Hot water not only improves your health by reducing inflammation and relaxing your muscles, but it also helps reduce blood sugar levels and blood pressure, while having many other benefits. This has made access to hot water during winters a necessity.
Water heaters make this a possibility, providing continuous access to hot water in your home. While they remain one of the most important pieces of home equipment, they are— unfortunately—also one of the most neglected.
We often don’t talk about water heater maintenance unless ours stops working. If the damage is done and you need to replace your old water heater with a new one, there are three things that you need to consider: storage capacity, fuel type, and useful life.
Let’s have a look at these factors in more detail to help you select the right one:
Storage capacity
Storage capacity is a primary factor that you should think about when choosing a heater unit for your home.
Conventional tank-type heaters have a clear edge over tankless water heating units in this area, as they can store a large quantity of water.
This also means that unlike tankless water heaters that can only supply a limited amount of hot water at any given time, a conventional tank-type water heating unit can cater to all your water needs. You can match the water tank’s storage capacity to your household size.
For example, a 30-gallon storage tank might be sufficient for a family of two, but if there are five people or more living in your home, you should look at 60 gallons or higher.
Fuel type
Water heaters typically use two fuel types: electricity or gas.
Gas heaters are cheaper to operate and provide continuous hot water even if there’s a power outage, but they must be installed outside the home for safety reasons.
Electric heater units, on the other hand, are easier to maintain, heat water quickly, and can easily be installed inside the home. However, since electricity is generally more expensive than gas, they have higher operating costs.
Hence, if you have space outside your home to install a water heater, you should opt for a gas heater.
But if you don’t mind paying extra money to get quicker access to hot water, you may also consider electric variants.
Useful life
While electric water heaters tend to last longer than tank-type water heaters on paper, the difference between their useful lives isn’t substantial.
A typical electric water heater lasts around 15–20 years compared to 12–15 years for a tank-type water heater.
The keyword here is “on paper.” With proper care and regular maintenance, tank-type water heaters can last for more than 15 years.
The useful life also depends on other factors such as brand, environment, usage frequency, and more.
When considering the useful life, it’s important to consult a professional plumber and make a decision on the basis of the brand, and not on the basis of fuel or tank-type, as the build quality plays a pivotal role in determining the structural integrity of the unit.
Cost considerations
Of course, there’s a big element involved in choosing a water heater that we haven’t discussed yet—i.e., cost consideration.
The installation costs of tank-type water heaters are extremely lower compared to tankless heaters; hence, your upfront costs will remain low as well.
However, tankless water systems also store heat, and hence, consume less energy.
So the energy savings offered by tankless water heating units do not make a sizable impact, but they are worth considering.
Final words
If you don’t want to replace your new water heating system in the foreseeable future, it’s important to ensure routine maintenance and repairs.
You should hire professional plumber regularly to perform water heater inspections to identify problems and carry out timely repairs to maximize its useful life.
If you’re looking for an advanced, top-quality water heater, get in touch with us today!
At Pro Serve Plumbing, our professionals can help you decide which water heater type and brand is ideally suited for you.
We also offer reliable water heater repair and installation services to our clients in Forth Worth at competitive rates.
In addition to that, we provide a range of plumbing services in our area. Call us today at 817-244-0614 to find out more!
