Chad Fisher asked:


These days, fuel costs are soaring, and people are worried about the environment. The old-fashion water heaters have the problem of having to heat and keep hot a large amount of water. Over time, that eats up a lot of energy, and that means raising your electric or gas bill. That is where electric tankless water heaters come in. They are also known as demand water heaters or instantaneous water heaters; they only provide hot water when it is needed. As a result, they use much less energy, which means saving you money, and they are much smaller than a conventional water heater.

Tankless water heaters are tankless because they heat the water each time you turn on the hot water tap. Thus they have no need of a storage tank, and do not lose heat. When you turn on the hot water, water flows into the unit, and is heated – either by an electric heater, or a gas one. Usually, the gas tankless water heaters produce hot water at a slightly higher rate then electric ones, but the latter has the virtue of versatility; you can put a small one in just about any room of your house. So, if you want to put a small tankless water heater in your kitchen – so you can get that single cup of coffee you need to start the day, you can install it right under a kitchen cabinet.

When looking to buy a tankless water heater, the type of fuel is the first thing you want to consider; electric or gas. When it comes to an electric model, you need to be aware of its voltage and amperage; and then check with an electrician to be sure your home can handle it. With a gas tankless water heater, you need to be sure you have the right type of gas – natural gas or propane, available before installing the unit. Also, the gas-types need to be vented, so keep that in mind when deciding where to install the unit.

Next, look at where you want to put the tankless water heaters in your home, and what sort of demand they are going to handle. A small unit under a kitchen cabinet can be fine for washing dishes, filling a cooking pot, or making coffee or tea. Now, if you want to heat all the water for your bathroom, that is going to require a still larger unit. If you are going to be servicing an entire home, apartment or condo, you will need a bigger heater. Normally, you figure out the size of the tankless water heater by counting up the number of fixtures in the room / house that will need hot water. Check with a plumber to get the gallons per minute for each fixture, and then they can help you calculate the total hot water demand.

Finally, you need to look at the application for your tankless water heater; that is, what does it need to do? Is it a Single Point Application – it provides hot water for just one fixture? Or, maybe you have a room that is very far from the main water heater, and the water tends to get pretty cold by the time it gets there. Well, then you can install a tankless water heater to serve as a booster. Of course, there is also the whole house type, which is rather self-explanatory.