Why Should I Consider A Tankless Water Heater?
Why pay to heat water that you aren’t going to use – or pay to heat the same water twice? That’s the question that designers of water heaters started asking almost 100 years ago, and their answer gave birth to the first primitive tankless water heaters.
Fast forward nearly a century and you’ll find the same basic idea at work in a modern tankless water heater – albeit in a much smaller, more efficient, and better performing package.
A tankless water heater produces the hot water on demand rather than heating water and storing it in a tank for later use. By operating this way, a tankless system enjoys some key advantages over a traditional water tank-based water heater, including:
5 Advantages Of Tankless Hot Water Heaters:
- A continuous flow of hot water – With a right-sized tankless water heater, you will never run out of hot water – even if you have several appliances running at once.
- Lower energy bills – By working only when needed, not using a pilot light, and never having to reheat water that has been sitting in a storage tank in your cold basement, a tankless water heater could cut your monthly bills by as much as 40 percent compared to a conventional electric-powered unit.
- Greater placement flexibility – Tankless systems are about the size of a suitcase, which means you can put them just about anywhere – including closets and crawl spaces.
- Longer equipment life – Because there is no need to store corrosive water, a tankless water heater can last up to twice as long as a conventional water heater.
- More value for your home – A tankless water heater will improve your Home Energy Rating System (HERS) and LEED scores, which means your home will be worth more if you plan to sell it.
Should you ever choose a storage-type water heater?
As you can see, the advantages of a tankless water heater are clear. So what are the disadvantages?
Mostly, it comes down to the initial purchase price, which can be twice as high as a conventional storage water heater. Of course in the long run, the energy savings and equipment longevity make costs a wash at best (pardon the pun), but not everyone is willing or able to make that initial investment.
Two rules of thumb for choosing between conventional and tankless water heaters:
- For singles or couples – If you don’t use large amounts of water and are replacing a standard gas tank heater, a new tank has a lower up-front cost and could be a better choice.
- For new construction, or for larger families and efficiency-conscious / space-challenged homeowners, tankless heaters are the best choice. Just make sure to get a professional to help you size and install your tankless heater for years of trouble-free service.
A tankless water heater can be a great option – as long as it’s the right choice for your western Massachusetts home, and as long as it is sized and installed by professionals – like the ones you will always find at FSi.
Contact us today to talk with water heater experts in central MA, or to get a FREE, no-obligation estimate on a high-efficiency water heater for your home.