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Jeff and Patty Baird, owners of the Cedar House Sport Hotel, use on-demand water heaters in their forty-two–room boutique hotel in Truckee. To heat fourteen units in each of their three guest buildings, they use a number of Rinnai brand tankless water heaters that work in tandem.
“We chose tankless water heaters because of the energy efficiency,” says Patty Baird. “We believe in the technology. I am so pro this tankless system that it’s the only way we would do it.”
When heating water, homeowners have two green options that conserve energy: pumps and tankless heaters.
Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters, such as those the Lairds use, contain a small amount of water that’s rapidly heated when a faucet is turned on. When the faucet is turned off, the unit shuts down and heating stops. Energy is expended only when a faucet is on and the water is being heated. This compares to the tank systems that use electricity or gas to maintain and store a multi-gallon tank’s worth of water at a consistent temperature (about 120 degrees Fahrenheit).
“With the tankless units, there are no standby losses of energy use with storage,” says Jerry Lowery, vice-president of D&D Plumbing in Sparks.
In homes where hot water use is forty-one gallons or less daily, tankless water heaters can be about twenty-four to thirty-four percent more energy efficient than conventional storage tank water heaters, according to U.S. Department of Energy data. In homes using about eighty-five gallons a day, they are eight to fourteen percent more efficient.
Unlike traditional tank water heaters, with which hot water can run out, the tankless variety delivers an endless supply of hot water. Typically, tankless water heaters provide hot water at a rate of two to five gallons per minute, with the gas-fired ones producing higher flow rates than the electric ones, according to the Department of Energy.
Because the tankless units have little water to heat, they can do it more quickly.
“The burners aren’t any more or less efficient than those on the other one,” Lowery says. “It’s just the speed with which you heat it.”
Therefore, hot water tends to reach the faucets quicker than with a traditional tank. People using Takagi brand tankless units can receive hot water at their faucets within five seconds, says spokesperson Xenia Avarca. Consequently, when users run the tap, waiting for the water to get hot, less of it gets wasted.
The residential tankless units are smaller than hot water tanks, about the size of small carry-on luggage.
Downsides to tankless water heaters are that more maintenance is required and parts may not be readily available in Northern Nevada. Also, if the water going through the tankless heater is too cold, the system can choke. When it does, it pulses hot, then cold, then hot, then cold water. And tankless water heaters cost more than hot water tank heaters.
“I don’t feel that it’s that much more,” Baird says. “The units cost a little bit more than a traditional water heater, but you’re going to make up for that very quickly just from your utility bill.”
Before purchasing or switching to a tankless water heater, consider fuel type, location, size, demand, and application. Depending upon your needs, you may opt for a whole-house tankless water heater, a few individual ones that work together or don’t, or a combination thereof.
Ensure that your plumber knows how to install these types of systems, Baird advises. Many tankless water heater companies require special installation certification.
Pumps
Another alternative for immediate hot water is installing a pump that works with your hot water tank. The pump is installed under the water source that’s furthest away from your hot water tank. With the press of a button, the pump draws the hot water from the tank to the furthest source from the tank, charging every other faucet or showerhead in the house with hot water. With ACT Metlund’s Hot Water D’MAND System, for example, the wait is a few seconds.
“It’s getting pumped from the tank to the fixture and it’s sitting, ready there,” Lowery says.
The system senses when the water arriving is at the desired temperature and shuts off the system, eliminating wasted water and energy. Over time the initial investment in the system is recovered, and the rest is savings free and clear.
Doresa Banning is a Reno-based freelance writer. |
