“What size of water heater do I need?”
This is pretty much the most popular question thrown by homeowners when they’re in the process of choosing a new heating unit for their homes. Some would think that getting a big water heater tank is the right choice. In truth, that depends on your household’s demand for hot water. Remember, getting a small tank for a big family will turn out inconvenient and utterly useless. You might even run out of hot water just as you’re rinsing the shampoo off your hair. On the other hand, getting a big tank for a small household that uses hot water rarely is just a complete waste of money. You’ll be spending your hard earned cash heating water that you won’t even use. So what size should you choose? Read on.
Choosing A Tankless Water Heater
When choosing a tankless water heater, you should note that knowing the temperature and flow rate that’s appropriate for your needs should be determined. Remember, tankless heaters can supply hot water in the whole house or in specific fixtures only. To find out the right flow rate of the tankless heater, you have to list all the number of fixtures or devices that should be supplied with hot water. Add all their flow rates with principle that you’ll be running them all at the same time. Their total will be the flow rate of the water heater that you’re supposed to get. Now we all know that high-flow appliances and fixtures also result to high utility bills. If you’re concerned about your monthly water expenses, just consult a licensed plumber who can identify the right water heater flow rate and temperature rise that suits your needs.
Choosing A Tank-type Water Heater
When choosing a tank-type water heater, you have to identify the number of people residing in your home. Also think about the peak time or the specific part of the day when hot water is going to be needed or used the most. From there, compute the number of average gallon of hot water that you’ll need. According to the Federal Energy Management Program Energy Cost Calculator, a shower requires about 10 gallons of water per use. That being said, if you’ll run three showers all at the same time during a peak hour, you should have an estimate of 30 gallons of hot water use just for using the said fixtures.
Of course, this task is quite tricky especially if you’re not even sure how much water is being used on specific activities. To ensure that you won’t pick the wrong unit, we highly recommend speaking with trusted and licensed plumbing experts.
We hope that our blog today somewhat satisfied your question, “What size water heater do I need?” If you need help, just call the best Somerville plumber for water heater services. Plumbers 911 Washington DC provides reliable plumbing services in Somerville VA including water heater repair, faucet repair, leak detection, HVAC services, plumbing fixture repair and many more!
Learn how to properly flush and drain sediments from a water heater! Watch this video now.
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