Electric Tankless Water Heater

An electric tankless water heater can be a good option if you are looking for on demand hot water for your household. Tankless water heaters provide on demand water heating and provide significant cost and time saving advantages when compared to tank-type heaters which have to fill in and heat hundreds of gallons of water before supplying hot water to the pipes and taps. However, there are certain things that you should know about electric tankless water heaters before deciding whether or not they are viable choices for your home and family. Once you understand these basic points and are satisfied that an electric powered tankless water heater is what you are looking for, you can purchase a quality tankless heater and enjoy its’ benefits for years.

Electric Tankless Water Heater: Basic Tips

Electric tankless water heater

There are certain basics that you should take into account when considering the purchase of an electric water heater (also known as an on demand water heater); if you manage to carefully consider all of these points, and make an informed decision based on your findings, you will be able to prevent a lot of unwanted problems and achieve efficient water heating with a cost efficient device.

The first thing you should know about electric tankless water heaters is that their capacity is defined in terms of gallons per minute (GPM in short). When you browse and search for different models, you will see that they will have figures like 4 GPM, 5 GPM, etc. These figures mean that the heater can provide four or five gallons of hot water per minute.

What does this mean to you? Actually it means a lot since most shower heads work with around 2.5 gallons per minute. So, in theory an electric heater that provides 5 gallons of hot water per minute can support two people having showers at the same time. We say in theory because these nominal capacity figures do not always reflect the actual capacity of the water heater. The gallon output depends on the temperature of the water.

For instance, it may be the case that the heater can support 5 gallons per minute for a temperature rise of 50 degrees. However, in most cases you would need at least 60 degrees of temperature rise to supply hot water and the actual capacity of the heater may decrease for up to 25% in that case. So, a water heater that has a nominal capacity of 5 GPM can actually supply 4 GPM. If you are considering of using the water heater in question in a household with more than 2 people, you may not always have the hot water supply enough for two or more people taking showers or using hot water for other purposes at the same time.

Another important point to be noted is that the temperature rise depends on the amount of energy consumed. This means that supplying a temperature rise of 60 degrees will require more energy consumption than 50 degrees. And the amount of energy required to supply really hot water can be a burden on your electrical system, especially if you’re living in an old house. Certain models may require consuming up to 80% of the total electrical capacity, and you can even affect the electrical systems of your neighbors who are connected to the same transformer with you.

It is therefore very important that you do your homework and inspect the real hot water output of the water heater you want to purchase, find out the actual energy consumption levels and the total capacity of your electrical system (in terms of amps) and be sure that the heater will supply enough hot water without compromising your electrical systems. You can check out different options like heat pump water heater models, look at reputable brands like AO Smith Water Heaters and then make an informed decision for your purchase.