Tankless water heaters are in high demand due to amazing benefits it offers to its users. On the top of all, hot water is always available on demand to make your day great. Unlike traditional storage tanks, they do not store, heat and reheat water. Instead, they heat water instantly when you need it.
Moreover, they are energy efficient to reduce your energy expenses and their compact and sleek design also save valuable floor space if you have a small house. Before going further, you must know the tankless water heater pros and cons. It is sad to know that tankless water heaters are expensive as compared to traditional storage tanks. Also the installation cost is high.
Let’s dig a little deeper to know about advantages of tankless water heaters along with the disadvantages to take careful consideration before going tankless. But this is pretty sure, once you go tankless, you will not come back to tanks.
What Are The Tankless Water Heater Pros And Cons In Detail?
There are countless benefits a best tankless water heater provides to you. Just like every other gadget, it also has some flaws. To know about the problems with tankless water heaters, read out the full article to minimize the negative effects.
Advantages Of Tankless Water Heaters
The instant on demand tankless water heaters bring significant advantages. Let’s analyze each in detail.
Endless Hot Water On Demand
When you go tankless, you will never have to say, “run out of hot water” any more. Yes, that’s true. As they direct heat the water after receiving from the external source instead of storing them in a tank, so you can enjoy long hour hot showers without running out of hot water.
The endless and uninterrupted hot water is available right after you turn on the tap. And you are ready to do dishwashing, laundry and whatever you want.
Energy Efficient
What makes it very popular among the house owner is it saves a sufficient amount on energy expenses. Its on demand water heating technology does not heat water all the time. Rather it turns on and heats water instantly when the tap is on.
Therefore, less energy is consumed as compared to traditional tanks. Moreover, there is no chance of experiencing standby heat loss which is common in conventional tanks. So, there is a long term saving on electricity and electric bills when you have electric tankless water heaters.
Space Saving
A normal tankless water heater is almost 16 inches wide, 26 inches long and 6 inches deep. Further, its compact design, slim shape and wall mounting feature make it easy to install on the wall, narrow areas, under the sinks and even in the cabinets.
Whereas traditional tanks take a lot of valuable floor space usually in the basement. But if you are lacking space then they are the worst choice ever.
Downside of Tankless Water Heaters
The are some dangers of tankless water heaters you may face in future. But nothing to worry as they have solutions too. Without much ado, let’s dive in.
Higher Upfront Cost
A tankless water heater is not only a most expensive water application but also the initial installation cost is higher. The large tankless water heater to facilitate the family of four to five members almost cost $600 to above $1000. If you go for small tankless water heaters, they also cost $200 to $ 300.
Besides, they require professional installation to get the maximum benefits out of them which also require a considerable dollar. Moreover, the electric upgrade or gas lines installation demand a huge amount to be spent.
One must keep all the above factors to go for tankless water heaters. But the way the save energy and reduce electric charges, they fit the bill.
Temperature Fluctuation
Inconsistent temperature is the biggest issue you may have if you did not choose the right size of tankless water heater. Every tankless hot water heater has limited capacity and flow rate to deliver hot water on demand. The water temperature fluctuates for many reasons.
First, the right size heater with larger capacity tankless heater allows you to use multiple fixtures simultaneously. But if not sized properly there may be the shortage of hot water when you demand or you may receive the lukewarm water instead of hot water.
Next, the incoming water temperature also affects the output temperature in extremely colder areas.
Power Outage
This is important to note that electric tankless water heaters or gas tankless water heaters require immense output of energy to operate them properly. If you have load shedding of electricity, means there will be no more hot water.
Most importantly, the tankless unit uses a minute amount of power to deliver hot hot water, so they won’t work in the absence of electricity. This is the biggest disadvantage.
The solution to this problem is to have a battery backup generator added to your tankless will be functional when there is outage of power.
Daniel Adley is an experienced and skillful plumber having more than 20 years of experience. He is a skillful plumber who passionately repaired and optimized water appliances of large buildings, offices and
homes. He would efficiently identify plumbing and maintenance issues.
