You can drastically reduce your hot water bill this winter with a tankless water heater.
If you are not up to speed on tankless water heaters you may be surprised to know that the electric models are 95-99 percent energy efficient. This means that almost every penny spent on fuel goes to heater water. Other types and models are not so energy efficient but manage to remain competitive, at least in the short term, because of other cost factors.
Electric may not be the right fit for your home and family but it’s worth checking it out because the savings could be significant. Are you wondering how this could be possible when natural gas is less expensive than electric?
The facts are that gas and electric prices vary by state and natural gas prices vary seasonally as much as 50 percent. But the real news is that with the advent of new energy savers it’s possible to make electric water heaters even more economical.
While it’s not likely that electric tankless water can get any more energy efficient, there are ways to help them use less energy, and this means more money in your pocket.
Wastewater heat recycling is system that has already proven that it can pay for itself – Department of Energy estimates in as little as 2.5 years. Already on the market are wastewater heat recovery coils that can be used to preheat water before it enters the tankless heater.
Currently there are several models of this that use easy to install coils to capture up to 60 percent of the heat and apply it to the tankless intake. Each flows through it’s own pipe, so there is little chance of contamination.
Heating water to roughly room temperature for free means big savings. Here is how. Tankless water heaters operate on the principle that as the water temperature outside goes down so does the amount of available hot water – cold weather, less hot water!
But preheating water changes this and it also changes the size of tankless water heater you need. It could also be the deciding factor as to whether you can get by with your existing electrical panel. It’s worth taking a look at.