Things To Consider For Your Next Electric Water Heater

• 30 gallon tanks are more expensive and often have a shorter lifespan than 40 gallon models. If you have the room consider moving up to a 40 gallon. The 40 gallon models often use less energy as well. 

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• Upsizing a 40 gallon to a 50 gallon is common. Home builders provide a 40 gallon model as standard but a 50 gallon often works better for today's households. The increased size will not add a noticeable cost in energy and a 50 gallon tank is often less than $75 more than the same 40 gallon model.

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• Today's tanks are larger. If you have a water heater in tight closet, make sure to consider the dimensions of the new water heater. Dimensions will be listed right on the ad. Tanks marked as "Tall" will be the narrowest selection available in the product category. These tanks are made for closets. If you have any concerns, remember we do site inspections at no additional charge. 

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• If you want the performance of a larger water heater but don't have the room, consider choosing the water heater booster option. This non-powered booster can add an additional 50% capacity to any tank and can be added during the installation. The cost is an additional $350 but it is cheaper than a larger closet and better than cold showers. 

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• Take into consideration your household's future needs, your new water heater could last more than a decade. 

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• If you have 2 water heaters installed side by side. You may want to look at tankless as an option if your home has natural gas or propane. A tankless unit will replace both water tanks and considering the energy savings, return on investment can be less than 2 years in most cases. If you don't have gas service consider an 80 gallon electric model. This will reduce the overall surface area of the tanks and save a large amount of energy over the life of the unit. 

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• Electric tankless units do not usually work well in our area. Electric tankless units require about 80 amps of power to heat enough hot water for one shower during the coldest parts of winter. Even with using 80 amps of power if anyone were to turn on the hot water elsewhere in the home, you would have a freezing shower. In order to have any chance of being satisfied with an electric tankless, you need 160 amps available for our climate. That would provide hot water to 2 fixtures at the same time. Considering our largest and newest homes only have a total of 200 amps available for the entire home, gas tankless is usually a better option. Gas tankless units provide hot water up to 3 fixtures. Propane tankless units can be installed into previously all electric homes. We have done it many times before. Below is an example of a leased 100 gallon propane tank installed to convert an electric water heater to tankless. This tank is refilled by the propane supplier, and this size tank can hold enough propane to supply an average household for a year or more.