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Tankless Hot Water Heaters & Your Home - 4/1/2003 - House Systems Water Heaters

Tankless Hot Water Heaters & Your Home

Tankless hot water heaters / Why buy one?

On the Hot Water Heater page I discussed water heaters in general. On this page I want to discuss Tankless Water Heaters in more detail.

When we built our home a couple of years ago tankless water heaters were way to expensive to consider. Now they are considerably cheaper making them a viable alternative.

According to statistics tankless hot water heaters have double to life span of a standard hot water heater. The standard hot water heater's average life span is 10 years and the tankless is 20 years. This in itself makes the tankless models seem more attractive. But wait they still are considerably more expensive. Some are up to 4 times more expensive than a standard model.

Ok, what would make you spend more money on a tankless hot water heater?

If you intend on keeping your house long enough to receive a payout on the energy savings. Some manufactures claim their units are as much as 50 % more efficient. Statistics show that a tankless hot water heater saves on average around 15 to 20% on your water heating costs.
You need a lot of hot water for bathing or filling a garden tub or Jacuzzi tub. We have a Jacuzzi tub in our master bath and the 50 gallon water heater is a little small for the application. I can see where a tankless water heater would make sense in this application. As long as the tankless water heater has water and a source of energy (electricity or gas according to the application) it makes hot water.
You have limited space. They are much smaller.
You have weight limitation. If you intend on putting a water heater in you attic, your attic must be rated for several hundred pounds. A 50 gallon water heater weighs in at approximately 500 pounds when it is full.
You want almost instant hot water. A tankless hot water heater can be installed under a sink or in a small space very close to needed hot water. This allows almost instant hot water and will save you on your water bill. You don't have to run the water and wait for it to get hot.

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