| Something About Water Heaters |
|
|
|
Have you every had the aggravation of running out of hot water halfway through a shower? Maybe you have the in-laws in town and using all your hot water. There is a solution to this little dilemma, the tankless water heater. Not a new invention, the tankless water heater has been in use in Europe for decades. In fact, this was the only type available that I saw in my travels.
In a conventional water heater, whether gas or electric, the heated water is stored in a tank. Although this may be a ready and immediate supply of hot water, the fact is that the heated water just sits around most of the time doing absolutely nothing. The heat will dissipate and the water heater will then reheat the water, over and over again, all day long --- a complete waste of energy that simply costing you money. Not good.
A tankless water heater, however, doesn't store any hot water. Instead, a tankless type produces hot water as you need it, for as long as you need it. So, when you turn on your hot water faucet, the tankless unit provides an almost endless supply of hot water. You can literally leave the faucet on for hours and the tankless water heater will keep on pouring out the hot water. You never need to worry about running out of hot water again and without the constant reheating, you save money --- the greatest advantage to the tankless type of system.
Next (and my favourite), with conventional tank type water heaters there's also more maintenance involved. At least on a yearly basis, you will need to flush your water tank of any calcium and other sediment that's collected on the bottom. Not only is this extra work nobody needs but with all that water flushing it also adds the risk of creating an unwanted indoor swimming pool (a.k.a. Huge Mess)! This sure doesn't fit into my "No Maintenance" schedule. This is thankfully not the case with a tankless unit. Remember though, that with any piece of equipment, manufacturer recommended maintenance should always be performed.
Another big advantage that I like of a tankless water heater is its compact size compared to conventional units. A standard tank type water heater stands on the floor and may be several feet tall and 3 or more feet in diameter. A tankless water heater, on the other hand, is generally not much larger than a desk top computer and mounted on the wall. This makes for a great space saver. It's also this space saving feature that may allow you to locate the unit closer to where you need it. The closer proximity means the hot water doesn't have to travel as far, which in turn saves water (and money) because you're not pouring the cold water down the drain waiting for the hot.
So, at the end of the day, with a tankless water heater you'll never have to take another cold shower. Plus, you'll save energy, money and space! That's convenience!
|
|
|
|
