Tankless Water Heaters – What’s All the Buzz About?

Tankless Water Heaters

When building a new home (or renovating an existing home), homeowners have a ton of decisions to make. One option that is often overlooked is the type of plumbing system used to heat the water for the home. The process of how your water is heated plays a major role in how your bathrooms and kitchens function.

Choosing the right type of water heater for your home is not a decision to take lightly. In today’s market, the benefits of going tankless outweigh its cost tenfold, particularly if you’re purchasing a new home, or you expect to live there for at least ten years.

We’ll discuss the benefits of tankless water heaters, compare them to their traditional counterparts (the tank system), so you can intelligently decide on whether “going tankless” is the right choice for your home.

How Tankless Water Heaters Work

Traditional water heaters (a.k.a. “tank systems”) function similar to a pot on the stove that is full of water. If you want the water hot, you have to heat it, and that means heating it over time.

The tank system burns all day to keep the water hot so that when you’re in need of it, it’s hot. Water flows into the capacity tank and heats until you use the faucet. After it has finished heating, it then empties into your sink through the piping in your home.

Several disadvantages exist with tank water heaters. For example, they burn energy all the time and have limited capacity (ever run out of hot water when you have extra guests taking showers?).

Tankless water heating systems don’t have a capacity tank, so the burners don’t need to run constantly. Instead, a flow sensor detects when water is flowing through the unit. If the hot water tap is on, it heats a coiled copper pipe the water flows through in the unit, and since there is less water to heat all at once, the water temperature can rise quicker.

The piping in the unit is metal (conducive to raising temperature quickly) and its coils give the burners more piping to heat and keeps it efficient.

Either system can be powered by gas or electric means (depending on the type of power used by the home. We strongly encourage you to talk with a plumbing professional (one with a track record of installing tankless water heaters) and ask questions regarding the requirements of your particular home before the work is started. Consulting with a licensed plumber will help ensure you are getting the right system that is a fit for the home’s power supply, and can perform with your home’s water needs.

Four Benefits To Going Tankless

While tank systems are still the norm, tankless systems are becoming the industry standard. It’s easy to see why. Tankless water heater systems:

• Don’t burn energy unless you’re using them (more energy efficient)
• Have an endless stream of hot water
• Can be gas or electric powered
• Tend to be more durable than traditional tank systems, typically lasting twice as long (20 years with proper maintenance)

These points are in addition to the simple truth that the product itself is a superior product. This is a product that is simply better than capacity tanks at heating water.

Tankless Water Heater Durability

Part of what makes a tankless heater such a good purchase is the fact that it’s a durable alternative to a tank. When you maintain it properly, it should last you 20 years. While maintenance might be a bit of a hassle, every home owner knows the hassle is magnified when it turns into a repair. Repair costs are not only high, but unexpected. No one schedules a repair, they just happen.

Tank systems have more components and a large tank that is constantly burning. Tankless systems have metal pipes that are heated, but it isn’t constant. It isn’t every second of every day.

Homeowners benefit in two ways. First, tankless systems offer a low-to-no repair cost. This not only saves you money, but also avoids the hassle of unexpected service calls.

Second, tankless systems use less energy (which shrinks your gas/electric bill). These reasons alone justify why many consider a tankless water heater a home investment.

Annual maintenance service by an experienced plumber is a much better scenario than hearing “the noise” through the walls, or being in the shower for the fateful cold chill when the tank system fails (which happens often when you have company over for the holidays).

Maintenance On Your Unit

Horizon offers an annual Tankless Water Heater Maintenance Program that inspects your tankless system to ensure it is operating properly.

This affordable program is insurance for your plumbing, and covers your heating unit through its lifetime. Maintaining your unit can make it last for 20 years, and enables our licensed plumbers to catch problems, if any, before issues evolve into a costly repair bill.

Traditional tank water heaters, while used in households for over half a century, have received a bad rap. The negativity associated with tanked systems mainly comes from those living in older homes where the water heater has corroded and flooded an entire room, ruining ruin wood floors and furniture. Even in newer homes where water heaters are located in the garage, you still don’t want to risk 40 gallons of water pouring out.

With tankless water heaters, there is no tank that could corrode and flood your home. If you decide to go tankless, talk to your insurance company about receiving a discount since you are eliminating the possibilities of a malfunctioning tank.

Tankless systems are considered the more durable, long-term home investment product for today’s discerning homeowner. Heating water in a superior way while saving money, hassle, and energy use is an invaluable asset.

Before you decide to “go tankless”, chat with a Horizon Plumbing expert to see if it’s the right choice for your home. Horizon will ensure your home has a proper heater based on its size and your average water usage.

Schedule An Appointment Today: