From cutting edge homeowners to average people who simply want running hot water, considering whether or not to get a San Mateo tankless water heating system is certainly a topic worth studying. Whether or not a San Mateo tankless water heating system is the right solution for your needs, it’s also worth learning about and considering among your full range of water heating options.

Various types of water heaters
The current market of water heaters includes a wide range of options. While most households in the U.S. use conventional storage tank water heaters, there are also tankless water heaters, solar water heaters, condensing water heaters, and heater pump water heaters.

We’ll provide additional information about the advantages and disadvantages of these different types of water heaters below, but you may also want to consider spending a moment to research all of these various types of water heaters in more detail, and maybe even see them in person.

How exactly do tankless water heaters work?
Tankless water heaters work by heating water on demand as it is needed, rather than storing a large amount of water at a specific temperature the way conventional storage tank water heaters do.

To do this, they either use electricity or a gas line to rapidly heat the water as it’s needed. In general, gas units can produce higher flow rates of hot water than electric tankless water heaters can, so having a gas line can be a big plus if you’re looking for the best performance possible in terms of flow rate.

Advantages and disadvantages
Because tankless water heaters produce hot water on-demand, rather than in a tank held at a constant hot temperature, they use less power when hot water isn’t needed. If less use of energy is a priority for you, this may be an advantage to you if you’re concerned about the environment or ongoing costs. Specifically, tankless water heaters can be 8% to 14% more efficient for homes that use a lot of water, and 24% to 34% more efficient for more average homes. Installing more water heaters where they are needed can increase efficiency.

However, one disadvantage is that tankless water heaters tend to be more expensive than storage tank water heaters, so there is often a higher up-front cost. Also, if you don’t have a gas line ready to use, you may need to do some work to get that in place if you want a higher-performance gas-based tankless water heater. Anyone who doesn’t want to spend as much money up front may not be comfortable with these disadvantages, and the cost savings of energy usage over time may take years to offset the up front difference in cost. That said, there is also some information suggesting that tankless water heaters may last longer than storage tank water heaters.

Another advantage is that tankless water heaters take up less space, which may make a difference to people living in smaller homes or urban settings where space conservation is valuable.

In the end, you’ll need to make your own evaluation of which type of water heater is right for you, based on the models you’re looking at and the prices involved.

Get help from a professional
As you can see from the above, choosing whether or not to use a tankless water heater is a complex evaluation of upfront cost, ongoing cost, performance, and energy conservation.

To get help with your exploration of tankless water heater options, we highly recommend talking to a team of experts like ours at Performance Plumbing to understand in detail which units may be suitable for you to consider, and what costs would be involved. A team like ours can also help provide information about conventional storage tank water heaters to help you compare the two options to let you decide which is best for you.

At the end of the day, we’re here to help you make the decision that is best for you. Give us a call or send us an email and we’ll be happy to help you out right away!