4 Popular Types of Water Heaters

People who are dealing with water heater repair problems in Philadelphia might find that we recommend a replacement after we come out and take a look. If that happens to you, chances are you haven’t been following the water heater market too closely. So, if yours breaks (especially now that it’s winter), you might be struggling to figure out where to begin, and what kind makes the most sense to buy.

As a way to help pull our head of the water on this one a little bit, we’ve made a list of popular types of heating systems to help you get a better picture of what’s out there:

1. Storage
Storage heaters are the most common type of unit available. They store a pool of already hot water just waiting to run through your pipes when you turn the faucet on. The upfront pro to owning one is that they’re cheaper than other units, but you could be paying for it down the road since they aren’t as energy efficient as they could be.

2. Tankless
Also known as demand-type, these heaters don’t require a tank that’s already loaded up with hot water, and the benefit is that you don’t waste any money to standby energy (if you know what vampire power is, it’s basically the same thing, but with water). If you have one of these systems, turning the faucet on will send cold water through your pipes and into a unit that heats it on demand. Then it goes back into the pipeline and out of your faucet. They tend to last longer than storage heaters, and energy savings equal money savings, but the flow rates can be low, and installation is expensive.

3. Heat Pump
While a storage system will heat water directly, the easiest way to explain a heat pump is that it reuses heat from the surrounding air, and repurposes it to warm up a pool of water. This more energy conscious system could save you upwards of $300 per year—assuming it’s installed in the right place in your house. If it isn’t, it won’t work very well.

4. Solar
Solar heaters are great in terms of being energy and environmentally conscious. They’re twice as efficient as their electric or gas-using counterparts. The downside is, if you want to take a hot shower on a cloudy day, and you don’t have a backup system set in place, good luck to you!

While every choice on this list has its pros and cons, the main thing you want to think about is whether or not you can afford a higher upfront cost in order to save dollars down the road. If you can’t, installing a traditional storage tank heater is your best bet. If you can, consider the other options.

If you have any other questions about heating repair in Philadelphia, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.