Tankless Water Heaters vs. Tank

Cold weather here in Colorado seems to cause water heaters to leak or burst more than  other times of the year.  Your water pressure to your home, the temperature of the water coming into your home and the age of your water heater can contribute to its demise.

 I have been asked on a continuous basis which is a better water heater, a tank or tankless?  I respond by giving them a few facts.  The concept behind a tankless water heater is a great one. Water runs through it and can give you endless hot water at a temperature of approximately 120 to 130 degrees.  It can retain that temperature as long as you don’t exceed approximately 5 gallons of water running through it in one minute.  A bath tub will put out 5 to 8 gallons of water per minute.  When someone else in the home is taking a shower and the auto washer is running all at the same time, water temperature drops dramatically.  To compensate for the drop in temperature you would need to add another tankless water heater, and possibly two.

 The average cost to install and supply a tankless water heater is between $2,700 and $4,200.  Do your homework to make sure a tankless water heater is right for you.  I applaud the manufacturers of these tankless water heaters because they can be a very good product.  In a trade magazine last month, they finally told the facts truthfully about these tankless units.