How exactly can you go green and save money if you decide to use a whole house tankless electric hot water heater? And can it really be better than a traditional water heater? Read on to find out.

We really all take it for granted – when we turn on the faucet when getting ready to take a bath or shower, or even to wash a few dishes, we will be greeted by a nice steady stream of hot water within just a few seconds. Few of us ever give a thought to how that water got hot in the first place, unless something has gone wrong and the water that should be hot is cold.

This may be a mistake, ignoring your hot water heater and what it costs to run. Did you know for instance that the average household with a traditional hot water heater uses a full 30% of its energy consumption on heating hot water? That staggering figure is why a growing number of homeowners are looking for more efficient alternatives and one of the best of those is a whole house electric tankless hot water heater.

What is a Whole House Tankless Electric Hot Water Heater?

If you have a traditional hot water heater in your home then you have a tank system that stores heated water until it is needed. If you think about it though that is rather wasteful. If you go on vacation you don’t leave the heat running at full blast or the AC running do you? So why would you heat water that is not going to be used. The energy lost by doing so can really add up in financial terms.

A whole house tankless electric hot water heater has – as the name suggests – has no tank and therefore all that waste is eliminated. Water is heated immediately only when it is needed and then as it is in use more water is heated all the time. That offers another benefit – no loss of hot water half way through your shower because the tank has run out of hot water and it will take quite a while for more to heat up!

How Much Can You Save with a Whole House Tankless Electric Hot Water Heater?

If you opt to swap a traditional hot water heater for a tankless version there is no doubt that you will save money over time on your energy bills. How much you save will depend on the size of your new heater and the amount of water your household uses every day but on average for a home that uses 41 gallons or less of hot water daily, a whole house tankless electric hot water heater can be 24% – 34% more energy efficient than conventional storage tank water heaters.

That figure is around be 8% – 14% more energy efficient for homes that use a lot of hot water, say more than 80 gallons a day.

Going Green with a Whole House Tankless Electric Hot Water Heater

Another reason that many homeowners are making the switch to a whole house electric hot water heater is that they are trying to go green and reduce the carbon footprint that their homes leave on the environment as a whole. An electric tankless heater is greener than a gas one in many respects because it uses a “cleaner” fuel.

Many utility companies all over the world are switching to greener methods of electric generation in the form of wind or water power so installing an electric heater that is going to use less electricity than a traditional heater is a very green choice indeed.

Choosing the Best Whole House Tankless Electric Hot Water Heater

Like any other household appliance you might be considering investing in when you begin researching your available options you will find that there are a lot of them out there and as they become more popular that choice will only get wider. Here though are a few of the things you should keep ion mind when comparing the various whole house tankless electric water heaters that are available:

• The size of your home and the number of hot water outlets you will need the tank to supply (kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room etc.)
• The average amount of water your home uses in a day, or in a week. A home with only one bathroom and no laundry room will be able to be adequately supplied by a smaller model than a home with multiple bathrooms and an in home washing machine.
• The average temperatures in the area where you live. If you live in a climate that is colder it will take longer for the water to reach the desired temperature because the incoming water will invariably be colder than that flowing into a home in a warmer climate.
• Installation costs. A whole home electric tankless hot water heater is not something that should be installed by an amateur. When comparing costs do not forget to figure the cost of installation into the final equation. ​

If you think you are ready to install a whole house tankless electric hot water heater, give it a try and let us know how your experience is like.