California Energy Consultant Service

California Energy Consultant Service is an energy efficiency company, and as an energy efficiency company, we support improvements and upgrades throughout many different parts of your home. While we are best known for our windows, siding, and HVAC services, we are also proud to be able to install hot water heaters of all different shapes and sizes for properties that are in need of an upgrade.

The difference in energy efficiency between the hot water heaters of today and the hot water heaters of a few decades ago is stark. Many of us still have hot water heaters that are 10, 20, even 30+ years old. Replacing these hot water heaters could have an impact on both your electric bills and your family’s comfort.

How Much Can I Save in Energy with a Tankless Hot Water Heater?

Now, older hot water heaters are not necessarily significantly “less efficient,” especially if they are already insulated – at least in how they compare to other tank-style hot water heaters. Gas and electric hot water heater technology has changed, but the heating capabilities of the hot water heater have not changed too much. Electric and gas tank-style hot water heaters have always done a decent job of heating water and keeping it hot, and the improvements in technology have not changed too much in their ability to heat water effectively.

However, what has changed is the longevity of the technology. Older hot water heaters decline in efficiency fairly quickly. By 10 years, they are already less energy efficient. By 20 or 30 years, they are significantly less efficient. The heating quality may be the same, but these old hot water heaters can decline very fast once they’ve reached the end of their lifespan.

Replacing these hot water heaters with an electric or gas tank of the same build type can save you a decent amount of money on your monthly energy bills and potentially warm your water better. But what a lot of people are looking into is the idea of installing a tankless hot water heater.

Tankless hot water heaters instantly convert cold water to hot water as it is needed, so no energy is used unless the hot water is being accessed. That makes it significantly more energy efficient – so much so that you can expect to pay only about $150 a year for heating your water, compared to $250 for gas and $500 for electric hot water tanks.

Cost of Device and Installation

Tankless hot water heaters have several benefits. They can give you almost unlimited hot water (with some limitations, such as if too much hot water is running at once around the home), and they reduce your energy use. But they’re not perfect.

The main challenge is cost. Tankless hot water heaters do cost more both for the appliance itself and for its installation. If a gas tank costs $250 a year in energy costs, and a tankless costs $150, then you save about $100 a year. But tankless installation can cost about $1500 more than a gas tank, or more if there are installation difficulties in the space you have available.

That means it will take 15 years for the cost of the tankless hot water heater to pay for itself. However, the good news is that tankless hot water heaters are expected to last for 20 years, compared to only 10 for a tank water heater. Which means that you make back a lot of that investment by both not having to purchase a new tank after 10 years. Similarly, if you’re someone that doesn’t use hot water very often, you can save that money even faster as a lot of energy is wasted maintaining the heat of unused water.

Where tankless can dramatically save money is in situations where the person has an older, inefficient electric hot water heater. Since those hot water heaters can cost as much as $500 a year in energy, the savings between electric and tankless can be dramatic. Similarly, if you’re someone that is considering a change as a way to reduce your carbon footprint, tankless not only reduces your energy use – it also creates less waste.

There are many advantages to a tankless hot water heater, and it’s something you may want to consider when you’re ready to make an upgrade. But it’s also not for everyone, so talk to your California Energy Consultant Service representative to determine what the best hot water heater for your home will be.