Using Tankless Water Heaters Lowers Energy Costs

Conventional systems

It’s helpful to first review how conventional, storage-type water heaters operate to better understand tankless systems. Storage water heaters store a large amount of water at-the-ready. While this process supplies a rather large amount of hot water for your needs, it also requires considerable energy. Even energy-efficient models are subject to waste, called standby energy loss, required to keep the water hot 24 hours a day.

Tankless water heaters

Tankless water heaters bypass standby energy losses, because they heat on-demand. Here’s how they work:

• When you turn on the tap, the system’s sensor reads the need for hot water.
• It quickly calculates how much power's needed, according to the temperature setting for that application.
• The system also reads the incoming flow rate and temperature rise required to provide hot water.
• It draws the energy required (either through electricity or gas, depending on the type of system), and the water moves through the heating element.

Savings result from using tankless water-heating systems due to:

• No standby energy losses - Tankless systems heat water on demand, which means no energy is lost to the around-the-clock heating required of storage systems.
• The location of the system - Water heaters installed at the point of use encourage savings due to the proximity of the heating element. If the system is located far from the application, water loses some of its heat before it arrives at the faucet.
• Greatly reduced cycling losses - Storage tank systems experience high cycling losses. As hot water leaves the tank, it’s replaced by cold water, which requires energy to heat the water back up again. Tankless systems bypass cycling losses.
• Multiple point-of-use applications - Used throughout the home, these applications generally result in significant energy savings in the average household.

Rodenhiser Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning is proud to provide HVAC services to the Route 495/128 area of Massachusetts. Give us a call today if you’re interested in learning more about using tankless water heaters or lowering water-heating costs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Solutions Guide.

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