Does Tankless Water Heater Use More Gas

Condensing gas heaters can extract up to 96 percent of a fuel s heat a 17 percent improvement over first generation tankless units thanks to a second heat exchanger that captures much of the exhaust heat before it goes out the vent.

Does tankless water heater use more gas.

Energy gov says that tankless water heaters typically provide hot water at a rate of 2 5 gallons a minute with gas fired tankless heaters producing a higher flow rate than heaters powered by electricity. The downside to this is that high btu output gas tankless water heaters are physically larger than electric tankless plus they require big and expensive gas supply lines and may require more. Gas heaters can have a higher capacity. In contrast storage water heaters last 10 15 years.

Tankless water heaters can avoid the standby heat losses associated with storage water heaters. However for some people they can far outweigh the disadvantages. A quick glance at the electric vs propane tankless water heater chart may give you the impression that electric is the better option. Tankless water heaters can be powered by gas or electricity but even gas powered tankless water heaters rely on an electric control panel to operate the system.

Tankless water heaters are more compact and can heat up water as you use it. The worst traditional electric heaters are 93 percent efficient. Gas and electric tankless water heaters run more efficiently than the conventional water heaters of the same fuel type. In short installation isn t usually as simple as just plugging and playing.

Tankless water heaters that use natural gas are about 23 percent more efficient than a traditional storage version which is about 60 percent efficient according to the department of energy. True the advantages of gas tankless heaters are fewer in number. So regardless of the type of tankless water heater you have you ll be out of hot water in the event of a power outage. It s always worth consulting a qualified plumber to determine the full cost of retrofitting your house for a tankless gas heater before you buy.

We rated the annual energy consumption cost excellent for a gas. However although gas fired tankless water heaters tend to have higher flow rates than electric ones they can waste energy if they have a constantly burning pilot light. Most gas powered tankless water heaters do qualify for a 300 federal tax rebate.