subject: Contemporary Technologies In Water Heaters [print this page] When you start looking for a home water heater, you'll discover that technologies have developed well beyond the traditional tank-based method of heating. The tank has served people well for many decades, but as environmental consciousness has been raised, many realize that tanks could be big energy guzzlers. They are not very energy efficient because energy is constantly used to keep hot water in the tank at all hours of the day, even when nobody is using any water. So even though the energy usage of tanks has now been improved, other methods of heating water have also been created.
One of the unconventional methods of delivering properly heated water is solar energy. Panels placed in the sun either absorb heat onto a flat plate and then conduct that heat to an exchanger that heats up the water in a tank, or the water itself passes through heat-absorbing tubes in the solar panel and just moves into the house from that point.
Both methods generally use a holding tank, but while they can supplement your home's supply of hot water, they generally can't supply all of it. So, before choosing a water heater of this type, you should know that you will need to augment it with something like a small tankless system.
You can buy either a tankless electric water heater or go with a gas-fuelled one instead. Each type will have its own challenges, though there will be more or fewer of those depending on how big a system you want to get. Gas-powered heaters absolutely require high-grade duct material for their venting, so with a larger system you could end up doing a considerable renovation. An electric system is another means of producing hot water, but it's not quite as powerful as a gas system.
However, before you rush to install tankless water heater or solar units, look at one final factor: your climate. Sometimes a tank-based hot water system really is the best environmental choice. First, tank technology has been considerably improved, with higher-efficiency heaters and better insulation. And given that tankless systems use much more energy to heat cold water in winter climates, there may be little final difference between them and a tanked system. So look at all your options and all your environmental factors, and be sure your choice really is the best one for your particular situation.
