For decades, the only real option homeowners had for water heating was a storage tank model. Tank water heaters are units that have large water storage tanks attached to them, some of which can hold over 100 gallons of water.
These water heaters keep all of that water heated day and night, just in case someone needs hot water at any given time. While these water heaters were quite convenient in many ways, that they were the only option was less than ideal. Now, there is a new option in the form of the tankless water heater.
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each of these systems, in order to help you choose the best one for your home.
Storage Tank Water Heaters
As mentioned above, a storage tank water heater is one that uses a large storage tank to constantly keep a large amount of water heated. The benefits of keeping so much hot water on hand are apparent. Any time you need hot water, you can make use of it. There are a number of cons to using this system, though.
For one, you’re wasting a lot of energy keeping all of that water heated when you don’t need it. That leads to you spending more money each year on your water heater for a benefit that you only might make use of. Second, if you ever do exhaust the hot water in storage you’re going to have to wait a while for more water to be heated. These two problems are what tankless water heaters were built to address.
Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters eschew storage tanks, as the name suggests. Instead, they only turn on when hot water is called for. The water is heated as it flows through the water heater on the way to its destination. The heat output is similar to tank water heaters, so there’s no need to worry about losing heating ability. The pros of this system include energy savings, as a tankless water heater turns off when it’s not needed. There’s also no need to worry about “running out” of hot water with a tankless water heater.
However, there are a couple of cons. The first con is that there is a definite delay between when you turn a hot water faucet on and when you start receiving hot water. The second is that if you have a lot of demand on the tankless water heater at once, it can be more easily overwhelmed.
If you aren’t sure what kind of water heater would fit your needs better, call Brooks Plumbing. We provide water heaters throughout the Olympia area.
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