Plumbers Jacksonville FL – The Thing in the Basement

By Billy Aldridge

There is something lurking in the basement, hall closet or garage of every residence in the US.  It’s big, it’s ugly, it’s hungry and you could wake up one fine morning to find out that it has struck.  Now I’m not talking about some kind of phantom that lurks in the darkest recesses of your imagination.  What I’m talking about is your water heater.

Now I know that when it comes to your top ten list of things that go bump in the night, the water heater is the last thing that you would consider as a menace to you or your family.  But consider the following:

1.      The average water heater consumes up to 25% of the power that the typical homeowner pays for month in and month out.

2.      Since this contraption is literally out of sight and out of mind, it isn’t unusual for most people to ignore the thing until they wake up to find an inch or so of water on the floor due to the fact that their heater gave up the ghost.

3.      The average life of a water heater is thirteen years.  After that, contaminants in the water tend to collect around the heating element, making the heater even less energy efficient. 

4.      Speaking of energy efficiency, today there are a number of alternatives to the traditional water heater.  These alternatives take up less space and/or use up far less energy.  (More on that later.)

I know what you’re thinking.  You live in Jacksonville, Florida.  There are no basements in Jacksonville.  While this may hold true, the fact is that no matter where your water heater is installed, it takes up a lot of valuable space.  Space that could better be used for storage.   When you are ready to replace your existing water heater, you may want to opt for either a tankless or a hybrid water heater.  These units take up far less space and use far less electricity. 

Tankless systems are the ultimate in power efficiency since they make hot water on demand…as much as you want.  Unlike traditional water heaters that expend the majority of their power consumption on maintaining the temperature of water stored inside the tank, tankless heaters only operate when you turn on the tap.  Another couple of advantages of a tankless system are that you never run out of hot water.  This is especially useful if you have a large family or when the overnight guests come for a visit.  They also take up less than a third of the space of a traditional water heater.  Some can even be installed outside, which is the ultimate space saver.  The downside is that tankless heaters tend to be a bit pricier than traditional units.  If you take the longterm approach and factor in the energy saved, these systems will ultimately pay for themselves.  However, tankless isn’t the only way to go.

Hybrid heaters are available that straddle the fence between traditional and tankless heaters.  Like tankless systems, hybrids are a bit pricier than traditional water heaters.  These units won’t save space, bring a bit taller than traditional units they replace, since the heat pump is mounted on top.  However, they are much more efficient since they contain a heat pump that draws in heat from the air to help heat the water. When Consumer Reports tested hypbrid heaters they determined that the average family would save around $320 per year.  This is a plus, since hybrid water heaters cost about $1000 more than traditional units.

That’s not to say that conventional water heaters have gotten stuck in some kind of technological time warp.  Like most major appliances, water heaters have improved tremendously over the past few years.    That’s why you want to shop for the cheapest unit you can lay your hands on, but the one that gives you the best overall value.  The first step in selecting the best system for your purposes is to determine the size you need.  To do this, you need to calculate the amount of water your family uses during its busiest hour. 

ConsumerEnergyCenter.org created this useful guide:

Your house has:
How many bathrooms?	1 to 1.5	2 to 2.5	3 to 3.5
How many bedrooms?	1 - 2 - 3	2 - 3 - 4 - 5	3 - 4 - 5
You need a First Hour Rating of:	43 - 60 - 60	60 - 70 - 72 - 90	72 - 82 - 90

Understanding the Energy Guide

Once you've figured out your "First Hour Rating" - how much hot water your family typically needs and the size of the water heater you should buy - look for the "First Hour Rating" figure on the EnergyGuide.

The EnergyGuide will be a large yellow sticker that, by law, has to appear on water heaters and other appliances. In this case it compares the average yearly operating costs of different water heaters, using the same criteria for all models tested. It lets you see which one would probably cost you less to run.

On this sample, the "First Hour Rating" appears on the upper left-hand corner, underneath the water heater's energy source. The "First Hour Rating" is 66.

Choose a model with a "First Hour Rating" close to the capacity you need. Don't just rely on the physical size of the storage tank - gas water heaters work quicker than electric ones, so they produce more hot water in an hour. A gas water heater that holds 40-gallons may turn out as much hot water in an hour as a 65-gallon electric one!

If you decide to increase the size of your water heater, make sure you have room in your home for a bigger model. Water heaters are sometimes crammed into tight spaces - check the manufacturer's specifications on any model you buy to make sure it will fit.

Note the big number - $156 - in the center of the EnergyGuide. That's the estimated cost of energy needed to operate this water heater for one year. On the bar immediately below this yearly cost, the label even displays the range of yearly costs of comparable-sized water heaters, from the least expensive to most expensive. That's why an EnergyGuide label is such a valuable tool - it makes comparison shopping easy.

Whichever type of heater you buy, be it traditional, hybrid or tankless, remember that you are going to have to live with the thing for a decade or more.  So choose the unit that makes the best sense in the long run, instead of making the mistake of feeding that other monster that lives in your home: the electric meter.

Billy Aldridge is one of the Doctor’s or Plumbology at Aldridge & Sons Plumbing.  For more helpful plumbing hints and step-by-step videos, visit http://plumbers-jacksonville-fl.com and http://waterheatersjacksonvillefl.com/

 http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/waterheaters.html