While money isn't everything, the idea of cutting down the 20% of your monthly energy bills is still quite appealing to most families and homeowners. And these cost savings don't just add up for these families and homeowners.
While money isn’t everything, the idea of cutting down the 20% of yourmonthly energy bills is still quite appealing to most families andhomeowners. And these cost savings don’t just add up for these familiesand homeowners, but over the course of a year, Americans could save:
• Fuel oil of about 290 millions gallons each year • Kilowatt electricity of about 6 billion hours • Propane of approximately 164 millions gallons each year
Needless to say, if everyone switched their tank water heaters to tankless systems, the installation costs would add up quickly.
What can you save annually?
Much of the savings will vary from one tankless water heater model tothe next, but here are a few estimated savings that you can expect.
• 11-18% savings of electric tankless over electric tank system • 24-35% savings over natural gas tank system or LP tank system • 64-69% savings natural gas tankless vs. electric tank system
These percentages take into consideration the fact that fuel charges and electricity costs may vary from year to year as well.
However, using the typical house bill of $100 per month, this adds upto an overall savings of anywhere from $11 to $69 each month. Over theyear, that adds up to $132 to $828.
What makes the initial investment worth it?
The fact is that tankless water heaters have been designed to withstandyears of use. They are only going to work when they need to, whichlessens the impact on your energy costs as well as wear and tear to thesystem itself. When you have a tank water heater, you are constantly‘feeding’ it electricity and fuel to keep heating the water that youneed to use.
This constant work leads the tank system to need replacing every two tonine years, which makes the lower cost something that you will need topay more often.The tank itself is not made from materials that will notleak, which creates in efficient water heating as well.
The tank water heater also creates the ideal environment for decreasingefficiency. The water that is stored in the tank has minerals in it,but these minerals settle as the water sits, while creates a tank thatdoesn’t hold as much water, and heats what water can be stored lessefficiently. Each year, you will pay more for a diminishing waterheater.
How much does a tankless system cost?
The installation of a typical tankless system will cost about two tofour times the amount of a tank system. However, the installation ismuch simpler and does not take hours to complete in many cases.
As examples, a small under the sink tankless system can cost about$200, while a faster gas-fueled tankless system can cost about $1200.Just as with the tank systems, the more water the system produces, themore expensive it will be.
However, when you consider that the efficiency will remain constant,the initial investment does not seem as prohibitive as it might atfirst glance. Think about the money that you will be saving each monthand you can see that you may have paid for the tankless water heater bythe end of the year with your lower energy bills.
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