Canada is known for its biting cold weather so that water heaters make up an integral part of fixtures in Canadian households. The traditional (storage tank) water heaters are a regular part of the plumbing of Aurora homes. With new technology in the field, however, more and more Canadians are considering replacing their water heater with tankless ones. Instead of waiting for the heater to warm up your bath water, you can have it on demand, with just a flick of a switch.
To understand the benefits of having a tankless water heater installed, you’ll have to understand how the two types of water heaters work. Traditional water heaters have storage tanks where water is heated and stored. A household of two to four people usually has a 40 gallon tank that boils water and keeps it warm all through the day. Tankless water heaters have a pipe that pumps in the cold water which is heated either by electric element or a gas burner. You can expect to get two to five gallons of hot water per minute. The differences in how they operate highlights the benefits your home can get from a tankless water heater.
With no need for storage tanks, tankless water heaters can save you a lot of space. Forty gallon tanks are just the average; larger families may require sixty gallons to meet their water needs. This can take up to 16 feet of space in your basement. Tankless water heaters are often the size of a suitcase and you can install them in tricky spots in your home like near the shower or underneath a sink. Moreover, you can install multiple tankless water heaters.
Second, it’s far more efficient to have hot water on demand, instead of letting it sit in a tank until it is needed. You save on the energy of keeping the water hot, while ensuring you have continual hot water; no need to wait for the water to get warm, if the tank ever gets empty.
With these benefits, having a tankless water heater would appear to be more practical to have than installing a traditional water heater. You’ll need the help of an experienced Barrie plumbing service like Harris Plumbing Inc. to recommend the right choice of tankless water heater to install. Your choice will depend on your water needs and what fuel type it will use, whether gas-fueled or run by electricity; the more water you plan to use, the larger the unit will have to be.
(Source: On the Level: Is a tankless water heater right for you?, Capital Gazette, September 27, 2014)
