Many people wonder what the benefits are of installing a tankless water heater. They also wonder whether they will save money if they opt for a tankless water heater. There are certain advantages a tankless water heater have a traditional water heater; however, if you wish to look at all aspects before making a buying decision, here are some main points to consider.
Cost of installing a water heater
Installation costs for a tankless water heater are higher as compared to traditional tank models.
- If you are setting up your home and wish to install the heater at such a time, the costs include plumbing and electrical designs as well. In such a case the price differential will not be significant.
- If you wish to retrofit a tankless water heater for the whole house you need to call in the electrician who will add the additional wiring required. This might amount to $500, depending on the rates that are charged in your area for such work.
Usage of electricity
When it comes to electricity consumption, energy savings are about 15 to 40% on tankless heaters, but whether you will be able to experience the energy savings will depend on the source of electrical energy in your home.
- In general, with a general electric connection, you will not find your energy consumption to have changed when you go tankless.
- Indeed, you will find that the cost goes down by about 15 percent when you compare the same with traditional water heaters.
- That is also because tankless water heaters only heat the water as and when you need it instead of heating the water every day.
Sources of power
If you use propane or oil sources for heating water, the electric bill will go up when you switch to a tankless water heater but there are energy savings as well. That is also because the costs of propane and oil are much more as compared to traditional electricity. The same applies to natural gas. This source of energy for a tankless water heater will prove expensive, which can be twice the price of other models that run on electricity.
Summing up
To sum up the above points, the savings of a tankless water heater comes in when using traditional electricity. As the heater does not hold on to water unless it is switched on, the time it takes to heat water and supplies it is faster than a traditional tank based heater. It is also found that tank based heaters with standing water often lose out the heat after some time and need to be switched on again. Hence the efficiency of tankless water heaters is more.
With such reasons, it is best to opt for a tankless water heater as the water heats up faster and provides you hot water as and when you need it. It consumes less electricity as it provides hot water only when required and heat required is less in it as compared to tank models.