Tankless Vs Tank Water Heater Efficiency

Water heaters with tanks.

Tankless vs tank water heater efficiency.

Tankless water heaters are more energy efficient than even high efficiency storage tank water heaters. Homeowners with on demand tankless water heaters that use less than 41 gallons or less of hot water each day enjoy between 24 and 34 percent more energy efficiency than storage tank water heaters. One of the first things to consider is whether you should get a tank or tankless water heater. A flow rate is just the gallons used per minute.

If you use lots of hot water daily around 86 gallons you might enjoy energy efficiency of an additional 8 to 14 percent. Although they require fewer btu h to operate storage tank water heaters generally have higher operating costs because they heat and reheat water to a preset temperature regardless of a home s hot water demand. While tankless water heaters run more efficiently than storage tank water heaters replacing a tank water heater with a tankless can be expensive and the payback time can be longer than the. Although the highest efficiency storage tank units might be comparable to tankless units in the percentage of captured heat energy that doesn t tell the whole story.

The doe notes that storage tank water heaters typically last 10 to 15 years while most tankless units have a life expectancy of 20 years or more. And s torage tank water heaters while less expensive up front don t last as long as tankless options.