Tankless Water Heaters Second only to space heating, water heating is a big energy user in the average home. Tankless water heaters are a compact, highly efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional electric or natural gas fueled hot water heater. Tankless water heaters use condensing technology giving the appliances a 95% to 97% efficiency rating. By comparison, traditional natural gas fueled hot water heaters are roughly 50% to 60% efficient. Tankless water heaters heat water directly without the use of a standard water heater storage tank. When you want hot water, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. The cold water is the heated first as it moves through the primary heat exchanger and second time as it moves through the condensing heat exchanger. This second condensing heat exchanger captures most of the residual heat energy in the exhaust gases before they leave the unit where they would otherwise heat the outside air. You save energy and money because of the condensing technology and absence of standby energy losses. Traditional tank systems waste so much of both by constantly heating up the water in the tank regardless the need for hot water. In a tankless system water is never heated unless it’s needed.
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