A long lazy bath is loved by all, but have you considered how much it costs you?
The US Dept. Of Energy says that water heating could eat up 15-25% of the energy used in your home. There are various tips to follow while water heating in order to achieve energy saving and cut energy bills.
The standard water heater consumes thousands of dollars in terms of energy wasted. Because of rising cost of power, tankless water heaters have become the rage.
They are popular because of 3 reasons: They consume 2/3rds less energy than traditional water heaters (energy saving), take up much less space and are far cheaper to use.
A conventional water heater holds 30 to 80 gallons of water, according to water use pattern and your home and family size. It works by continuously heating water whether it is in use or not. Thus it wastes a lot of energy. On the other hand, tankless water heaters provide hot water on demand. The water gets heated as it runs via the unit. Electric water heaters work with an element on the inside while gas heaters work with a burner.
A conventional heater costs $300 to $400. Tankless water heaters are much more expensive but long run benefits outweigh original cost. The average cost for a tankless unit comes to $2400 to $3200. But tankless units consume far less energy per year (energy saving) and also earn you tax credits for 30% of installation charges. Tankless units also last much longer saving repair and maintenance charges. All tankless units have a sleek design which make it wall mounted and thus save a lot of valuable space. For a home with many members, installing multiple units may be the solution.
Commercial applications are also growing popular. Resorts across America are installing tankless units in their baths. According to an engineer, thinking that they can do substantial energy saving they replaced their hot water heaters with tankless units. They have gone from storing 650 gallons hot water to simply no storage.
Savings can also come from the kind of energy. Propane heaters are less expensive than electricity. While there were a few mishaps, there were some palpable benefits also. Advantage is the constant supply of hot water for guests. There are no complains from guest about running out of hot water.
But problems like sedimentation of water because of using well water have plagued the resort. But it can be cleaned within few minutes using a strainer. It is incomparable with the three and a half hour time of recovery for a conventional water heater.
Most energy saving efforts will cost more but long term savings and over all environment impact is highly beneficial and thus tankless water heaters will soon become popular.
