Tankless Water Heaters - How to Make the Right Choice for Your Home

Tankless water heaters offer several advantages over traditional water heaters. But there’s some misinformation out there on tankless water heaters.

If you have a water heater upgrade on the horizon and you’re considering a tankless water heater, you’ll want to know a few things first.

Before busting the myths, here are 2 situations where a tankless water heater is the right choice:

1. You don’t have enough room for a water heater tank.
   If you’re remodeling or moving the water heater location, you might not have the room for a water heater tank. If that’s the case, the small size of tankless water heaters can solve your problem.
   
   And even if you’re not moving the location of the heater, new water heater tanks are slightly larger in size than they used to be, so you might not have the room if the current space is already tight.

2. You want never ending hot water.
   That sounds great, right? The endless flow of hot water is one of the best features of tankless water heaters, but keep in mind that never-ending is not the same as unlimited hot water.
   
   Since tankless heaters heat the water when it’s needed, your hot water supply will not run out like it does with a traditional tank.

   But that also means that if you’re running too many things at the same time that require hot water, you will not have enough hot water at each faucet.

   In that sense, it’s never-ending but not unlimited. You will always have a certain volume of hot water, but you will never have more than that amount of hot water.

Here are 2 myths about tankless water heaters:

1. You will save on energy costs.
   Tankless water heaters don’t use energy to keep hot water on standby, like traditional water heaters, so they are more energy efficient. But that efficiency will not translate to big energy savings, especially if you’re hoping to make up the extra costs from purchasing a tankless heater.
   
   Tankless water heaters cost 2-4 times more than traditional water heaters, so you will never make up the difference just on energy savings. You could also end up using it more due to the never-ending hot water, which will not help you with energy costs.
2. You get instant hot water.
   The advanced technology used in tankless water heaters cause some to think that tankless heaters deliver hot water instantly. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
   
   Although tankless heaters heat the water quickly, it’s still heated on-demand, so it does not arrive at the faucet any faster than with traditional water heaters.

The right choice for your home:

Despite some misinformation on tankless water heaters, they can still be the right option for your home, especially with the space-saving, never-ending hot water benefits.

When evaluating your options, the most important part is to know what tankless water heaters offer and what they don’t so you avoid paying more for something that doesn’t fit your needs.

If you need any assistance with your water heater, you can always reach us at 770.560.1792.