Whether your current water heater is on its last leg, or you're just looking to upgrade, choosing a new water heater is a big decision, especially with all of the options on the market today!
Ultimately, you're looking for what's best for your home and family. To help you make the right choice for your home, we've compared traditional, conventional storage water heaters and tankless water heater models by basing them on four important criteria:
- Installation and Maintenance
- Cost
- Efficiency
- Convenience
Traditional, Conventional Storage Water Heaters
- Installation and Maintenance: These models are easy to install, but they generally need to be replaced every 10-12 years and usually only come with a 6-year warranty. They also need to be flushed yearly to remove any buildup that can contribute to dirty water and even higher operating costs.
- Cost: Traditional hot water heaters aren't as expensive to install or replace as tankless models, but they do have higher ongoing costs because they're always running and tend to wear out faster.
- Efficiency: Conventional storage water heaters are always running so that the stored water is always hot and ready. So while it's great to have a supply of hot water at the ready, it does come at the cost of slightly higher energy bills.
- Convenience: These models store hot water so you won't have to wait for your shower to get hot. The only downside is, once you've used up all the preheated water, it's gone until the tank can refill and reheat.
Tankless Water Heaters
- Installation and Maintenance: Tankless hot water heaters were not only designed to be more efficient, but more durable and effective as well. You can expect for a tankless water heater to last for up to 20 years. It will also come with a 10-year warranty and require very little maintenance in its lifetime.
- Cost: Tankless models do come with a heftier initial price tag, but they can also reduce your energy bills by around 60%. With that in mind, we'll call this one a tie.
- Efficiency: These models were designed with efficiency in mind. Since tankless water heaters don't have the ability to store water, the flash-heating technology only works when you turn your faucets on "hot" so they won't constantly be running.
- Convenience: Tankless water heaters aren't built to store hot water, but rather, heat it on demand. This gives you an endless supply of hot water which definitely comes in handy when you have a large family or want to take a long shower and run the dishwasher at the same time!
When choosing a water heater, you need to take into consideration the size of your house (or business), the number of people living in your home, how much hot water you use on a daily basis and even maintenance. If you need help making the right choice, give us a call at (864) 242-5511 or contact us online — we're here to help with all of your plumbing needs!
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