What is a Tankless Water Heater?

What is a Tankless Water Heater? Photo of a technician adjusting controls on a water heater.

You don’t store 40 to 75 gallons of cold water in your Northwest Indiana home for cooking, drinking, and bathing because it flows directly from the tap.

You don’t have to keep a tankful of hot water in your basement or laundry room because, with a tankless water heater, hot water can flow directly from the faucet, too.

Tankless units are efficient and convenient and offer more advantages than tank water heaters. They heat water on demand instead of storing it in a tank, so your Valparaiso water is always hot when it leaves the faucet.

Choose Young Plumbing for Tankless Installation

At Young Plumbing, we install electric and gas water heaters, tank-style and tankless, for our customers in Indiana and Illinois. Read any Bradford White gas water heater reviews, and you will understand why we are proud to offer quality products by this American brand. Customers love Bradford White water heaters for their outstanding performance, efficiency, and durability, and so do we!

In addition to installing, repairing, and maintaining water heaters, our licensed and certified professionals at Young Plumbing provide a range of residential and commercial services in Michigan City.

The next time you need plumbing assistance, there is no need to search “plumbers Valparaiso” online. Our expert crew services and installs drains, sewer lines, pipes, and fixtures and can provide solutions that best suit your needs. 

Make Young Plumbing your only choice for water heater replacement. We can help you decide between tank and tankless models, but first, we recommend you learn how these two appliances differ.

Which Style of Water Heater is Most Popular?

The water heater in your home is likely a tank-style model, which is the more common heater, although tankless heaters are gaining ground.

For example, of 123.53 million homes surveyed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for its 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 8.03 million homes had tankless water heaters, and 115.5 million had tank-style heaters.  The number of tankless heaters in homes has increased by 5 million since the EIA collected data for the 2015 survey.

How Tankless and Tank Heaters Differ

Tank water heaters store and continuously heat 40 to 75 gallons of water, depending on the tank size. Cold water flows into the tank to replace the hot water you use.

However, simultaneous activities, such as dishwashing, showering, and washing laundry, can deplete the hot water quickly, making you wait for the tank to refill and heat the added cold water.

Tankless heaters, also called on-demand water heaters, take up less space than traditional water heaters. Sizes vary and range from approximately 10 inches tall and 7 inches wide to 30 by 25 inches. They mount on the wall almost anywhere in your home, from the basement to the laundry room to the inside of a closet.

Tankless units heat water as it flows through the heater, making them more energy-efficient than traditional water heaters.

How Tankless Heaters Work

A tankless heater can sense when you turn the faucet handle to hot or start an appliance that uses hot water. Its gas burner or electric element responds by heating the water. When you turn off the tap or the appliance, the water stops flowing, and the heating element or burner in the water heater shuts down.

There is no waiting for the water to heat, and there is no worry about the unit leaking and leaving a pool of water on the floor, which can happen with a conventional heater.

Tankless Water Heater Pros and Cons

You can save money on heating bills by switching from a tank heater that heats its contents continuously to an on-demand heater that consumes energy only when you need hot water.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says on-demand water heaters can be 24 to 34 percent more efficient than conventional tank units in households using 41 gallons or less of hot water daily. The percentage range drops to 8 to 14 percent if the home uses 86 gallons of hot water daily. The DOE says installing a small, on-demand water heater at each hot water outlet may improve energy savings even more.

Tankless models cost more but can last 20 years or more. Tank water heaters typically last 10 to 15 years.

Installing a Tankless Water Heater

When sizing a conventional water heater for your home, we consider how many gallons the tank holds. Tankless units, however, are measured by their flow rates.

When our licensed plumbers size a tankless heater, they consider the number of people in your Michigan City household, the fixtures and their flow rates, fixtures you might use simultaneously, and the temperature of the cold water supply. We will evaluate your water needs and recommend the best tankless heater for your household.

We will also determine the best location for the new water heater and if additional electrical wiring, gas line upgrades, or venting is needed.

Tankless Water Heater Maintenance

On-demand water heaters generally require less maintenance than tank water heaters. Descaling the unit every year will remove mineral buildup and improve performance. Cleaning or replacing filters will help maintain efficient water flow, and dusting the unit will keep it free of dirt and other debris.

At Young Plumbing, we can inspect your on-demand water heater annually, clean and descale it, and ensure components function correctly. We can identify budding issues before they become full-blown problems.

Go Tankless Today!

Let us at Young Plumbing help you determine if a tankless water heater is the best choice for your Michigan City home, and schedule an installation. Call us at 800.248.1474 or request service online.

Need Plumbing Service?

Contact the experts at Young Plumbing.

Call us at 219.764.5500!