Buying a new water heater is a big investment for homeowners. This single appliance can have a huge impact on your day-to-day routine.
If you’re thinking about buying a tankless water heater but you’re not sold on it just yet, here’s a few advantages you can gain that may help with your decision:
1. Better protected
Tank water heaters are great – until they begin to erode. Standing water causes the interior to rust, and if you forget to change the anode rod, you could be in some serious trouble. The simple fact of the matter is these systems aren’t built to last, and the average warranty that comes with it proves it.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, tank water heaters have a life expectancy of about 10 to 15 years, while their tankless counterparts are expected to last for 20-plus years. With this in mind, Angie’s List reported that tank heaters are customarily supplied a warranty in the six year range, and tankless normally receive 15 years.
With the myriad of issues tank water heaters can face in any given lifespan, it’s a safe bet to go with the system that will be protected for over a decade. For many homeowners, that could be as long they live in their houses until they decide to sell.
2. Save money
One of the big sells for tankless water heaters is the reduced energy consumption that comes with them. This is because storage water heaters suffer from standby heat loss. Due to the tank pre-heating the water before it’s needed, it ultimately loses some of that warmth over time. When hot water is needed from a faucet, the system uses more energy to heat it back up to the appropriate temperature.
The average home water heating bill costs between $400 and $600 a year, the second highest annual energy-related expense, according to the DOE. The Consumer Energy Center estimated that by simply replacing a conventional storage water heater with a tankless one, homeowners can reduce their bill by 10 to 20 percent due to the elimination of standby heat loss.
3. Smaller system
Space always comes at a premium, and you can never have too much of it. Storage water heaters tend to take up a whole corner of a basement to the point where it can’t be used for anything else. Depending on the size of your home, this can account for a very significant portion of your square footage. Furthermore, it can be a hazard for animals because it creates a tight corner for them to become trapped in.
Recent changes to the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act ask for conventional water heaters to have a larger circumference as well. If a homeowner is leaning toward buying another one, this could mean losing even more space.
Tankless water heaters mount on walls and are quite unobtrusive to their surroundings, meaning more space is available. These systems can be placed in bathrooms and kitchens to boost faucet and dishwasher hot water consumption as point-of-use water heaters, saving basement space for storage.
The benefit of using more than one in a home is to increase the speed at which warm water gets to the source. This ultimately means using less energy in the process as the water has to travel less of a distance to the spout and risk heat loss.
These three advantages to going tankless serve as excellent starting points for the conversation about making the switch. Electric tankless water heaters remain the most affordable version of the system to install, and the dividends it reaps can be attained quickly.