Tankless Water Heaters
You don't use hot water 24 hours a day, but, you're paying to heat water all day long. With a standard water heater, you heat and reheat the same water…even when you're sleeping. Tankless heating technology is a more efficient way to heat water while saving money and recapturing valuable space in your mechanical room.
Benefits of ditching the tank
Most of those savings come from eliminating standby losses, the energy that's wasted when heated water sits unused in a tank. And since there's no storage, you won't have to run the water waiting for it to get hot. A further benefit to eliminating the storage tank is avoiding leaks. Most storage tanks will eventually leak and can cost a lot to fix, whereas leaks rarely occur in tankless water heaters.
Temperature modulation
Some tankless water heaters are either completely ON or completely OFF. As flow rates change, they continue to put out the same heat. At the least, this can cause uncomfortable temperature fluctuations and at the worst, scalding. Modulated units base their heat output on the volume of water flowing through. Less water means less heating applied, keeping temperatures even.
Intermittent ignition device
The IID is like a spark ignition device on an oven. It ignites the pilot light when needed. An instantaneous water heater that has a continuously ignited pilot light can waste energy, so we use an IID to save energy.
Will it cover your family's needs?
Residential-sized (gas) tankless units can be great for homes with one or two people. In big homes with a lot of hot water needs, they might not provide enough.
The good:
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You'll almost never run out of hot water.
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They are compact in size.
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There are virtually no standby losses.
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Less water is wasted; there's no running the water waiting for hot water to arrive.
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The equipment has a longer lifespan; they are less likely to corrode and can last 20 years.
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They offer a range of prices: around $200 for an under-sink model and up to $1,000 or more for a gas unit providing 5 gallons per minute. The less hot water you need, the lower the costs.
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In most cases, electric tankless water heaters will cost more to operate than gas tankless water heaters.
"They are one of the best investments you will ever make".
-Chad C. (owner of All Around Plumbing)
