Do Tankless Gas Water Heaters Require Electricity

Traditionally gas water geysers did not use electricity.

Do tankless gas water heaters require electricity.

This piezoelectric starter makes a spark which ignites the natural gas to start heating the water you ll use to take your nice warm shower. Video of the day volume 0. They also need sensors to activate the heating process and keep up the heat as long as the water keeps running to produce consistent hot water flow. There are two main types of tankless water heaters.

Even though the water heater uses natural gas as its primary fuel some models do indeed use electricity to get the pilot light burning. They are about a third of the size of a gas heater meaning that they are suitable even if you have limited space. So even a tankless gas water heater will not work independently in a power outage. However there are ways you can power your gas water heater such that it would not need an electric supply to operate.

The short answer is yes a gas tankless water heater needs electricity to work. Thanks to the simplicity of the unit and no need for ventilation there are multiple options as to where you can install an electric heater. Gas water heaters are available in two categories storage water heaters and tankless water heaters. Gas either propane or natural gas and electric.

For instance you can power the computer component of your tankless water heater through a computer battery backup or install the water heater together with another type of water heater that does not use electricity. Most traditional tank systems also need electricity. Tankless gas water heaters have an internal pc board electronic ignition and an electronic thermostat which is required to operate the water heater. Tankless electric water heaters are the smallest type of all water heaters.

Hence tankless gas water heaters need electricity to work. If your pilot light is fired up by your power source then you need to be on the grid. Without a power source these components will not operate preventing the tankless water heater from producing hot water. No a tankless gas water heater still requires some electricity to operate.

While on demand gas water heaters don t rely on electricity as a fuel source to heat water on demand heaters usually have a control panel that is powered by electricity which is the brains of the water heater. Although it is mainly powered by natural gas it does need electricity. Both of these mainly derive their power from natural gas.