Did you know that your water heater likely consumes 14 to 25 percent of the energy your household uses? Many homeowners overlook the water heater when they’re looking for ways to slash energy bills, but it’s a significant part of your home’s power use. Of course, you can take steps such as purchasing an efficient washing machine and installing new faucets, but you should also consider upgrading to tankless water heating.
Depending on the condition and age of your current equipment, a tankless water heating system can be 24 to 34 percent more efficient than your storage tank heater. However, it heats water on demand, rather than storing a reserve of hot water, so you may need more than one unit to satisfy the demands of your home.
Calculate your needs before you upgrade:
- Peak flow rate calculation – Make an hour-by-hour list of the typical activities in your home that use hot water. Refer to the owner’s manual of each appliance, faucet, etc., and then write the flow rate down next to the appropriate activity. Add the total usage up to find your home’s peak usage.
- Compare that value to tankless options – Most tankless water heating units generate 2 to 5 gallons of hot water per minute. To put that in perspective, if you shower at the same time that the dishwasher is running, that will require a flow rate of about 5 gallons per minute. You can also take steps to reduce your demand before selecting the equipment.
- Assess your home layout – If you have one area that is removed from the other high-usage areas, you may want to install a separate tankless unit for it, even if the necessary flow rate is sufficient. That’s because hot water will flow out to the closest outlets first. As a result, the farther the outlet, the more difficult it gets to provide it with hot water.
If you want to make sure you accurately assess your hot water needs and plan your tankless water heating system accordingly, contact Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning. With over 50 years of service in the Greater Cleveland area, we can help you maximize your comfort and savings.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about tankless water heating and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Energy 1 Heating services the Lorain, OH area. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area