Hot Water Tanks Vs Tankless Water Heaters

Eventually, every house owner is faced with the prospect of replacing the hot water heater. The average lifespan of a hot water heater is determined by the place where you live, because of the water content. For example, if you live on the west coast then you have to deal with corrosive water due to the alkalinity.
When buying a water heater you have a few choices, the two main choices being the newer tankless water heaters or the traditional tank type. The installation of tankless water heater is increasing every year. In spite of some inbuilt drawbacks of the storage tank design, there are some good reasons why it is homeowners’ more preferred choice for several years. Installation is simple, as the new unit generally replaces a present storage tank water heater of the same size and fuel. Also, huge production of storage water heaters has made them highly distributed and usually the most available option.
However, the tankless water heater was originally developed by Japanese manufacturers to accommodate smaller available space and high energy costs; as a result it removed many of the longstanding drawbacks of a hot water tank. A tankless heater as the name suggests, stores no water and hot water is produced on-demand only. The unit senses the pressure loss when a hot water tap is opened, and instantly starts flash-heating the water flow. A tankless water heater can be up to 50% more efficient as compared to a storage tank heater because the storage tank is removed which is known to be the cause of high energy consumption and a key source of heat loss.

Properly sized tankless heater means you will always have access to hot water. On the other hand, a tankless unit continues to heat the water flow to the specified temperature, as long as the demand continues. Nevertheless, a tankless heater is best suited for installation where demand is limited to a few fixtures at any one time. High demand from a number of sources at a time may cause the temperature of water to decrease.

As compared to a storage tank, the footprint of a tankless water heater is a lot smaller. A usual residential tankless water heater is wall-mounted or can be installed in-line with the supply pipe. When considering purchasing a tankless water heater, it is important that you hire services of a professional contractor because tankless heaters are not one-size-fits-all units. Thus, calculating gallon-per-minute demand as well as the needed BTUs to heat incoming municipal water to the suitable temperature is essential. All these factors are important to achieve great comfort and efficiency possible from tankless water heaters.

If you need more help for making the choice between a hot water tank and tankless water heater, contact Edmonton Hot Water Tanks. We serve the Edmonton area