Tank water heaters can result in a large electricity or power bill and a way to decrease your bill is by using a tankless water heater. Regular water heating systems account for about 30% of all the energy you use in a month. While many tankless water heater companies say they can reduce your bill in half, they don’t actually reduce your bill that much but it will make a difference. Additional names for tankless water heaters in clued on demand or instantaneous water heaters.

Instead of heating a full tank of water and keeping it at a hot temperature the tankless water heater heats water through a heat exchanger only when hot water is needed. You will still use power to operate the water heater but not nearly as much as maintaining a tank of water at a specific temperature. Tankless water heaters can be used for your entire houses water needs or for dishwashers, remote bathrooms, hot tubs, poolhouse, remote BBQ, outdoor sinks and more.

There are two basic models currently available a gas tankless water heater or an electric tankless water heater. Each type of tankless water heater has specific requirement and you need to determine which type your house can handle or if you need to make any changes. Electric models will require certain voltages, amperage and its own circuit breaker. A gas model needs to have proper ventilation.

One of the first things to consider is the function of your tankless water heater. If you only need it for a single fixture then you should look into purchasing a Stiebel Eltron Point of Use, Eemax Single Point or Chronomite Instant Flow SR tankless water heater. If you want to run two fixtures form the tankless water heater then a flow-controlled system is perfect. If you want to use a tankless water heater for long pipes then a thermostatic tankless water system can be used to boost the water temperature.

The following models can be used to produce hot water for your entire house even outdoors. They include the Rheem Indoor Gas Fired Tankless water heater, Stiebel Eltron Tempra, and Eemax EX280T2T series 3 tankless water heaters.

As with most of the current energy efficient products today the start up costs tend to be expensive but these are offset by the reduction in energy costs as you use the product. Using a tankless water heater uses much less energy then a traditional tank water heating system. You may need to do a few home renovations to install the system as electric models will need plugs and gas models will need proper ventilation. The systems should also be cleaned once a year and you may need to install filters depending on the quality of your water.

A few disadvantages are that the water temperature tends to be inconsistent. Additionally if you only need a small amount of hot water then the heat exchanger may never turn on. Tankless systems also do not produce instant hot water it may take a few minutes for the water to warm up. Also if the power should go out then you will not have hot water.