Tankless water heaters are a huge advancement over traditional water heater systems. With traditional systems, the hot water heater has to keep dozens of gallons of water hot all the time, just waiting for you to use it. This is a huge drain on energy and pushes up the costs of your utilities significantly; it also means that the hot water can run out easily–if someone takes a long shower while the dishwasher is running, for example.

Water on Demand

A tankless system, on the other hand, heats the water when you need it, on demand. It uses a heat exchange system that is far more powerful than a standard water heater, utilizing either a gas-fired burner or electric coils. The water in the line quickly circulates through this exchanger, where it is heated to a temperature that you set in advance, and it’s then pushed on down the line, to the faucet or the shower, while more water is circulated through the exchanger.

You may be thinking that the energy needed to heat even a small amount of water so quickly must be quite a lot, and you’re right due to water’s high specific heat. However, you still save because you only need this energy while using the hot water. A traditional hot water heater uses lower energy levels, but it has to run all of the time, so it uses higher total amounts.

Whole-House Heaters or Point-of-Use Heaters

You have two basic types of heaters to choose from: Whole-house units, which are large and reach to every faucet in the home, and point-of-use heaters, which are often so small that they can easily be installed right next to the faucet, in a cabinet or closet.

There are upsides to both. With a whole-house system, you only need tankless water heater installation in Shreveport LA to be done once. However, the lag time can be long as water moves through the pipes. With point-of-use systems, you need multiple systems to be installed if you want hot water at every faucet, but the systems don’t take up much space and the lag time is cut to almost nothing. As soon as you want hot water, you have it.

Never Run Out

One of the biggest advantages of a tankless system is that it never runs out of hot water. Never again will you feel the water get cold as you stand in the shower, slowly freezing. You save money overall, and you get instant hot water when you want it, for as long as you want it.