Factors to Consider When Getting a Tankless Hot Water Heater

Posted by Mayang on January 28th, 2022

If your old water heater is on its last legs, and you are considering updating to a tankless hot water heater, there are some factors to consider you must look at. Setting up a brand-new tankless water heater is economical, so you wish to make sure you pick the best one.

The first thing to think about is the trademark name. Has the company been manufacturing tankless hot water heaters for a very long time or is this a new department of their business? Generally, an established company will have spent numerous dollars and hours on the research and development of its products. Therefore, yielding a generally much better water heater.

Next, you will want to comprehend what size unit you require for the house. This is based on the gallons per minute (GPM). You will be required to compute the number of fixtures and their flow rates, which will be performed at the very same time. For example, running 1 shower (2.5 GPM) and 1 restroom faucet (1 GPM) at the same time requires 3.5 GPM of warm water. Likewise, the Temperature Rise (TR) the unit can produce. If the mainline to your house has a temperature level of 55 F and you require to have the water warmed to 110 F you would need a TR of 55 F.

Manufacturers rate their systems by GPM. However, there is no set requirement on the TR. Manufacture \"A\" may rank the system at 6.5 GPM with a TR of 45 F and Manufacture \"B\" might rank their unit at 6.5 GPM with a TR of 55 F. Manufacturer \"B\" is going to be a better fit for your requirements if you require a TR of 55 F. You may wish to review the manufacturer\'s TR charts.

The British Thermal Unit (BTU) is another rating that manufacturers use to rate their tankless water heaters. A BTU is the quantity of energy needed to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. The majority of residential units range from 120,000 BTU to 199,000 BTU. BTU is one of the primary factors in how fast and how hot a tankless hot water heater can heat up water.

In conjunction with the BTU ranking, you would like to know if the gas value is modulating. Regulating gas value changes in gas circulation to match the required energy needed to heat the needed water. For example, if you just require 1 GPM of water the system will just burn enough gas to warm the 1 GPM of water. All the units we have examined do have some sort of modulating gas value. Some older systems do not have this function.

The Energy Factor (EF) is one more thing to think about. The most basic description of EF is that for each dollar spent on gas, X% of that goes to heating up the water. The greater EF the more energy-efficient the tankless water heater is. Think of the EF as resembling the miles per gallon for an automobile. EF varieties from 0.78 all the way up to 0.96. The EF ranking is when the system is running at its max performance. When the system is warming less water, the EF will reduce.

The greater EF rankings utilize a 2nd heat exchanger which captures the spent exhaust and utilizes it to preheat the inbound water. This is excellent because you are getting more bang for your buck and the unit is producing fewer greenhouse gases.

You will desire to understand what the max temperature level a unit can warm water up to. Many domestic units will max out at 120 F. Some of the bigger systems can go up to 185 F. Most households will not require anything over 120 F, however, you may have special situations to warrant such a high water temperature.

You can read all the glossy brochures supplied by the producers, however, you will truly wish to dig down deep into the technical documents while doing your tankless hot water heater evaluations. Investing some time now will help you choose the best tankless water heater for your home.