Electric Tankless Water Heater

Use of hot water in a household for bathing, laundry, and other such activities is a necessity. The water heater is also called 'on demand water heater' or 'instant water heater', as the process of heating the water starts only after these are turned on. By turning this heater off, the consumption of the power is stopped. This is in contrast to the traditional water tank heaters where the water in the tank is reheated to the preset temperature throughout the day.

These water heaters are becoming more popular among the masses as they consume power only when needed. This home appliance is small in size with no cumbersome water tank to care for, its installation is easy. It can be installed on the interior or exterior wall of the house. In fact, it can even be fitted in a closet near a utility such as a dishwasher, washing machine, or a bathroom.

As with any other home appliances, the deciding factor in the selection of the heater is the peak hot water demand of the household. As it heats water on demand, and does so while it flows through the water pipe, it becomes necessary to know how many gallons of hot water it can make available per minute. As of now, most of the on-demand water heaters that are available in the market supply 4-6 gallons of hot water per minute.

A common household is fitted with electrical circuits that are built to handle 110 volts and an electric current of 15-20 ampere. An electric tankless water heater operates on 220 volts and the amperage it needs can be as high as 220 ampere. If you intend to operate it for the purpose of supplying hot water to the dishwasher or washing machine at the same time as taking a bath or shower, your demand for hot water will be quite high.

While selecting one of these water heating systems, the fact whether you are going to use it to supply a particular utility acting as a secondary source of hot water, or are going to use it to fulfill the need of the house as a primary source of hot water, plays an important role in taking a decision. In the latter case, the electrical system in your house has to undergo a drastic change in order to supply electricity to this heater and avoid any problems.

The amount of electricity consumed by this heater may load the electrical system in your house, resulting in a mishap, in addition to causing a problem to the feeder device that supplies electricity to your house. The process of upgrading the system may involve the usage of copper wires of higher gauge, and installation of additional circuit breakers to support the electric consumption at peak demand for hot water. It means calling a certified electrician to install the wiring at a cost.

The amount of electricity consumed by this device to heat the water depends on where the water is drawn from. If it is coming from a river or well, the chances of its temperature being lower than that of the water supplied by the local authorities are higher.

The situation clearly states that the on-demand water heater will have to work more in order to heat it to the desired temperature. Hence, electricity consumption will be higher than normal. If you live alone, then consider installing heaters which operate on gas, as they are not very useful for big families as a stand-alone water heating system.

All these factors, along with the heater's energy efficiency factor, FHR (first hour rating i.e. the amount of hot water that is available in the first hour of operation) must be considered while selecting one. An instant water heater is costlier when compared to the traditional one.

However, federal government offers tax credits for buying an energy efficient water heater. There are incentives and tax rebates offered by the state governments too, which when coupled with the discounts offered by the water heater manufacturer, makes this an affordable choice.