Tankless Water Heater Basics – Affordable Water Heaters and Plumbing Inc.

Tankless Water Heaters

- The Basics.
- Energy Savings. learn more »
- Tankless Water Heater Location. learn more »
- Outdoor Installation. learn more »
- Performance. learn more »
- Serviceability. learn more »
- Choosing The Right Size. learn more »
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The Basics of Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters are water heaters that do not have a tank. These compact units mount on a wall either inside or even outside the house and supply hot water on demand literally without end!

Tankless water heaters work on demand by using sensors and computer boards to monitor the flow of water and change the rate of firing to supply just the amount of hot water required for the current demand. (They are also called on demand heaters) This means that they burn less gas to supply hot water to something like a sink than they would if you are only using multiple fixtures at the same time. This modulating firing rate also makes them very efficient to operate as you are the only using the exact amount of fuel needed at that time.

A term that should be avoided is "instantaneous". Tankless water heaters are not instantaneous. It does take a tankless water heater about 2 seconds to go from their rest "off" mode to producing hot water at the set point temperature. This is not a big issue however.

The problem is if a consumer thinks by hearing the term "instantaneous" that they will get water at every outlet in the house instantly if they get a tankless heater, they will be disappointed. Most homes have many feet of piping between the water heater and the outlets and do not have a recirculating system.

The amount of time it takes from when a faucet or other hot water fixture opens to when the set point water gets to that point is called "Lag Time". In today's large homes with low flow fixtures it is not uncommon to see a lag time of over 3 minutes to get hot water to remote fixtures in a home.

Tankless Water Heaters save space in a home because they take up NO floor space. They also do not require protection from vehicles if installed in a garage and are so small they can be installed in a crawl space or attic as well. If you really need space, many tankless water heaters can be installed outdoors giving you all of your interior space back.

Tankless Water Heaters

The Basics of Tankless Water Heaters