Your home can’t get along without a water heater. That’s a basic fact of modern life. Most of the time, you won’t have to worry about the performance of your water heater.
But what if you currently need to have a new water heater installed? To get you started, we’re going to look at four key factors to consider in your search for a new water heater.
ONE: Tank or Tankless
The standard type of water heater is the storage tank water heater, which stores a supply of water in a tank and keeps it heated for immediate use. A popular alternative is the tankless water heater, which doesn’t store any water and instead heats up water as needed.
Tankless water heaters have several advantages: lower energy consumption, longer service life, unlimited hot water, small size. They cost more than tank water heaters, however, and not every home will necessarily benefit from one.
TWO: Fuel/Energy Source
Water heaters have a long history of using many types of fuel sources. The earliest water heaters burned wood. Today, there are water heater models that use natural gas, propane, oil, and electricity. The two most common energy sources are natural gas and electricity, and you’ll likely find yourself choosing between these options.
If your home already uses natural gas, then a gas water heater is probably the better choice.
THREE: Capacity
This is another way to say the size of the water heater, how much hot water it can provide. The capacity of tank water heaters is based on the size of the storage tank. With tankless water heaters, capacity is based on the liters-per-minute they can heat. It’s important to have an accurate capacity for your water heater that meets your household size and how much hot water it consumes.
Otherwise, you’ll end up with not enough hot water (undersized) or a unit that wastes energy and costs too much (oversized). Although you can make simple capacity calculations on your own, we strongly recommend you have your installers handle the calculations to ensure you have the capacity that matches your home and water usage.
FOUR: Energy Efficiency
If energy efficiency is one of your top priorities, we recommend first looking at tankless water heaters because they can outperform almost all tank water heaters in this category. If you’re planning on getting a tank water heater, make sure to purchase an ENERGY STAR-certified unit. The specific energy efficiency rating of water heaters is known as uniform energy factor (UEF).
The higher UEF, the more efficient the system. ENERGY STAR-certified gas and electric water heaters have UEF ratings between 0.65 and 0.95. Keep in mind that high efficiency water heaters will cost more upfront to purchase, but may pay for themselves after several years.
If you have any questions about water heaters or you wish to schedule a water heater installation in Kelowna, BC, our experts are ready to help.
Are You Comfortable? Call Comfort Tech Heating & Cooling for all your HVAC and water heater needs.