The right residential water heater solution depends on multiple factors Tankless water heaters are one of the most talked-about topics in the home services industry. The rising popularity of tankless water heater technology is being driven by the perception that tankless heaters provide the same dependable performance as traditional tank-type units while using less energy Read more
residential
The right residential water heater solution depends on multiple factors
Tankless water heaters are one of the most talked-about topics in the home services industry. The rising popularity of tankless water heater technology is being driven by the perception that tankless heaters provide the same dependable performance as traditional tank-type units while using less energy and taking up less space.
That is true for certain single-family residential applications. The efficiency and reliability of tankless technology is sufficient to meet many household needs. As long as homeowners do their homework, have a clear understanding of their hot water usage, and work with a professional to select and install the right equipment, there are usually very few issues.
In many circumstances, however, traditional tank-type water heaters still offer maximum performance, reliability and value, and remain a solid option to meet the hot water needs of most families. Both tankless and tank-type applications can be an appropriate solution, depending on a number of factors, including the size of a home, its existing water heater configuration, the demand for hot water, budget, fuel type availability and personal preference.
For a typical residential application — a single-family home with two bathrooms, standard shower heads, a dishwasher and washing machine — one tankless unit will usually be sufficient. But homeowners can run into issues with high-flow, high-demand luxury fixtures, like a car wash shower head or a 90-gallon soaking tub. People may find that their new tankless product works fine 99% of the time, but they can’t get sufficient water pressure out of their high-flow shower head. This is because the flow rate of the fixture exceeds the amount that the unit can produce. Additionally, remodeling or adding to a home with an existing tankless water heater might create more demand than the installed unit can supply.
In those situations, a tankless water heater paired with a storage tank might be the only available option. But this approach is rarely a preferred solution, because most homeowners choose tankless in the first place because they wanted its efficiency or space-saving features.
Tank-type water heaters maintain a constant reservoir of hot water. Tankless heaters only work when a fixture opens, using less energy overall. But tankless requires more energy when it is used, making the transition from tank to tankless a challenge in many circumstances.
Most gas tankless water heaters provide between 120,000 and 199,000 BTUs, compared to about 40,000 BTUs for tank-type residential gas heaters. In order to switch from a gas tank-type heater to tankless gas, the capacity of the gas line may need to be increased, adding complexity and cost to installation. Similarly, an electric tankless water heater can use double or triple the power of an electric storage tank heater, requiring major electrical upgrades.
Venting is another potential roadblock in transitioning from tank to tankless. Adding or expanding the capacity of existing exhaust and intake pipes may be required, which could mean cutting additional holes in the walls and roof.
Maintenance is critical for the longevity and performance of tankless water heaters. Unfortunately, water heaters tend to be the forgotten appliance. They’re hidden behind a utility door or inside a closet, and many people don’t think about them until there’s an issue and they don’t have hot water.
We know many people don’t keep up with the recommended maintenance of their water heaters, but tank-type units can last for 10 years or more with few problems. Tankless water heaters, however, are more likely to show reduced performance and suffer breakdowns if users don’t follow a regular maintenance schedule.
As the popularity of tankless water heaters continues, new features are becoming available, such as recirculation, connectivity and built-in buffer tanks. The Bradford White Infiniti® K Series tankless gas water heaters offer top connections, which make switching from a storage tank heater more convenient. At the same time, innovations like electric heat pump water heaters and condensing gas water heaters are opening new possibilities for energy efficiency in tank-type water heaters.
In the end, the distinction between tankless and tank-type water heaters isn’t as neat as it is often presented. Both technologies offer advantages, and tank-type water heaters will continue to be a solution in many circumstances for years to come. It’s about choosing the right product for the job at hand. As long as consumers know what they’re looking for and work with a professional, they can be confident that they’ll find the right configuration for their home.
GUEST AUTHOR: Trevor Pinto is the Product Manager of Residential Products and Application Support for Bradford White Corporation and has been with the company since 2012. Pinto began his career in the Product Management Department starting out as a Product Analyst and has grown in the ranks over the past several years. In his current role, he oversees the residential product line as well as the application support team. The application support team is responsible for assisting Bradford White’s customer base with selecting the appropriate product for a specific application and providing general product knowledge.
Prior to joining Bradford White, Trevor graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in Criminology. He grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and is a passionate Philadelphia sports fan, enjoys music and the outdoors including camping, hiking, and fishing. He currently resides in Lansdale, PA with his wife and two children.
Residential and commercial heating contractors can hone their boiler technology skills and training this spring by participating in Weil-McLain’s Knowledge Builder Sessions taking place twice a week in March, April and May. The weekly educational sessions, hosted by the technical training team from the leading North American designer and manufacturer of hydronic comfort heating systems, will cover Read more
Residential and commercial heating contractors can hone their boiler technology skills and training this spring by participating in Weil-McLain’s Knowledge Builder Sessions taking place twice a week in March, April and May.
The weekly educational sessions, hosted by the technical training team from the leading North American designer and manufacturer of hydronic comfort heating systems, will cover high- efficiency residential boilers on Wednesdays starting March 3 and high-efficiency commercial boilers on Thursdays beginning March 4.
Each course, running through late May, will cover a specific Weil-McLain boiler as well as installation and servicing applications. The complete course offering is available at www.weil-mclain.com/training.
“Our livestream training program will cover the gamut, from technology, features and benefits, to maintenance, troubleshooting, installation, controls and set-up,” said Dante DeVille, Technical Training Manager with Weil-McLain. “Contractors, engineers and facility managers alike can select a specific course for in-depth product training and gain insider tips for keeping Weil-McLain boilers running at peak operational efficiency.”
The residential training programs will cover applications, installation and servicing of Weil-McLain’s popular condensing and non-condensing boilers, including its new ECO® Tec high-efficiency premium residential boiler, the Evergreen® stainless steel condensing boiler, the Ultra™ corrosion-resistant boiler, GV90+® high-efficiency cast iron boiler and the AquaBalance™ combi or heat-only boiler.
Commercial boiler training sessions will feature the Stainless Vertical Firetube™ (SVF) commercial condensing boiler line with industry-leading thermal efficiencies up to 96.8%, the SlimFit® boiler designed for limited spaces, Evergreen® Pro and the full line of Weil-McLain cast iron boilers.
Commercial application courses include maintenance and troubleshooting, steam boiler replacement, commercial condensing boiler piping, hybrid applications, specifying high efficiency equipment and commercial condensing boiler controls.
For more information or to register for a session, visit www.Weil-McLain.com/Training.
Offers Help Homeowners, Commercial Businesses Save Money on High-Efficiency Boiler Purchases Growing awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency and increasing performance standards for heating systems are important drivers in the boiler market. Focused on these trends, Weil-McLain, a leader in hydronic heating systems, recently launched EcoRebates industry-leading rebate tools on its website. The tools Read more
Offers Help Homeowners, Commercial Businesses Save Money on High-Efficiency Boiler Purchases
Growing awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency and increasing performance standards for heating systems are important drivers in the boiler market. Focused on these trends, Weil-McLain, a leader in hydronic heating systems, recently launched EcoRebates industry-leading rebate tools on its website. The tools automatically highlight rebate and incentive savings available to homeowners and commercial entities based on their location when they research and view qualified energy-efficient boiler equipment.
EcoRebates tracks thousands of rebate programs offered by utilities and energy service providers that offer cash-back to homeowners and commercial entities that purchase energy efficient hydronic heating equipment. Using the rebate tools on the Weil-McLain site, homeowners can easily find rebate savings, up to $2,500 in some areas, with higher savings available to commercial entities purchasing larger equipment.
“The rebate center is a powerful tool that is simple for homeowners and business owners to use and automatically displays location-based rebates and savings on energy efficient products in real-time,” said Scott Butterfield, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Weil-McLain. “We are excited to offer this solution to our sales team and dealers to provide a valuable way to present savings to customers throughout their high efficiency boiler purchase journey.
“Weil-McLain is the North American leading boiler manufacturer who remains strong in the high-efficiency boiler market,” added Brett Battles, Co-Founder and CEO at EcoRebates. “We’re pleased to work with them to deliver these valuable savings opportunities into the hands of their customers.”
More information on rebates for Weil-McLain residential and commercial boiler systems is available at www.weil-mclain.com/rebate-center.
A. O. Smith, a leading water heater manufacturer, has added depth to its diverse product portfolio with the introduction of the ProLine® Electric Tankless family for commercial, residential and point-of-use applications. The ProLine Electric Tankless is available in three sizes, with 45 different models ranging from 2.4kW to 32kW and Uniform Energy Factor up to Read more
A. O. Smith, a leading water heater manufacturer, has added depth to its diverse product portfolio with the introduction of the ProLine® Electric Tankless family for commercial, residential and point-of-use applications.
The ProLine Electric Tankless is available in three sizes, with 45 different models ranging from 2.4kW to 32kW and Uniform Energy Factor up to 0.93. The units are available in a variety of voltage options: 120V, 208V, 240V, and 277V.
A. O. Smith enters the electric tankless market with a number of innovative features and benefits previously unavailable in this category. All models have true Dry Fire Protection. The element will only turn on when the chamber is full of water, meaning that plumbers and electricians have the freedom to work without fear of costly dry fires. All models also have Scale Reduction Technology. This feature reduces scale formation on the elements and on the chamber walls, which reduces failures and service requirements. Further, the units do not contain any moving parts or screens—another common place scale buildup can occur.
“We’re excited to bring the ProLine Electric Tankless family to our partners, who can now offer a complete line of A. O. Smith products to their customers,” said David Chisolm, vice president of marketing at A. O. Smith. “Contractors will be extremely comfortable installing these units—which plumb very similarly to standard electric water heaters—and end-users will appreciate their compact size, reliability and energy-saving capabilities.”
The single-chamber design, which features a pre-heat function that helps bring domestic hot water faster to the fixture, is compact enough to be mounted directly under a sink, in a remote bathroom or other hard-to-plumb area.
The largest unit in the family, the four-chamber model, can produce up to 4.25 gallons of hot water per minute—enough to support 2.5 baths in a whole-home or multi-family application. The two-chamber design is ideal for applications where the heater is close to where the hot water is being used, such as cabins. Both sizes feature a soft start power draw, so that lights do not dim during a heavy power draw.
For the most up-to-date A. O. Smith news, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and visit www.hotwater.com.
Jones Stephens, a World and Main Company, has launched a new disposable test plug which fits their existing line of residential shower drains. This test plug enables code required pressure testing of the drain- waste-vent system and wet testing of the shower liner membrane without the need of a separate testing device. Andy Yanka, Jones Read more
Jones Stephens, a World and Main Company, has launched a new disposable test plug which fits their existing line of residential shower drains. This test plug enables code required pressure testing of the drain- waste-vent system and wet testing of the shower liner membrane without the need of a separate testing device.
Andy Yanka, Jones Stephens’ Senior Director of Product Management shares, “our new product development team is laser focused on finding ways to save plumbers time and money and this innovation embodies that approach. We want plumbers to know that Jones Stephens products are designed specifically to make their lives better.”
The preinstalled plug is secured in place by the spud during construction and testing. Once all testing is complete and the finishing touches are being placed on the bathroom, the plug is easily removed with pliers and discarded.
Jones Stephens 2”x3” residential shower drains have many options available. Plastic and brass spuds, round and square snap-in or screw-in strainers, plus many different finish options.
To find out more information, visit www.jonesstephens.com