How Does a Water-Heater Work?
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Traditional Electric and Gas Water Heaters
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A water heater may seem like a very complicated thing, but it is actually pretty simple and has very few parts. The differences between the electric and gas heaters are the fact that an electric heater has two heating elements in it and the gas heater has a burner in the bottom of the unit. The gas heater has a pipe that runs from the bottom through the top to vent it. Electric heaters do not need to be vented. You can purchase water heaters in various sizes depending on the usage your family will require. The most common size is 40 gallons but they range from 40 to 60 gallons.
How They Work
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The heaters work by having cold water enter through a pipe near the bottom of the unit. It is heated by either an electric element or the burner under a plate in the heater. There is a constant pressure of water coming in, so as the water is used more water enters the tank. Electric heaters have an element at the top also, so the water is heated even more before it is used. There is a thermostat that you can set to get the temperature of water that you want. The best temperature to keep your tank set for is between 120 and 140 degrees. Any higher and you risk getting scalded and increases your utility bill. Every tank has a pressure relief valve on it, too. This is the safety feature that keeps your tank from exploding if it builds up too much pressure. The other part that is important to every water heater is a drain valve. This is used to drain the tank if you need to change an element or make other repairs.
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Tankless Water Heater
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Tankless water heaters run on the theory that we only need to heat our water when we are going to use it. The traditional water heater holds a certain amount of water and keeps it hot until you need it. This wastes a lot of energy in the time you are not using hot water. The tankless water heater can give you from 24 to 50 percent energy savings. There are many models that cover a single point, multipoint and whole house applications. They come in electric or gas and have an average life of 20 years, while most traditional water heaters last between 10 and 15 years.
How the Tankless Heaters Work
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The heating units are installed close to where you will use the hot water. When you turn on the hot water tap, the pressure pulls the cold water into the heater, runs it by the element and it comes right back out to the tap. The single point application heaters run between 2 and 5 gallons per minute. You can have more than one single point or use a multipoint application. If you use a gas-fired tankless heater, it will need to be vented. Many of the manufacturers of these units include the venting materials with the unit. For more information on the tankless water heaters go to tanklesswaterheaterguide.com.
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