Water Heater Review: Learn about Tankless and Standard Water Heaters

Aug. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- Let’s think about that for a moment. Your water heater is the classic strong, silent type. Day in and day out, it delivers the steady supply of hot water you rely on for washing clothes, bathing and cleaning dishes. Hidden away in the back of a utility closet or a dark corner of your basement or closet, your water heater is easy to overlook until you realize that it can account for a whopping 15- 25% of your total energy usage. With new high efficiency hot water heaters cutting 45% of your hot water cost.


Improvements in water heating have the potential to save you hundreds of dollars a year or more.



Don't Judge Your Water Heater by its look.

The old standard and traditional tank-style water heater is really nothing more than a big metal tank of water that gets heated by either electrical elements or fossil fuel. The main design has not changed since the year 1905. Think of you heating up 40 one gallon jugs of water and keeping it hot all the time 24/7 just so you have hot water when you want it.

When you open a tap or use hot water in your home, water you've paid to heat travels through hot water supply lines (and hopefully you've insulated your hot water pipe) to its point of use. At the same time, cold water flows into your tank to replace the heated water that just left. The larger your hot water tank, the more hot water you can use before running out.


 

Your water heater normally has a 5 to 10-year manufacturer's parts  warranty, which is about the life expectancy before water heater problems can start to develop. Even a water heater that's 15 years old can still provide plenty of hot water and appear to be in good operating condition, but looks can be deceiving. It is probably wasting energy because of inadequate insulation, plus there may be problems inside that you can't see.


Tank-style water heaters come with 6- to
10-year parts only warranties for a reason.

A Flood Waiting to Happen. The reality is that tank water heaters fail gradually, and then suddenly. One day you've got a flood on your hands that could cause thousands of dollars in damages, not to mention the longer term issues of mold or mildew that might result. Corrosion and sediment inside your tank steadily diminish your tank's water heating efficiency and eventually lead to leaks, whether it's a slow drip or a catastrophic failure.

Maitz Home Services licenced plumbers will inspect your water heater during your home plumbing audit. If your water heater is ready to be retired, they can sit with you and help you understand your optionsIt's a Wrap: Hot Water Heater Insulation


Wrapping a water tank in
insulation helps lower
energy costs.

Try this test: Touch the outside of your water heater. If you feel warmth, your water heater is losing heat that you paid for to the surrounding air. This is known as standby heat loss.

Standby heat loss causes the water inside the water tank to cool so that it has to be reheated over and over again, a cycle that wastes energy 24/7, 365 days a year whether you're home or not, awake or not, or using hot water or not. Water heaters that have an Energy Star rating are manufactured with high levels of tank insulation to minimize standby heat loss, but they don't eliminate it completely.

If you don't have an Energy Star water heater, you can wrap your tank with extra insulation to cut down on standby heat loss.

A Simple Way to Save: Turn Down the Heat




Turning the thermostat down
can save between 3-5% in
water heating costs.



If you have a tank-type water heater, there's a good chance you can save money simply by lowering your water heater's thermostat setting. At the factory, manufacturers can set a water heater's thermostat as high as 140degrees. That's about 20degrees higher than necessary. If you need to cool down your hot water by turning on the cold water faucet, that's a sign that you could be paying extra to overheat your water.

You can test your water temperature and make the appropriate adjustments for you to save money on your home energy bills. For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%-5% in hot water heating costs. Instead of using more energy to make water hotter than you can stand, wouldn't it make more sense to have a Maitz Home Service licensed plumber inspect your water heater temperature and safety?

VISIT http://www.maitzhomeservices.com/blog-0/bid/26242/water-h... for more details.

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