A Quick Guide To Water Heaters
If you want to take a long warm bath, you need a water heater or you won’t be able to get any hot water at all. Water heaters heat up your home’s water immediately then send a supply of hot water through the pipes and to your appliances.
If you need a water heater replacement or are yet to have one installed, a San Antonio Plumber can help you with everything from choosing the right water heater for you to installing the unit in your home. If your equipment has stopped working, don’t fear the worst – you may just need a water heater repair and not a full replacement.
Types of Water Heaters
When it comes to buying water heaters, there are many different kinds on the market. Don’t just buy the first water heater you come across; you need to shop around and purchase one that suits your home the best. They come in all different sizes, so space is something you need to consider before you buy a water heater for your home.
Another point to consider is how much hot water does your home use. Tankless and standard water heaters both provide your home with hot water but both have distinctive requirements and work in different ways. With any water heater that you are considering buying, you should first look at its yearly operating costs and its energy efficiency.
Storage tank – The most common type of water heater in homes across San Antonio are storage tanks. This kind of heater unit heats up water in its insulated tank and holds it there until hot water is needed. You can buy electric, natural gas, and liquid propane storage tank water heaters. In most cases, the electric models can cost more to operate than the natural gas and liquid propane units, but the gas models can cost more to purchase.
Tankless (on-demand) – A tankless or on-demand water heater does not have a tank that it stores hot water in. With this type of heater, when you need hot water, it will heat the water there and then. Your home’s water supply is heated up by passing through a set of coils that are inside of the unit. This type of water heater can be a lot more energy efficient than a tank water heater as it only heats up water when you need it.
These water heaters are available in natural gas, electric, and liquid propane models but an electrical model may require your home to have an expensive electrical upgrade depending on your home’s electrical capacity. Tankless water heaters are best for homes that aren’t going to be using hot water at two points, for example, having a shower and having your dishwasher on at the same time. They can only provide your home with a limited flow rate of hot water – around 3.5 gallons per minute.
Mobile home – If you have a mobile home, you need a particular type of water heater. You can get these as either an electric or gas water heater (an electric water heater is often cheaper than a gas one), but they must be approved by the H.U.D. When it comes to a gas water heater, there are two types of gasses, propane and natural gas; you must make sure that you purchase the correct type of water heater for your mobile home’s connection. With a mobile home, you need to consider your space carefully.
Utility or point-of-use – This water heater has a small tank that stores the hot water. The size of a utility water heater ranges from 2.5 – 19 gallons, so these types of water heaters are often used for providing hot water to shops, garages, outbuildings, or even a second bathroom.
A heat pump or hybrid – A hybrid water heater works by catching any heat that is in the air then using it to heat up the water. This type of water heater is very energy efficient compared to electric water heaters as it uses around sixty percent less energy. Although you may need to spend a little bit more on the actual unit relative to an electric model, over time, they do start to pay for themselves.
The only major downside to these hybrid water heaters is they need be located in a space that stays between 40 – 90 degrees all the time – they don’t work well in cold areas. If you are considering a hybrid water heater, you will need around 1000 cubic feet of space that stay at the correct temperature for the water heater to work, and it also needs from floor to ceiling, no less than 7 feet of clearance.
Most of the above water heaters are available in all of the fuel sources – electric, gas and propane. When you are buying a water heater, you must purchase one that uses the fuel source that you have present in your home. Below are the differences between the water heaters fuel sources:
● Propane and Gas
○ They range in size from 30 – 100 plus gallons
○ A burner is used to heat up the water
○ The unit is more expensive to purchase
○ They are a lot more energy efficient than electric models
○ Materials that are flammable should not be stored close by
● Electric
○ The unit is less expensive to buy
○ There are a variety of options available
○ They range in size from 28 – 100 plus gallons
○ To heat the water they use heating elements that are replaceable
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