Every once in a while, the most trustworthy of home essentials goes bad. Either through the product reaching the end of its life or a problem/accident. The end result is still the same, the search for a replacement. So in this post, we decided to break down this large volume of information and try to give quick bites of info about one of the true essentials of the modern home: A Water Heater.
A water heater in its easiest explanation is something that we overlook everyday. We know water comes out of the faucet and when we want, it comes out hot. But the trusty water heater is behind it all. It heats the water for kitchen sinks, washing machine, mudroom sink, bathroom sinks, showers, etc. It is the standard when we need gallons of water heated quickly. But take it away and we're left with just plain, cold water.
Let's dig a little deeper into water heaters and see what they offer, you might be surprised.
There are three major determining factors of the Water Heater: Fuel, Water Storage, and Space.
Fuel:
There are several different types of fuel that water heaters use but the two Main ones are electric and gas. (Gas being either Liquid Propane or Natural Gas). Electric Water Heaters have a large variety of gallon sizes for homes, have options for high efficiency, are the least expensive, and uses heating elements to heat the water. Gas Water Heaters are more energy efficient than Electric Water Heaters, but are more expensive, and uses a burner to heat the water (storage nearby around the water heater can be a fire hazard), and there are less options for size availability than Electric.
Water Storage:
This next part is where it can get tricky and throw people for a loop. You can either have tank water heaters or tankless. Tank water heaters physically hold the water as it heats, (whereby you can actually see a 50 gallon water heater) and the tankless heats the water as it passes through the heating coils and does not physically hold the water. However, for tankless water heaters it is very important to know your flow rate. Your flow rate may have an impact on the tankless water heater you get. For either Tank or Tankless the amount of people living in the house and the number of bathrooms is a good indicator for the Gallon Size Tank or Gallons/Minute Outflow Rate that the home might need.
Space:
This is where you determine the location of where the water heater will be placed. Sometimes it can be placed in the exact spot as the old one, sometimes another spot is preferred when the size of the water heater is changed. Before you choose which water heater you will have, remember to measure the area in which you want the heater to go. This measurement will go along way to not having problems later on in terms of fitting the new water heater in. In some areas, the tall tank water heaters will not fit and can be substituted for large width low water heaters, and still hold the same amount of water.
Remember we recommend any installation and change over into a new water heater or major appliance to be done by a professional so they can fix any problems that occur on the spot and well as have it done correctly the first time.
Today's Tidbit: Yes, we know that Water Heaters don't really pop into one's mind (only when buying a new home) but its still useful information that we gladly pass on to help those who are in the quandary of information overload when going through looking for a new Water Heater.
Huntsville Metro Area Homes
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