Home Improvements : Save With Hot Water in Instant
QUESTION: We often run out of hot water when my family showers in the morning, so I will probably need a larger water heater. Are instantaneous water heaters effective and are they very energy efficient?
ANSWER: Instantaneous water heaters (often called tankless water heaters) are very effective and very energy-efficient.
A conventional electric water heater can use several hundred dollars of electricity annually for a typical family. Instantaneous water heaters are more efficient because they produce hot water only when you need it.
When you open your hot water faucet, burners or electric heating elements come on instantly. These heat the cold water as it passes through the heater. When you turn off the water, they shut off. It produces hot water at a high rate continuously as you need it, so your family could take 20 consecutive showers and not run out of hot water.
Since the instantaneous hot water output volume is limited, you probably can not run a dishwasher, washing machine and take several showers simultaneously. It doesn’t have the large reserve hot water tank to draw on. However, if you don’t often do many hot-water-consuming activities simultaneously, it should supply your hot water needs.
Instantaneous water heaters are small and can usually be mounted on a wall. They can be powered by natural gas, propane or electricity. The gas and propane units provide the greatest instantaneous hot water output, so you are less limited in the number of simultaneous hot water uses.
Although an instantaneous water heater is somewhat more expensive initially than a conventional tank-type water heater, there is no tank to rust out. You can get replacement parts to rebuild them, so they last a long time.
There are also small electric units made that you can install at the point of use. For example, install one in a bathroom at an end of your house that now requires a long wait for the hot water to reach it. Then you will have hot water instantly.
It also reduces your water heating costs because you don’t have to fill that long water pipe with hot water each time.
These units are also ideal for a seldom-used vacation home or cabin. You can have hot water when you arrive without having an energy-wasting standing tank full of hot water for weeks when its vacant.
You can write to me for Utility Bills Update No. 385 showing a list of manufacturers of energy-efficient gas, propane and electric instantaneous water heaters, their hot water output rates, and other specifications. Please include $1 and a self-addressed business-sized envelope. Send your requests to James Dulley, c/o Los Angeles Times, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45244.
Should Garage Have Insulated Steel Door?
Q: I need a new double-wide garage door for my attached garage. My garage is not heated or air conditioned. Is it worthwhile to spend the extra money to get an insulated steel door instead of a wood door?
A: First, you should check if there is insulation in the wall between the house and the garage. If it is insulated and the interior door to the garage seals well, then an insulated garage door is not necessary.
If the wall is uninsulated, then an insulated garage door helps. They also seal better, are lighter than wood and more maintenance-free.
Letters and questions to Dulley, a Cincinnati-based engineering consultant, may be sent to James Dulley, Los Angeles Times, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45244.
