Welcome to Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Tyler. We are your full-service plumbing contractor. Our staff of skilled plumbers are familiar with every type of legacy plumbing system and all of the most modern plumbing innovations. We are experts in grafting new technology onto existing systems.
One of the technological innovations that is most in demand by homeowners is the tankless, or on-demand, water heater. Most homes in the Tyler, Longview, and Whitehouse areas can benefit from replacing their old storage tank type of water heater with one of the new tankless hot water heaters.
How Does a Tankless Water Heater Work?
Tankless systems, gas, and electric models are also known as on-demand water heaters. However, every water heater is technically an on-demand system. You turn on the faucet, and hot water flows through your pipes. The drawback of ordinary water heaters is that they must always maintain a large reservoir of hot water. This requires constant energy to keep that water hot and ready to go whenever you need it.
On the other hand, a tankless water heater only heats water when it is required. This saves energy for 95% of the day when you do not use hot water. In addition, it also provides an endless river of hot water rather than the limited amount provided by a typical 30-40 gallon water heater installation. It’s easy to drain the tank accidentally under heavy usage and requires a lengthy delay before more becomes available.
How to Install Tankless Water Heater
Tankless water heater installation is straightforward once the plumber completes the initial site assessment and planning. Since even the largest whole-home tankless systems are far more compact than a regular water heater, finding a suitable water heater installation point is mostly about tying into existing utility systems and running cold and hot water pipes into the unit. Ensuring sufficient amperage to electrical tankless water heaters is vital. Proper venting of gas-powered units is likewise a key consideration.
What Size Tankless Water Heater Do I Need?
What is most important in any tankless water heater installation is a careful assessment of just how large a supply of hot water is needed. Some installations may call for a single whole-home unit frequently mounted in the space formerly used by the previous water heater. Other solutions may call for more than one unit but smaller capacity.
Apart from a whole-home unit, there are many other tankless water heaters. Very small units are in kitchens as a source of instant hot water for warm beverages. A satellite unit is often installed in a bathroom far from the main water heater. This can save energy by reducing the wait time for hot water to flow through a long series of pipes before reaching its destination. External buildings such as garages, barns, or cottages can also be ideal candidates for a mid-sized tankless water heater installation.
Although it seems simple, it’s best to leave tankless water heater installation to the experts. Water heater installation requires a firm grasp of the plumbing and electrical sections of the local building code and the experience to calculate BTU loads and flow rates. An improperly sized water heater installation means that the homeowner either has more systems than they need or is insufficient to handle their daily requirements.