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Tankless hot water heaters provide hot water only when it is
needed and as the name implies these systems do not have
tanks holding and continually reheating water, which in
turns saves on your energy costs.
Tankless systems are also
known as On Demand heaters, instantaneous water heaters, and
of course, tankless hot water heaters.
Demand water heaters work when the hot water faucet is
opened, the flow of water turns on the heating element,
which heats the water as it runs through copper tubes. When
the faucet is turned off, so is the heat, saving you money
in energy cost. Tankless or on demand systems run on either
gas or electricity and have been around for many years. In
fact, since World War II, tankless systems become very
popular in Europe and Japan and in the past twenty-five
years have starting to gain in popularity here in the United
States.
There are two problems however with tankless water heaters.
The first problem is the lack of distributors, retail
outlets, and available parts. The second problem is the fact
that they have a limited flow rate, meaning that they can
only instantaneously produce so much hot water at one time.
If someone is bathing and another person is doing the
laundry, there could be a problem. Most systems have a
recovery rate of approximately 2 to 5 gallons of hot water a
minute, which isn’t a lot when you consider that the average
bathtub holds 35 gallons of hot water.
One solution to this problem is the installation of multiple
heaters. Because tankless systems can be installed almost
anywhere, some people have installed smaller units for use
only in their bathrooms, while a larger unit serves the
kitchen and other areas of the home.
It most be noted however that these systems are more
expensive than the traditional tank systems to purchase as
well as install. However, the amount of money that you save
on your energy costs will offset the initial expense that
you encounter when you purchase and install your tankless
water heaters. Most people will see a savings of 30 to 50%
on their water heating costs. Another benefit to on demand
or tankless water heaters is that they have a life
expectancy of approximately 20 years where as the typical
tank system will last only about 10 to 15 years.
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