When it comes time to buy a water heater for your home there are many choices you have. You can buy a water heater or a tankless water heater. This article will help you to get the best tankless hot water heater for your home.

Tankless water heaters have many advantages. On advantage is that they save space due to the fact that they do not have a tank. They can fit in very small spaces and will not clutter your basement and allow you more room for storage.

Another advantage is that tankless water heaters provide hot water only as needed. Since they only provide heated water when needed, they offer large energy savings when compared to a traditional water heater which have standby heat loss.

Tankless hot water heaters also offer continuous hot water. With a traditional water heater, if you are using large amounts of hot water you may need to wait for the tank to refill. However, with a tankless heater you get a constant supply of hot water because the water is heated as it is supplied. Tankless water heaters typically supply 2-5 gallons of water per minute.

Before buying a tankless heater you should check to make sure it can supply enough warm water. A single individual will require much less water than a family of 5. Some smaller tankless units may not be able to supply enough water for a large family and they would want to make sure they get a tankless unit which will supply the appropriate amount of hot water.

As you can see, tankless water heaters have many advantages over traditional heaters. They offer great energy savings which will result in lower utility bills, they provide space savings and they also are able to make sure you never have to take a cold shower. Take a look at a tankless water heater next time you are shopping for a new water heater.

By: Karen Howard

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Tankless water heaters are energy efficient because they only heat water as it is needed. You are probably using a traditional storage water heater that keeps forty or fifty gallons of water heated on a regular basis. If you would not leave your home’s heating system running while you are away all day at work or out of town on a vacation, why would you continue to heat a large amount of water that is simply standing idly when you are not there to use it?

The way that a tankless water heater works is that the water is heated directly. When you turn on the hot water tap in your kitchen or bathroom, the cold water travels through a pipe into the tankless unit. If your unit is gas fired, a gas burner heats the water. If it is electric, an electric element heats the water. The result is that you have a constant supply of hot water delivered to you as you need it, typically at a rate of two to five gallons per minute, or 7.6 to 15.2 liters per minute. A gas fired tankless unit will produce a higher flow rate than one powered by electricity.
 
But this method for heating water in your home is definitely not for everyone. Some of the smaller models of this type of water heater simply cannot supply enough hot water for a large family with simultaneous activities going on. If you are running your dishwasher while someone is trying to take a shower, for example, a tankless heater for your water will be stretched to its limit.
 
There are some ways to overcome this problem that you may not even know about, because your plumbing company did not take the time to explain it to you fully. One way is to install a double unit, which consists of two tankless water heating units, connected in a parallel configuration for simultaneous hot water demand. Another option is to install a separate heater for your large appliances – dishwashers, washing machines, and other large water usage machines – and another one for your kitchen and bathrooms. That will allow everyone in the family to have access to the hot water they need at exactly the time they need it.
 
You will want consult with your plumbers to find out what options make the most sense for you. If you do decide to install a tankless water heating system in your home, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are being energy efficient while also saving money on your plumbing system.

By: Connie Ragen Green

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