Tanks or Not? Hot Water Heaters - Pros and Cons

One of the first things you need to consider when buying or renting a house is the availability of hot water supply that will work well in all seasons. You must have heard about the ultra-modern solar powered heaters or tankless ones. But the truth is that conventional tank-type water heaters that come with a big storage tank are still better in many cases. This article briefly overviews some major advantages and disadvantages of tank-type water heaters over others.

Typically, these water heaters take cold water as input and amass it in a storage tank, heat it inside the tank, and supply hot water into the house through another pipeline. Though many of these heaters are run on natural gas, you can also find ones that are powered by electricity, fuel oil or propane. Gas-powered heaters utilize a burner located under the tank. A thermostat is used to maintain water at a desired temperature. Whenever water inside the tank goes below that set temperature, the burner automatically fires up and heats water till it reaches the thermostat temperature again. Heaters running on fuel oil operate in more or less the same manner, except that they fire up through an electric spark and the burner mixes air with oil.

Since these heaters have large storage tanks, they can supply hot water to multiple outlets simultaneously without affecting the flow and warmth of water. In addition, the thermostat enables the system to keep water at the desired temperature at all times. So you can get hot water instantaneously whenever you open the tap. In the case that cold water comes out even with a tank-type heater, then it is most likely due to poor insulation along your pipes that allow sitting water to cool. Furthermore, since the thermostat constantly heats water at regular intervals before the temperature can go too low, you seldom experience frozen pipes.

These pros are largely connected to the existence of a thermostat and storage tank. On the other hand, these two elements are the very reasons of their disadvantages. Firstly, constant heating of water results in high energy bills and most of this energy goes wasted if you don't consume hot water in large quantities frequently. This is usually called 'standby heat loss' and is avoidable through the use of tankless water heaters. If the tank has sufficient insulation, though, then you can eliminate significant heat loss.

Secondly, the presence of a large storage tank necessitates allocation of a large space to place the water heater. This can be a problem if you live in a small house or apartment. Some poorly insulated heaters are too hot to even touch from the outside and constantly emit heat to the surroundings. Therefore, often times, it isn't practical to put these heaters in, particularly if you have children in the house.

But despite their disadvantages, conventional tank-type storage water heaters are common because they are cheaper, can fulfill needs of a large household and work well even in extremely cold climates.