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 producing suitably heated water is solar energy. Panels positioned in the sun either absorb heat onto a flat plate and then transfer it to an exchanger that heats the water in a tank, or the water itself passes through heat-absorbing tubes in the solar panel and simply travels into the house from there.
Both methods normally involve a holding tank, but while they can add to your home’s supply of hot water, they generally can’t supply all of it. Consequently, before getting a water heater of this type, you should know that you will have to supplement it with something like a small tankless system.
You have two basic choices for tankless systems, which are gas water heaters or electricity-powered heaters. An electric system may require less extra work to install than a gas system, depending on how big an electrical load you expect to have and how well your house is wired. Early on, this type of system wasn’t quite as efficient at producing hot water as the gas-fuelled heaters, but the two types of system are now fairly close in efficiency.
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.
What is a tankless water heater? Follow the link to find out, and also learn more about the tankless gas hot water heater and how it compares.
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