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There’s a lot of talk about tankless water heaters lately. If it’s time for you to upgrade or replace your water heater, you may be hearing a lot about the benefits of going tankless. But it’s not all sunshine and roses over there in tankless territory. There are downsides to tankless water heaters. For your consideration, here are three things that might make a tank water heater the best choice after all.
1: Cost
Tankless systems themselves are more expensive than tank water heaters. On top of that, the cost of the installation will also be higher, particularly if you are switching from a tank to a tankless system. It’s easy to imagine that the efficiency of a tankless system will make up for that initial cost. And it will! Eventually…
As long as your tankless system is still working in about twenty years, which it should be, you’ll finally recover that investment and start saving. But if you’d like to save money sometime that’s less than two decades away, the lower purchase cost and lower installation cost of a tank heater will make it your best bet.
2: Supply
For small households that don’t use a lot of hot water at once, a tankless system’s 2-5 gallons per minute might be plenty. But if you have a larger household, a high hot water demand, or times when you need to use hot water in multiple places at once, that just might not be enough. So if your busy home routine involves trying to get the dishes and laundry done and trying to get everyone showered during a limited stretch each evening, which is common for a lot of families, a tankless system could leave folks taking a much more refreshing, colder shower than they expected.
3: Delay
In a home with a tankless system, when the taps are turned off, there is no hot water in the house. It has to be heated on demand, and this takes time. In a home with a tank or standby water heater, there’s plenty of hot water just waiting to be needed. This means that the water at your faucet or shower will be hot sooner if you have a tank water heater. Perhaps you think this is just a minor inconvenience, having to wait a moment longer every time you need to wash your hands, wash a dish, or take a shower. But think of that cold water running out your faucet while you wait for it to warm up. Imagine it filling a pitcher… over and over. This delay can significantly increase your water usage and raise your water bill.
Bonus Fact 4: For Homes with Hard Water
Hard water, or water that contains a higher-than-usual amount of dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium, can cause a lot of problems. It builds up as mineral scaling inside your plumbing and will also build up inside any type of water heater you choose. But because of the lack of a tank and narrow water lines of the tankless water heating system, the scaling will quickly diminish your water flow, blocking up those narrow lines and decreasing your hot water availability.
If you have any questions about your tank and tankless options or water heater service in New Haven, CT, we’ll be happy to provide more information so you can make the best choice for your family and your home.
