Best Water Heaters 2023 - Water Heater Buying Guide
There are several choices to make when picking out a water heater. The first choice is often the type of water heater you want for your home. Water heaters can come as storage tanks, tankless, heat pump, solar and condensing types. Water heaters use a variety of fuel sources, including electric, gas, solar and geothermal.
👉Storage Tank
A storage tank water heater is a conventional water heater that heats water from natural gas, electricity, propane or fuel oil. Storage tank water heaters usually have 40-, 50- or 55-gallon capacities. Cold water enters at the bottom of the tank and gets heated before getting released through the top. Gas, propane or fuel oil water heaters can have less energy efficiency.
👉Tankless
Tankless water heaters have appeal because they typically take up less space than storage tank water heaters and have more flexibility on where you can install them. Tankless water heaters can have better energy efficiency because they heat water on demand rather than keeping it set at a temperature that requires the heater to fire periodically.
Tankless water heaters can suffer from flow issues and slow heating times. Look for a gallon per minute rate to find a tankless water heater that will fit the needs of your home. Heating capacity numbers can also help you find the right tankless water heater. Tankless water heater can use gas, electricity or propane to heat water.
Heat pumps use electricity to move heat from one place to another. A heat pump can pump hot air into your home or heat cold air to pump into your home. Heat pumps have great energy efficiency and can come with a storage tank. Heat pumps can also get retrofitted to work with a conventional storage tank.
Heat pumps need to remain in areas where temperatures remain between 40° to 90°F and at least 1,000 cubic feet of air space around the heat pump to operate properly, making it less than ideal for colder climates.
👉Solar
Solar water heaters provide a renewable energy option and can come as active or passive systems. An active system comes as a direct circulation or indirect circulation system.
A direct circulation system uses pumps to distribute water through the home and works well in warm climates. An indirect circulation system uses non-freezing, heat transfer fluid through collectors and a heat exchanger to heat water and distribute throughout the house, which is good for homes in climates that experience freezing weather.
Passive solar water heaters can cost less than active systems, operate more reliably and last longer, but don’t operate as efficiently. A collector passive storage system has a storage tank that allows the sun to heat the water and then distribute throughout the home. A thermosyphon system heats water in a collector on the roof and distributes the water throughout the house.
👉Condensing
Condensing water heaters use natural gas as a fuel source but captures exhaust gasses and passes them to the bottom of the tank to help heat cold water. A condensing heat exchanger has more surface area to allow water condensation from the flue, which captures more heat. Condensing water heaters typically have a thermal efficiency of 90% or better, making them more energy efficient than conventional storage tanks.
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