Choosing The Best Water Heater For Your Home

Having a water heater that can provide a long, hot shower for you and the other members your household is one of the little perks that can make a house a much nicer place to live.  What homeowners often do not realize, however, is that water heating can account for as much as 15% of the home's total energy usage.

The tank-type water heaters found in many houses typically last 10-15 years. But keeping an older tank-type water heater in service just because it’s functioning properly can add hundreds of dollars extra on your annual utility costs.  And along with its lower energy efficiency, an older tank-type water heater will corrode from the inside, eventually leaking onto your floor.  Replace it now before this happens!

Four models of replacement water heaters are available to homeowners in North Carolina:

Tank-Type Water Heaters

Also known as a storage water heater, this system uses either gas, oil, or electric resistance elements to generate heat.  A gas or oil-fired tank-type water heater includes a burner at the base of a tank and a central flue that vents exhaust gasses to the outside.

Tank-type water heaters come in many sizes. A typical household will find a 60- to 80-gallon model to be sufficient.  New models that carry the ENERGY STAR® seal are insulated to minimize heat loss.  However, even energy efficient models are limited in their savings, as the system must maintain the temperature of the stored water continuously until it is used.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

This is a variation on the traditional tank-type water heater system.  Instead of using gas, oil, or electricity to generate heat, this system gets its heat from a small air-source heat pump located at the top of the water storage tank. During operation, a refrigerant is cycled through expansion and compression cylces to extract heat from the surrounding air. A heating coil in the water tank transfers this heat to the water. In cold weather, supplementary heat from an electric resistance element is sometimes required.

Heat pump water heaters can be twice as efficient as standard tank-type models. Because the heat pump unit cools the air around it, this type of water heater performs best in southern states like North Carolina where winters are milder.

Indirect Water Heaters

An indirect water heater is a system that takes advantage of already existing heat sources, such as a furnace, boiler, or heat pump.  There are two basic types of indirect water heaters:

Immersed Coil Systems:  These systems utilize a coil-type heat exchanger that is located inside a hot water storage tank. The heat exchanger is supplied with hot water heat from the furnace, boiler or heat pump whose main function is to heat the home’s living space.

Tankless Coil Systems:  With this type of system, the water-heating coil is located inside the heat source, eliminating the need for a water storage tank.

An indirect water heater can be very energy efficient, as long as the primary heat source (furnace, boiler or heat pump) is an up-to-date model with a good efficiency rating.

Tankless Water Heaters

Also known as demand water heaters, these systems are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to produce a limitless supply of hot water at a high rate of energy efficiency.  They're also popular because of their compact size, and for their ability to be mounted on a wall.

Unlike tank-type water heaters that use energy to maintain a reservoir of stored hot water, these systems heat the water only as it's being used, cutting utility expenses by as much as 45%.  Tankless water heaters that burn propane and natural gas are more efficient than those powered by electricity.

Be warned:  it's easy to spend just as much on your water heating bills with a tankless heater as it is with a tank-style heater!  The promise of increased energy efficiency can lead homeowners to enjoy longer, hotter showers.  If a homeowner saves 45% on their water heating but doubles their shower time, the savings will be lost.

Dr. Energy Saver Charlotte provides energy efficiency services and consultations and have been locally owned and operated since 1927. Contact them today for a free estimate for a water heater installation in Charlotte, Gastonia, Hickory and neighboring cities and towns.