise the temperature of the water. Whether you choose gas-fired or electric tankless water heaters, the heat exchanger is a device that transfers heat from one source to another. Heat is transferred from electric coils or a gas burner to the water that comes out of your faucet, allowing you to heat water for whatever you’ll be using it for. The heat exchanger is activated by the incoming water flow.

There are two kinds of varieties of tankless water heaters. They can be powered by electricity, propane, or natural gas. A whole-house tankless hot water heater is placed in a central location and will deliver hot water to the room it’s needed in. However, this can cause lag time. Lag time is the time it takes for the hot water to reach your faucet. These point-of-use tankless hot water heaters have less lag time because they are assigned to a specific faucet. These smaller units that fit in sinks and cupboards are usually electric. 

How Is a Tankless Hot Water Heater Different From a Standard Hot Water Heater?

A standard hot water heater continually heats the water stored in the tank. This can be inefficient and can cause energy loss. For homes that use 41 gallons or less of hot water daily, demand water heaters can be 24%–34% more energy-efficient than conventional storage-tank water heaters. You can achieve even greater energy savings of 27%–50% if you install a demand water heater at each hot water outlet. 

Tankless hot water heaters are much smaller than standard water heaters so they can be put in small spaces like under sinks. It is common for a household to have more than one tankless hot water heater. Both gas-fired and electric tankless water heaters also tend to have a longer life expectancy than standard storage water heaters. 

An advantage of a traditional water heater comes in the form of water flow rate. A traditional water heater will have a flow rate of about 5 gallons per minute, compared to a tankless water heater with a flow rate of about 4 gallons per minute.

The Pros and Cons of Tankless Hot Water Heaters

How tankless heaters work makes them more energy-efficient than traditional hot water heaters. However, they are known to use more water than a storage tank. So while your energy consumption might go down, your water usage might go up. When it comes to your utility bills, water is usually cheaper than electricity. You will want to do some math before you purchase a tankless hot water heater to see if it’s worth it in the long run.

Upfront costs for tankless hot water systems are usually more expensive, but it varies from model to model. When considering between a whole-house or a point-of-use tankless hot water heater, remember that whole house ones can be overloaded if there is more than one faucet demanding hot water at a time. For example, if someone is taking a shower while a dishwasher is running, neither may get the amount of hot water they desire. 

Tankless water heaters are also far less susceptible to producing cold water than a traditional tank water heater. This is because tankless heaters only heat water when it’s needed, rather than having a set supply of hot water like a traditional tank water heater does. When you use up all of that limited supply, you’ll only have cold water and won’t have hot water again until more water flows into the tank. After it’s in the tank, it’ll then be able to heat water again for your use.

Because tankless heaters have high-powered burners they also have special venting requirements that will need to be professionally installed. Natural gas burners often need a larger diameter gas pipe, which adds to the initial installation cost.

Have a Tankless Water Heater Installed by Edwards Royal Comfort

If the benefits of a tankless water heater appeal to your family, get in touch with us for more information. We know that switching your home’s water heater is a big decision, so we want to make sure that you’re completely informed and aware of the benefits of doing so.

Make sure that you never have to take a shower with cold water again by installing a new tankless water heater. Contact the pros at Edwards Royal Comfort today to get started on an estimate for a new tankless water heater to start heating your water more efficiently today!