Remember this?   

I do.  Many years back, I remember struggling with my husband to wrap our hot water heater in this “blanket”, taping it to itself and you were usually left with an eyesore staring at you every time you went in the utility room.  But at the time, we received a rebate from our gas company for being a smart consumer and energy conscious.  Boy, have things changed!

Today, consumers have choices and, as a professional plumber, you can help them make a smart decision when they need to select a water heater.

Residential water heating represents the second largest consumption of energy in the home, right behind heating and cooling.  For many years, there was no official ENERGY STAR® program for water heaters.  But, beginning on January 1st, 2009 the DOE released their final requirement and established the ENERGY STAR® program for residential water heaters.  ENERGY STAR^®-certified water heaters can use 50% less energy than equipment that meets the minimum federal standard.  (DTE Energy)

There are a lot of things to consider when selecting the type of water heater, a conventional water heater (that offers a reservoir of hot water) or a tankless (on-demand) hot water solution.  Fuel types available in their area – gas is usually cheaper than electricity, but the cost of the unit may be higher; consumption – how many people living in the household, how many gallons of hot water are consumed daily and at peak hours; manufacturer’s energy efficiency ratings and how much the unit cost are all things that need to be considered. Water heaters can be more costly and considering the lifetime of the product, home owners need to do their homework. After all, they will be living with it for a long time!

Tankless water heaters provide a large volume of dependable, low-cost hot water. Fuel sources can be propane, natural gas or electricity. They are becoming the most common way to heat water in the United States. They have become today’s “green” solution and are more energy-efficient than conventional tank heaters, since they eliminate the large supply of pre-heated water in the tank.  The new on-demand heater provides hot water as it’s called “on-demand” at precise temperatures, so there is no storage and therefore no need to expend energy heating and re-heating that stored water.  And customers should be thinking about the inherent waste of storage water heaters.

Here is a Pro / Con list that you can use to help your customers make the right decision.

We haven’t forgotten about the installation of the tankless water heater.  Here at Brasscraft Manufacturing Company we provide a BrassCraft Tankless Water Heater Installation kit that combines our patented ProCoat® gas connector with a variety of fittings and leak detection solution all together in one kit to make it easier for you to install tankless water heaters.  Click here to see more details about the kit: https://www.brasscraft.com/product/procoat-tankless-water-heater-installation-kit/

Here are a few more links to resources that can help you and your customers with a successful installation:

Energy cost calculator:

https://energy.gov/eere/femp/energy-cost-calculator-electric-and-gas-water-heaters-0

Energy Star:

https://www.energystar.gov/products/water_heaters

WaterSense:

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/watersense-labeled-homes-hot-water

PACE:

http://pacenation.us/what-is-pace/