Tankless Water Heater – Things You Should Know

Till a few years back, homeowners used to set aside space in the house for installing a water heater. These heaters are large and hence require considerable space.

Most of the water heaters were installed on the wall to save floor space. But this may not be possible in all situations. In houses with a low ceiling, installing a water heater can make the room look even more cramped up. The only option for such homes was to install it on the floor level.

This would occupy a lot of space. A solution for this is the tankless water heater.

As the name suggests, a tankless water heater is one that does not have any tank for storing water. The water is heated as and when it passed through the heater and is released to an attached pipe. This pipe carries the water to its final destination.

Since there is no separate tank for storing water, this type of heater is compact and can be attached to the bathroom or kitchen faucet directly.

• Type of water heaters: Tankless water heater can either be a gas heater or electric heater. In a gas water heater, gas is used for heating water. Thus, the electricity used for heating water is less. But this type of heater comes with a pilot light that remains on even when the water is not heated.

An electric water heater, on the other hand, uses electricity for heating water. Though electricity consumption will be slightly high, it is considered to be more efficient than a gas water heater.

• Water flow rate: The water flow rate from the heater depends on your requirement. If you want to connect the heater to more appliances, then you naturally require a heater with a high water flow rate.

To determine the water flow rate of the tanker, first you should calculate the water flow requirement of each of the appliances. You can do a google search to figure out how much flow rate is required for each of the devices. Once you add this up, you will get the total water flow rate based on which you can select the tanker.

• Cost: Tankless water heaters are available in $200 - $3000 range. The value depends on its brand, efficiency and quality of the spare parts. Depending on how much you can spend, you can decide which tanker to go for.

• Cost of maintenance: The cost of maintaining a tankless water heater is pretty high. This is because, when compared to conventional water heaters, a tankless water heater has several spare parts. In case any of the parts get damaged, then getting a spare one and repairing the same is costly. Thus, the overall maintenance of the tanker is not very easy.

Whether to go for a tankless water heater or not is purely a personal choice. If you want to provide a compact and well-organized look to your bathroom or kitchen, without affecting its functionality, then a tankless water heater is the right choice.