5 Types Of Water Heaters For Your Home

Water heaters play an important part in our homes. Not only do they heat up our water for dishwashing, laundry and bathing, they also cost a substantial amount of money to energize unless the proper model is selected. Estimates put this appliance as one that utilizes 15% to 25% of a household's monthly energy outlay. There are 5 main types of appliances that are designed to heat up H2O for a household. They are tankless coil, on-demand, heat pumps, conventional storage, and solar. Here are some things to think about:

1) Tankless coil: Tankless coil systems are indirect heating sources that are attached to the main boiler or heat exchanger of a home. These appliances don't need a tank but rather rely on the heating system within the house to warm up the liquid. In order to be effective, the house must be located in a cold climate that utilizes boilers or furnaces.

2) On-demand: The on-demand systems don't have storage tanks, either, so are another form of the tankless unit. There is a gas or electric element that heats only the liquid that's required. This saves energy because there's no tank storing and keeping H2O hot when it's not needed.

3) Heat pumps: Similar to the HVAC systems with the same name, these devices move hot temps from one area to another similar to refrigeration devices operating backwards. Fridge systems take heat from a space and puts it into the room; this type of water heater takes heated temps from a room and uses it to heat up the liquid. These devices are quite a bit more efficient than traditional storage tank appliances.

4) Conventional storage: Although the conventional models aren't the most efficient, they are still the most common type used. These appliances range in size from twenty to eighty gallons for a typical residential home. When a person turns on the faucet or shower, hot water leaves the storage tank and goes through the pipe and out the faucet or shower head. Every time some of the hot liquid is used, cold H2O fills the tank up automatically where it is again heated by gas or electricity.

5) Solar: Harvesting the solar energy that is available to us earthlings is a wise idea and one that can save money on utility bills over the long run. It is also an eco-friendly and green idea for the planet. These systems utilize an insulated tank along with solar collection devices. There are various ways to achieve this using either indirect and direct circulation systems.

When researching water heaters, a consumer will need to take a look at various components of these appliances. In order to make an energy efficient choice, a homeowner should consider which of the 5 models would work best in his or her home. Number of inhabitants, temperature desired for the water, size of the tank and whether the house has gas, electricity or solar capabilities will all play a part in the decision making process.