On demand water heaters are one of the best ways to reduce your expensive heating bills. You will be able to save because you control the amount of heat you use, so you won’t have any unused hot water in your water tank. By using an on demand water heater, or as it is sometimes called - an tankless or instant hot water heater, you’re saving dollars on gas, electrical and heating costs, which are constantly going up.
What is the standard in heating options? Well – a majority of American consumers use a gas or electrical standard tank hot water heater to heat water for their baths, showers, as well as cooking and cleaning tasks in their homes.
It’s time to get creative about saving dollars, and that means checking out the different tankless gas and electrical water heater options appearing in the marketplace today.
A typical tankless water heater provides hot water on demand, but without using a storage tank. It is similar to tank water heaters, in that it uses either gas or electricity to run. Here’s how it works, when you turn on the faucet, the cold water runs through a pipe into the unit, and then either a gas burner or an electric element heats the water. Alternately, these tankless water heaters can be a unit you place at the end of your faucets and shower heads, or they can be entire systems.
A Tankless water heater is cost effective in the sense that you can not waste hot water you do not use. In short, they do not incur the standby losses that happen when you use a continuous flow of energy to maintain the water in your tank to a set temperature.
They are good space savers, especially for a couple where a faucet or shower is some distance from the current water heater.
Another thing is, a tankless hotwater heater is adaptable as a heat booster for a dishwasher or a solar water heater.
What are the alternative instant hot water heating systems available in the market today?
There’s the choice between a gas and electrical driven heater. Pick a gas water heater, for it’s a better choice according to the energy studies done. Tests have shown that the cost of gas is approximately one-third that of electricity on a per-Btu basis. Aside from this dollar saving feature, a gas tankless system produces hot water at higher flow rates.
Choose an electric tankless system as a last resort, or there is no space for a tank hot water heater. In this case, you select from among the available models and brands, which is more efficient, at a good price.
The efficiency factor – the term "energy factor" refers to the efficiency of both tank and tankless water heater. The energy factor is the portion of the energy going into the water heat that is actually used. The energy factor takes into consideration the systems losses, such as heat loss through the walls of the tank, up the flue, and in combustion. Tankless water heaters don't have the losses associated with tanks, which makes their energy factors higher.
Decide if you’ll use a standing pilot or electronic ignition switch. Standing pilot lights can be a waste if you don’t use water that frequently or often, think beauty salon. Consider an electronic ignition switch if your use is strictly residential.
Should you purchase a tankless water heater that has a modulated energy output or one with a fixed energy output? The setback with older models that have a fixed energy output is that, if you opened more faucets or outlets, the temperature of your water would go down.
With the newer models, the modulating control allows you to increase or decrease energy input so that the water stays hot, even if the number of faucets that are open increase.
Lastly, pick an on-demand tankless water heater based on your needs. Look at the pattern of the quantity of water you consume and when there is peak demand. Check out the data that comes with the model, many companies provide this information, which tells you what the incoming water temperature is, and the resulting outgoing water temperature peak demand.
Think about it and you'll agree a tankless water heater is the way to go.