Choosing A New Water Heater

With the many types of water heaters available today, it is easy to become overwhelmed when deciding which type to invest in. Like any buying decision it is a good idea to review your options. We will try to provide useful information about each of your options and hopefully make your decision a bit easier.

The Three Most Common Types Of Water Heaters Are:

• Storage Water Heater
• Tankless Water Heater
• Solar Water Heater

Storage water heaters are the most common type in use today in North America. These water heaters range in size from 20 to 80 gallons and use electricity, oil, propane or natural gas to heat the water. Basically, they work by heating water in an insulated tank where the water is stored until needed. One of the advantages of storage water heaters is that they always have some water in reserve in the event of a power failure. Although most people use this type of water heater, tankless water heaters and solar water heaters are becoming more popular.

Tankless water heaters are the next most common and are rapidly catching up with storage water heaters. These water heaters also use electricity, oil, propane or natural gas to heat the water. One of the advantages these water heaters have over the others is they only use energy to heat the water when there is a demand for hot water. When there is no demand for hot water there is no wasted cost in keeping the water hot. This of course usually reduces operating costs because there are no standby losses.

The third type of hot water heater is the solar water heater. These water heaters are not as popular or affordable as storage and tankless water heaters but are by far the most energy efficient because they use the power of the sun to heat the water. With solar water heaters you can also have the benefit of the storage hot water tank.

We have very briefly covered your water heater options but there is much more to learn. Each of these types of waters has advantages and disadvantages over the others. You can even utilize two or even all three of these types to suite your requirements. Research your options.