ON THE HOUSE
By Arnie Katz
How to consider what water heater to buy My neighbor’s water heater died, and I’m guessing mine will go soon since our homes were built by the same builder at the same time, and we have the same water heater. I’ve done some research on the Internet, but the more I read the more confused I get. Tank or tankless heaters? Gas or electric? Solar? What’s the best option for me?
Q:
As with so many of these things, the answer is “depends.” Do you have access to natural gas? (Bottled gas— LP and propane—is generally much more expensive than natural gas.) How many people live in your house? Are any of them teenagers? Does your property get a lot of sun? Do you heat your house with a boiler? Do you want to do what makes the most financial sense in the long run or right now? Do you want to improve your environmental impact? All of these questions are important when considering replacing your water heater. Usually, when the water heater stops working, you call someone highly recommended by the neighbor’s third cousin’s former boyfriend, who comes out and either fixes it or pronounces it dead. At that point, you’ve already been without hot water for a day or more, and your priority is to get it back as quickly as possible. For most of us, that means our choices are limited to what our plumber has available. Typically, they simply replace it with one of a similar size, or the next size up, “just to be sure.”
The contractor wants to fix the issue and not get called back for the same reason. He knows you’ll never call him later because your bills are too high—how would you know?—or because you’re generating too many greenhouse gasses. This isn’t necessarily because he doesn’t care about these issues, but experience has taught him most of his customers don’t care about these issues enough to be inconvenienced or pay more. If you are willing to put up with a little inconvenience, or to pay more now to save money in the long run, you should do the research now and make some decisions, including who you’ll call when the need arises. Waiting until the unit dies the night before your son’s first date is not conducive to rational decision-making. Applying the information you find online to your own situation can be difficult, especially since the formulas used to calculate even basic questions like how much hot water you need are based on national averages. There is a very good chance you are not the average. For instance, the formulas ask how many loads of laundry you might
Resources The amount of information available on the Internet is both a blessing and a curse. With enough time and patience, you can educate yourself to make a sound decision, but sorting through so much information can be trying. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy site (www.aceee.org/Consumerguide/waterheating) has several good worksheets and other helpful information. The Energy Star site (www.energystar.gov) is also useful (click on “Products” and then various types of water heaters under “Plumbing”), but even on a good site you have to make sure the information actually applies to you. 40 AUGUST 2010 Carolina Country
A power-vented water heater. do in a one-hour period. On average, each load uses about 20 gallons of hot water, but maybe you recently purchased a new washing machine and can use cold water for all the washing. Similarly, if you have water-saving shower heads and faucets, you’ll use less than average. If you have people in the house who like to take long showers, you’ll use more. Looking at average numbers is useful for getting in the right ballpark, but it’s only effective if you then apply those averages to your own situation. Next month, we’ll talk about questions to ask yourself when thinking about water heating.
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Arnie Katz is director of training and senior building science consultant at Advanced Energy in Raleigh (www.advancedenergy.org). Send your home energy questions to editor@carolinacountry.com