A lot of people don’t realize how important the hot water heater is in your home, and how much it can effect. Not only does a hot water heater provide a valuable commodity to your home, but it also has a direct impact on your energy bills, and takes up a significant amount of space in your home. Having the right water heater, as well as annual service can go a long way toward making your home more comfortable, and your bills manageable.

Here are a few things to consider when it comes to a water heater…

1. Do You Run Out Of Hot Water? – This is the biggest issue with a hot water heater. If you are constantly running out of hot water, you may need a bigger tank, or a tankless system. A bigger tank will provide you with more hot water. Pretty straightforward. A tankless system will heat water as it’s needed, allowing you to never run out of hot water, and also never having to store a bunch of it in a tank.
2. Do You Have Strange Water Pressure? – If your water pressure is off, it may be a sign your tank isn’t pumping it out properly.
3. Has Your System Been Serviced? – There are some things a professional can help you out with to make sure your system is working well and will last as long as possible. In many tanks, there is a rod that keeps the inside of your tank from corroding. This has to be replaced every so often. You also may want your tank flushed to clear out any sediment that has settled onto the bottom of your tank.
4. Safety Valves – There are safety features on your system that can be checked. If you don’t know about these, a professional will.

It’s a little more difficult to tell if your tank is costing you a lot of energy bills, because replacing it is the only way you’ll see a potential change. There is no season you use more hot water generally, so it’s tough to see a correlation with increased bills and hot water use. If you have a VERY old tank, it’s likely that it’s costing you more than if you had a newer, more energy efficient system.

What are Tankless Water Heaters?

Tankless water heaters are exactly what the name entails – tankless! A traditional water heater stores water in a tank, and eventually when it’s all used up you have to wait for a new batch of water to heat up. A tankless water heater will heat the water as it’s needed. It has a line that runs into the system, then back out to the source where it’s needed. This has several key benefits…

1. Don’t Run Out Of Hot Water – The best part about this system is you won’t run out of hot water. Because the system heats water as it’s needed, there is no limit on the supply like a traditional tank.
2. Use Less Energy/Reduced Energy Bills – A traditional tank has to keep all the water inside hot at all times for when it’s needed. This means energy is being used constantly to keep this water hot. A tankless system only uses energy when hot water is needed, vastly reducing the amount of energy used compared to a traditional tank.
3. Save Space – A tankless water heater is compact, and hangs on the wall, as opposed to a large traditional tank that sits in the basement.

If you have any questions about your water heater, please call us at (610) 446-7877, or email us at comfort@johncipollone.com.