You’ve finally had enough of paying to heat water all day even when you don’t need it. In most cases, a tankless water heater is going to save you money since it doesn’t have any tank with water. It only heats the water when the hot water is turned on.
Now the hard part comes. Which one to choose? You have options of gas, being natural gas or propane, or electric.
Your needs will only be met if you buy the right kind, as both serve different needs. The benefits of electric on demand heaters might not be for everybody. Likewise, gas isn’t an option for some.
Let’s take a look at how they compare to each other so you can decide for yourself which one is best.
Electric tankless heaters
If you are replacing an electric tank style water heater, then you will see significant savings on your electric bill. That’s probably the biggest reason for getting one.
Besides the cost savings on energy, they save money in a few other ways. For instance, they usually cost much less than a traditional tank water heater and less than half of a gas tankless as well. Then the installation is much cheaper than gas tankless since there is no venting needed.
No exhaust means that not only is the installation cheap, it also means that you can put the water heater anywhere. They are small enough to put under a sink, so your options are wide open as to where to place them.
A downside that they don’t offer as many gallons per minute as a gas unit. You can usually get around this by having multiple units.
Also, your electrical panels may need to be upgraded since they do draw a lot of amps. A specialist like Elcon Electric can upgrade your panel without much fuss.
Gas tankless water heaters
If you have a large household with high hot water demand, then you should be looking at gas tankless heaters. Gas can heat water more efficiently and quickly than an electrical heat exchanger so you get more gallons per minute. This means you can run multiple fixtures at once and still have hot water.
You will save up to 30% on your gas bill compared to using a tank style water heater as you only heat the water as it enters the unit.
If you live in a cold area, then having a gas tankless is essential as the cold incoming water will not get as hot as you need it to be with an electric unit.
The downsides are that they are bigger, more expensive than electric and need venting. The installation requirements are more complex than with an electric tankless so you can’t put the unit wherever you please.
Conclusion
There are pros and cons to both so now that you have more information you should be able to decide which one is going to suit your circumstances better.
