Hot water. We all need it, we all use it every day, but most of us don’t think much about how we get it. As it turns out, that could be a serious missed opportunity for anyone still relying on traditional water heater systems.
Many Floridians have reaped the rewards of upgrading their homes with tankless water heaters, but is it a good move for you? We’ve got every angle covered to help you make the right decision.
Do the Math: Upfront Cost vs. Long-Term Savings
Wait, don’t leave! We know math can be intimidating, but we promise it’s worth running the numbers on this one. First, the bad news. When shopping for a new water heater, you’ll have to open your wallet a bit wider to purchase a tankless system. Since they’re more complicated and advanced than storage tank units, it’s no surprise they also command a correspondingly higher price.
Sticker shock aside, going tankless is rarely a bad investment. As long as it’s in your budget to pay a bit more at the start, you should be well-positioned to reap the rewards for years to come. To understand why, we need to take a brief detour and talk about what makes tankless systems so unique.
The Science of Standby Heat Loss
In conventional water heaters, large volumes of hot water — usually between 40 and 80 gallons — are stored in an insulated tank and served up as needed. Since you might turn on the tap at any time, the water must constantly be kept at an appropriately toasty temperature. Are you seeing the problem? Even the best-insulated tanks can’t defy the laws of physics, so all that hot water is bound to cool down eventually. That means it has to all be heated up again — wash, rinse, repeat. The energy it takes to do this is known as standby heat loss, and it can add up to a pile of wasted money.
For reasons that should be obvious, tankless water heaters don’t have this problem. Instead of storing and preheating water, tankless systems heat it instantaneously as it flows through the unit. This effectively means you only pay to heat the water you use, which is why these systems are also known as demand-type water heaters. So, how much can this approach actually cut your utility costs? While real-world results depend on many factors, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates average savings of at least $44 to $108 per year.
Keep On Saving With a Longer Service Life
What’s better than saving a bunch of money on your energy bills this year? Watching those savings keep adding up for years to come! Provided they’re taken care of properly, modern tankless water heaters generally have a service life of at least 15 to 20 years. Some high-end models are engineered to last even longer. Even assuming a modest savings of $50 per year, that’s an extra $1,000 in your pocket over the expected lifespan of the unit!
What’s more, a longer service life means a lot more time between costly system replacements. Tank-style water heaters, by comparison, are highly susceptible to corrosion, sediment buildup and other forms of wear and tear. They rarely last more than a decade without losing efficiency or storage capacity, and they may need more frequent servicing and repairs.
How Much Hot Water Do You Need?
Traditional water heaters can store a lot of hot water, but anyone who’s ever owned one knows firsthand what happens when they run out. If you’re lucky, maybe you turn on the tap to wash your hands and have to settle for scrubbing without warm water. If you’re less fortunate, well, there’s nothing like a blast of ice-cold spray to ruin a long and relaxing shower.
Meanwhile, since tankless systems heat water in real time as it’s being used, they can never abruptly run out — at least in theory. In practice, of course, things aren’t quite so simple. All water heaters have limitations, which is why the best option for your home comes down to how you and your family use hot water.
Meeting the Demand: Volume vs. Duration
Accurately determining household water heating demand is a key step in picking out a new water heater. It’s also a confusing and convoluted process that involves dealing with flow rates, temperature rise and all sorts of other variables. In other words, it’s a job best left to your local plumbing experts. For now, let’s just put the calculators away and stick to the basics.
While tankless water heaters can technically pump out hot water indefinitely, they’re only designed to heat a certain amount of water at a time. For example, a small tankless unit may only be able to supply 3 GPM (gallons per minute) at maximum capacity — about enough to use a shower and a single faucet simultaneously. Any additional demand, like turning on a dishwasher or another faucet, could push more water through the heating element than it can handle.
With that in mind, it’s important to consider the demands your family’s daily routines place on your water heater. If there always seem to be multiple fixtures running at once throughout the house, a traditional water heater with a large storage capacity may be a better option. If you normally turn on just a few fixtures at a time, however, an appropriately sized demand-type heater should ensure you never run out of hot water again.
What Is Convenience Worth to You?
Another variable to factor into your decision is something that’s admittedly harder to quantify: convenience. On-demand systems offer several quality-of-life improvements over storage-type water heaters, saving time and solving a number of potential issues. Whether these perks are of value to you is a matter of personal preference, but they’re certainly worth taking into account. For instance:
- No waiting for water to heat up
- No running out of hot water unexpectedly
- No bulky storage tank taking up space
- No risk of damaging leaks or ruptures
- Less upkeep and fewer repairs
Tankless water heaters may not be for everyone, but there’s a reason so many Floridians have already made the switch. Will you be next? Dial up the pros at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to take advantage of top-notch tankless water heater services in Miami, FL and surrounding communities, and remember — we’re on time or you don’t pay a dime!
