If you are ready to install a new water heater in your home, you may be debating between a traditional hot water tank or a tankless water heater. Here is what you need to know about both types of water heaters before you make a decision.

Hot Water Tank

A traditional hot water tank is what you are most likely used to having. It uses a large reserve tank to contain hot water that is already heated and then disperses that hot water as it is needed in your home. The biggest reason to get a traditional hot water tank is due to the price of the unit itself since it is going to be cheaper than its tankless counterpart. If you're on a tight budget, you may opt to get a traditional hot water tank for this reason alone.

If you have a small household without many people living in it, a traditional hot water tank can be ideal for your specific situation. It is unlikely that you'll run into issues with all of the hot water in the tank being used, which happens when you use the water faster than the hot water heater is able to heat it up. For large households, you may run into issues where the water does get cold and you need to wait a while.

The energy consumption of a traditional hot water tank will be higher than a tankless model, mainly because the unit is running all the time to keep the water hot. This means that energy is constantly being used all year round to simply make hot water.

Tankless Water Heater

A tankless water heater has the huge benefit of generating hot water on demand. This is because the water passes through a heating element that makes it hot as it comes out of the heater. This gives you endless hot water that will never run out. That said, it's possible to run into an issue with making enough simultaneous hot water, with the option to buy a more powerful tankless water heater to make more hot water. 

The downside of a tankless hot water heater is the cost. It is more expensive, and can even require a higher installation cost to install a larger gas line to the unit to accommodate the amount of energy needed to heat water on demand. However, you can see savings over the years in the form of lower energy costs because the unit is not wasting energy being turned on all day long. 

To learn more, contact a local company.