Tank Versus Tankless Hot Water Heaters

With regular maintenance and repairs a tankless system may last up to 30 years or up to 3 times longer than a traditional hot water heater.

Tank versus tankless hot water heaters.

As their name implies tankless or on demand water heaters don t store water in a tank. The operational life of a tankless water heater is usually 20 years if not more. Energy efficient according to consumerreports tankless water heaters on average are 22 percent more energy efficient than traditional water heaters. The doe notes that storage tank water heaters typically last 10 to 15 years while most tankless units have a life expectancy of 20 years or more.

One of the first things to consider is whether you should get a tank or tankless water heater. If you use lots of hot water daily around 86 gallons you might enjoy energy efficiency of an additional 8 to 14 percent. Although they require fewer btu h to operate storage tank water heaters generally have higher operating costs because they heat and reheat water to a preset temperature regardless of a home s hot water demand. Tankless water heaters are more compact and can heat up water as you use it.

Homeowners with on demand tankless water heaters that use less than 41 gallons or less of hot water each day enjoy between 24 and 34 percent more energy efficiency than storage tank water heaters. Instead they heat water as it passes through the unit using a heat exchanger to rapidly bring it. And s torage tank water heaters while less expensive up front don t last as long as tankless options. You re not limited to the capacity of a holding tank.