Installing a Tankless Hot Water Heater in Orange County, CA
August 23rd, 2009The Tankless HOT Water Heater
A High-Efficiency Appliance That will Save Energy and Money
It has been estimated that the third largest energy consuming activity in the average home is heating water. It also represents roughly 12% - 14% of all utility expenditures – gas, electricity, water, etc. There is a more efficient alternative than the conventional water heater: the tankless gas or electric water heater. When you use one you will save an amazing amount of energy.
BELOW: Energy Usage Pie Chart of ALL Utilities USED (i.e. Electricity and Natural Gas or other fuel)
SOURCE
BELOW: Energy Usage Pie chart of ONLY Natural Gas - the FUEL most used in California
Tankless Water Heaters are a BIG IMPROVEMENT - Why are tankless water heaters - - - also known as instantaneous water heaters —or— demand water heaters - - - such an important improvement in the way we heat water? A tankless water heater only produces hot water when hot water is asked for –or– “demanded…” Energy consumed by tankless water heaters is dramatically less when compared to the energy used by conventional tank-style water heaters. Consider all of the advantages! It will save you a huge amount of cash on your energy bills over time.
Energy savings…
How Will a Tankless Water Heater Save You Money?
Conventional water heaters are constantly busy - always using energy 24/7 to keep a huge tank of water HOT and READY for use 365-days per year - regardless of ANY NEED for hot water…
In most home situations an old-fashioned water heater typically gets a heavy load request in the morning because family-members are showering, making breakfast, putting in a load of laundry, etc. The limited-gallon water heater is trying to keep up with demand while maintaining the desired temperature of the 30-40-50-80 or 100 gallon tank of hot water. After everyone has left for the day, this old-fashioned appliance is still consuming expensive electricity or pricey natural gas to keep the water temperature hot for no particular reason, this appliance simply keeps a tank of water HOT all the time…
It seems ludicrous, when you think about it, burning energy at night while the average family is sound asleep.
Tankless gas water heaters are designed and manufactured for high efficiency (80-98%). Unlike their older counterparts, these thrifty appliances are hibernating 24/7—365. These modern appliances are sleeping, literally hibernating, using no energy at all UNTIL hot water is called for! Then, instantly supplying the hot water request with —endless hot water— not limited by the size of the tank! This efficiency saves fuel and water heating costs, which saves you money.
Tankless water heaters do not waste energy spent heating a stand-by reservoir of always-hot water in the storage tank. This always-hot water looses heat through the narrow, minimally-insulated tank walls 24/7/365 and must be continually re-heated - often hourly - even when you are sleeping, at work, at school, on vacation, or all those hours of the day and night when you just don’t need any hot water. The facts are overwhelming. Tankless water heaters can cut water heating costs up to 50%.
Tankless water heaters long life save cash over the long term on the cost of the as the replacement cost is is spread over so many more years or reliable service. While old-fashioned, tank-style water heaters often come with 5, 7, or 10-year warranties, their failure rates seem to parallel those exact warranty-numbers, especially in hard water or high water pressure areas. Even without these water-issue-aggravations that cut short the appliance’s life, these water heaters are short-lived. Conventional water heaters are replaced every 13-years on average.
Conventional water heaters are statistically more prone to cause water damage: it is more a question of WHEN - not IF. The cost and consequences of these tank type water heaters leaking or bursting is directly-proportional to when the resulting-mess is discovered. Murphy’s Law? If a leak or burst occurs 15 minutes after leaving for work and not found for 7-10 hours - there are usually insurance adjusters involved in the clean-up scenario.
True Efficiency of conventional water heaters drop year-by-year. Besides the real possibility of a leaking or burst tank, it is well-documented that the true efficiency of a conventional water storage heater goes downhill over time because of the honeycomb syndrome caused by internal calcification of the tank and piping.
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A BETTER MOUSE TRAP…
Tankless Water Heaters have no tank to rust, leak or burst —saving you money, water damage, and insurance claims.
Tankless Water Heaters are literally hibernating 95% of the day and night —saving you money on utility bills.
Tankless Water Heaters will last 20+ years on average—saving you money over the long run.
SPACE SAVINGS…
Take a look (below) at a standard 40-gallon water heater that was leaking. These are pictures of a Tankless Water Heater Installation just completed in August 2009. See how much space was wasted and is now reclaimed?
Most hot-water-heater cabinets or closets are the size of a shower… A new laundry sink with a laundry-folding top is scheduled for this windfall-space, with side wall-mount-cabinet for laundry supplies!
SPACE-WASTER
(Before…)
SPACE-SAVER
(After…)
Tankless Water Heaters can be mounted in many more potential places. The compact design of the tankless gas water heaters allows installation virtually anywhere, indoor or outdoor.
Tankless Installations are clean-looking and compact. Even the vent pipes are highly-engineered, cool-to-the-touch, super-tightly sealed: no smells or fumes. The unit has no pilot light, is super efficient and very quiet too. The compact design can be squeezed into the smallest spaces in otherwise unused, unneeded spaces.
Should you want to totally take over the conventional water heater’s former SPACE for a linen closet or some other use - the new Tankless Hot Water Heater can be mounted outdoors. Let’s explore this wasted space concept further…
Spatial Savings: Because Tankless Water Heaters are wall-hung, they save valuable space that can then be used for other purposes! Since most tankless units are wall mounted — indoors or outdoors, their compacts size can put your interior space to better use.
Consider the math… A conventional tank-type hot water unit consumes an average of 9 square feet of valuable floor space. At an average of $250 per square foot in Southern California, you have now just saved ( or re-claimed ) $2,250.00 of your valuable real estate!
Durability.
Tankless gas water heaters are extremely durable giving them extended life homeowners have come to both expect and enjoy. Likewise, the manufacturer’s warranties are much longer as well.
On-Demand Energy Efficiency.
The tankless water heaters’ small size doesn’t mean you can’t have hot water on-demand. Tankless instant water heaters provide hot water when you need it: instantly! Applications for tankless water heaters are available for indoor or outdoor use and products range from units producing 6.3 gallons per minute up to 13.2 gallons per minute.
Endless Hot Water: With a tankless water heater the supply of hot water is endless, the efficiency is high, the emissions are low, and the space is minimized. Compact in design - about the size of a carry-on suitcases - the tankless water heater allows for installation virtually anywhere, indoors or outdoors.
Large Homes or Multiple-Family Units: For large estate-sized homes, apartments, rental units or high-demand situations, multiple numbers of affordable Tankless Water Heaters can be installed in “Parallel.” Tankless Heaters “Ganged-Together” to accommodate the added requirements or increased GPM (Gallons-Per-Minute).
Moreover, the redundancy of multiple-units is very reassuring and flexible. Terrific for long-term cost savings and dependability in apartments and rental applications. If one unit requires a service call, rare though that may be, the remaining units still accommodate the tenants demand for hot water. This takes the “crisis” out of a “Landlord-Tenant” relationship. What might have been an expensive, middle-of-the-night emergency service call is reduced to an affordable next day or next week “casual service call.” Property owners and managers are no longer under that intense pressure to drop everything - and can go about their lives knowing that they will have content, happy tenants.
How Efficient is a Tankless Water Heater?
Consider, if a home uses 41 or so gallons of hot water per day, a tankless heater can represent 25% - 35% more energy efficiency compared than your conventional storage heater. But if your home uses more hot water each day, say 85 gallons, on average, then you should reap 8% - 14% more efficiency. If you install a tankless water heater at each demand spot, your savings are estimated to be 25% - 52%.
Does it Make Monetary Sense to Convert to Tankless?
This question can only be answered on an individual basis. Many factors figure into the equation. One of the questions to ask yourself… Will energy costs will continue to rise sharply in your area?
If the current administration and congress have their way - expect to pay A LOT MORE for natural Gas in ALL of the United States - including Southern California! The CAP and TRADE Tax Increases being proposed are troubling even if you have the most energy-efficient appliances available today —absolutely scary if you have ancient, energy-guzzlers. Here is a paragraph brought to our attention from a Tankless customer just this month. From U.S. News and World Report, March 3, 2009:
“Reviewing a host of recent studies, Buckley and Mityakov show that estimates of job losses attributable to cap-and-trade range in the hundreds of thousands. The price for energy paid by the American consumer also will rise. The studies reviewed showed electricity prices jumping 5-15% by 2015, natural gas prices up 12-50% by 2015, and gasoline prices up 9-145% by 2015. As an illustration, gasoline would suffer a 16 cent price increase per gallon at the low end of the estimates to a $2.58 penalty at the high end (using the January 2009 reported retail price of $1.78 per gallon).”
Installing energy efficient appliances in our homes is simply a good idea - especially when the energy to run them will apparently be heavily taxed in the near future.