Posting Date: October 29, 2015
Posted by: Jason Nyarady, Dallas Office Manager

Like most purchases, there are tradeoffs when choosing which type of water heater to buy for your home. There are two kinds: traditional water heaters and tankless water heaters. To help make a decision, we’ve created this guide.

A traditional water heater stores and preheats 30-50 gallons of water in a tank. That preheated water is used whenever someone showers, does laundry, or washes dishes. The tank then refills to be reheated once again.

A tankless water heater uses a heat source (electric or gas) to warm up cool water on demand whenever you need it rather than storing hot water in a tank.

Traditional water heaters have a lower initial cost; a traditional water heater installation can be half as much as a tankless water heater, and less installation complications means there’s less that can go wrong.

But they occupy more room. Worse — you can run out of hot water. They also have a shorter life — about 10-15 years. This means there’s more turnover, and you have to buy them twice as often as a tankless water heater.

Tankless water heaters may save you money in the long run. For homes that use 41 gallons or less of hot water daily, tankless water heaters can be 24%–34% more energy efficient than conventional water heaters.

Tankless water heaters don’t take up much space, and can be installed in lots of places, including on a wall. They usually last longer, and deliver hot water on demand.

Tankless heaters may have a higher initial cost, and replacing a traditional water heater with a tankless system can be complicated.

So which should you choose?

The water heater that best fits your water usage, family life, and budget. BFS can help ensure that you have the correct system for your family’s size and energy usage, and discuss what brands and products are best suited for your unique needs.

We are always up-to-date on manufacture’s rebates, so if two brands are similar, we will advise you on which offers you additional savings to lower your investment costs. And your BFS technician will leave your home as clean as he found it, work as quietly and quickly as possible, and treat you and your water heater with the highest professionalism. Read more here.

Contact us or call 877-237-9700.