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How to Choose the Right Water Heater for Your Home

Your water heater is one of your most important appliances. You depend
on it every single day for everything from cooking to cleaning to bathing.
Your other appliances depend on it to supply them with the hot water they
need to do their own jobs. So naturally, having the right hot water heater
is important for your home, and you need to think very carefully before
selecting the right one when the time comes to replace your unit.

However, if you’ve been doing your research, you’ve probably
found a ton of information online. In fact, it’s probably more than
enough to make your head spin. How in the world are you supposed to make
sense of all of this information, including a ton of conflicting or contradictory
info as well? Leave that problem to us: in this blog, the Fairfax water
heater experts at My Plumber Heating, Cooling & Electrical will go
what to look for in the perfect water heater so you can choose the right
replacement system for your needs.

Consider Tank Capacity

The first thing you’re probably wondering is what size tank you need.
Everyone’s answer to this question is going to be different—there’s
no easy-to-follow formula or simple comparison chart. The answer for you
is going to depend entirely on how many people live in your home and how
much hot water you depend on both on any given day and at any given time.
For example, if you have a three-bathroom home and you and your family
all use the showers at the same time while running the washing machine
and dishwasher, your water heater is going to need to have a fairly large
capacity and be capable of refilling quickly. If you have a smaller home
or generally don’t need all that much hot water at a time, then
you may be able to get away with a smaller unit.

As a general rule of thumb, a good place to start is to look at your current
water heater’s capacity. If you find you’re running out of
hot water frequently, consider upping the size by a rather substantial
margin. If you only run out on rare occasions, maybe a small size increase
would do. If you don’t run out at all, then your current capacity
is probably fine.

Physical Dimensions

Tank capacity is also going to influence another thing you’ll need
to consider: your tank’s physical dimensions. If your tank is too
tall, too wide, or takes up too large of a footprint, it won’t fit
where you need to store your water heater. This doesn’t do you any
good. So before you settle on a water heater, make sure you know the maximum
dimensions you can use, or take down a candidate heater’s dimensions
and measure your storage area. And remember: you will need to attach hoses,
water lines, and other components to the outside of your water heater,
so don’t buy your heater if it’s just barely small enough
to fit in a particular spot.

Energy Rating

Every water heater includes an energy rating provided by ENERGY STAR. Not
all heaters are made alike, and some use less energy than others. A more
energy-efficient unit is generally going to cost more to purchase, but
you have to also consider that over time these units will usually save
you money in the long run by sucking less money out of your wallet in
energy costs every month. If you go through quite a bit of hot water,
you should strongly consider a unit with a pretty good energy score.

Should You Go Tankless?

Do you use a lot of hot water? Are you tired of replacing your water heater
every eight years? Are you sick of the threat of leaks, burst pipes, or
even an explosion that could happen with a traditional tank-style heater?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you’ll be relieved
to hear that there’s now a solution to this issue: a tankless water
heater. Tankless water heaters do not have a storage tank that they constantly
need to keep at an ideal heat level. Instead, they heat the water you
need on-demand, ensuring that you have a potentially limitless supply
of hot water. This saves you on energy costs, avoids the hassle of refill
cycles, and ensures that you never have to waste energy keeping a tank
of water at temperature. Within the span of an average tank-style water
heater, a tankless system will usually pay for itself in savings.

Do you need your water heater replaced? My Plumber Heating, Cooling &
Electrical can offer you a perfect replacement system that is precisely
fitted to your home and your needs. Call us at (844) 294-8999 today
to request an estimate for your replacement service.

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