We use hot water for so many things; washing dishes, washing our faces before we go to sleep, our hands when we walk in the door, and for general hygiene- such as showers, taking baths, clean clothes….
Some of us are in condos and apartments where hot water is supplied, we open the tap for hot water and that’s it!
Water Heaters: a primer!
There are 4 aspects to consider when dealing with water heaters. And this goes for residential or commercial: installation, repair, maintenance, and replacement.
To be realistic, for most of us, unless your water heater has broken, you are not about to get a new one.
There are a few considerations:
1. The cost of utilities; is your water heater Energy Efficient, and if you buy a new Water heater, will you go for the cheapest one, or spend a little more to save on energy costs?
2. Will you be choosing gas or electric?
3. Choices; Guess what, there are Tankless Water Heaters, and not only that, Electric Heat Pumps and point of Use Hybrid Water Heating Products out there, So Get Informed!
The most important component of a water heater is the storage tank, and if it should crack and leak, water damage is expensive!!
According to;
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/all-about-water-heaters
Green Building Advisor Web site and the Blog; Musing of an Energy Nerd,
“Buying a new water heater isn’t necessarily the best way to lower your energy expenses”.
Experts seem to agree that
“Simple, affordable water heaters aren’t very efficient, and efficient equipment is complicated and costly”
Emergency decisions ”Most homeowners ignore their water heaters. About once every ten years, the average homeowner goes down to the basement or out to the garage and notices that the water heater is sitting in a pool of water.
Since the family needs to replace the leaking water heater right now, the $350 special at Home Depot (or whatever model the nearest plumber is willing to install) looks good. Although a rush replacement job is understandable under the circumstances, it's not the wisest way to choose a water heater.”
If you want to have a more efficient — or more environmental option it requires a much bigger investment.
Options include: (note all of these are more expensive with long pay back periods)
They have other draw backs, so due diligence and research is recommended.
- A condensing gas water heater
- A gas-fired instantaneous (on-demand) heater
- A heat-pump water heater
- A solar hot water system
- An indirect water heater connected to a space-heating boiler
- A des-super-heater connected to a ground-source heat pump.
You can’t apply the same logic of replacing an old fridge to your hot water system, since the efficiency is not always about the tank!
- Design your house for an efficient pipe layout. The water heater should be centrally located.
- Insulate your hot water pipes.
- Install a drain-water heat recovery device. These devices consists of a coil of copper water-supply tubing wrapped around a large-diameter vertical copper drain pipe. The devices extract heat from hot water flowing down the drain and transfer the heat to cold water flowing to a showerhead. Studies show that these simple devices can save 16% to 34% of the energy used to heat domestic hot water.
- Install low-flow fixtures and efficient appliances.
- Wash your clothes with cold water.
- Change your behavior. If it takes you 2 minutes to wash your hands, and it takes 2 1/2 minutes for hot water to reach your bathroom sink, it probably makes sense to use the cold-water tap instead of the hot-water tap for most hand-washing activities. Retrain yourself!