Water Heater Guide - What Kind Of Heater Is Best?
Author: William Lund
Author: William Lund
At first it seems like a simple question. Which water heater is the right one for my application? But after taking a second look, it can become quite complex. There are a number of ways to heat water and a variety of fuels to choose from.
Items you need to consider include the initial cost of the system, cost of operation, maintenance, physical size, fuel type, and the flow rate of hot water needed during peak usage.
Solar Water Heaters
Solar powered water heating can provide you with plenty of hot water if you live where solar radiation is plentiful. Living where freezing temperatures occur complicates systems that are susceptible to freezing.
Solar water heaters can vary in cost from very inexpensive home made batch heaters to sophisticated high tech systems with pumps and solar panels. With the more sophisticated systems maintenance and repair can become an issue.
Solar systems rarely provide a positive return on investment without some form of tax credits or other incentives because of the high initial cost and relatively small savings.
Electric Hot Water Heaters
Electric water heaters are more efficient than gas water heaters, but heating water with electricity is about twice as expensive as heating water with gas. Electricity is the most expensive way to heat water though because electricity is much more expensive than gas. Electric water heaters also take about twice as long to heat water as gas heaters take.
Electric water heaters are pretty simple devices and as a result they are quite reliable. Typically the failure mode is for a tank leak. When the tank begins to leak go find a new water heater.
Heat Pump Hot Water Heaters
Heat pump water heaters use less energy than standard because they dont produce the heat; they transfer it from the air to the tank. It takes less energy to move the heat than to generate it. Heat pumps can use ground water to obtain heat from the earth instead of the surrounding air in some cases.
Heat pump water heaters are more expensive than traditional gas or electric water heaters, and they take longer to heat the water.
Gas Hot Water Heaters
Gas water heaters are usually the least expensive method of heating water due to the low cost of gas compared to electricity. This applies only if you happen to have access to natural gas though. There isnt much difference between propane and natural gas water heaters other than the cost of the gas.
Like electrics, gas water heaters are fairly simple and hence very reliable. As with the electrics a tank leak is often the first sign of a problem and water heater replacement the solution.
Electric Tankless Hot Water Heaters
Electric tankless heaters are typically small due to the high amount of energy required to rapidly heat flowing water. Often they are just big enough to supply a single fixture. With electrics you dont have to worry about venting, indoor pollution, or carbon monoxide poisoning. They are small and silent operating.
With tankless water heaters a minimum flow rate a minimum flow rate must be maintained to keep the heater turned on. You wont be able to get a trickle of warm water.
Selecting the proper size heater for your application is critical. Too large or too small and you will have problems.
For electrics capable of supplying larger amounts of hot water will probably need their own dedicated 220 volt circuits with larger than normal wiring. You may also need to upgrade your service from your power company.
Gas Tankless Water Heaters
Gas heats water more rapidly electricity providing much larger flow rates. They can supply endless amounts of hot water, they have higher overall efficiencies than tank water heaters because there are no standby losses.
Tankless heaters require a longer delivery time for hot water, increased gas line size in and venting, and potentially higher repair costs. Most gas tankless hot water heaters will not operate during a power outage. Some models generate their own electricity from the flowing water.
Gas tankless hot water heaters are considerably more expensive than traditional storage types and should any thing go wrong they are expensive to repair. Its also harder to find experienced service people for tankless units.About the Author:
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