A water heater is one of the most important appliances in your home. You need it for hot water to wash dishes, to take showers, to do laundry, and so much more. When it comes time to replace your water heater, there are many aspects to consider.
The first choice is the big one: a storage tank or a tankless unit. Both have pros and cons, and we install both, so this guide compares tankless water heater installation against a conventional tank water heater for Central Florida homes in Lakeland, Plant City, Winter Haven, and nearby cities.
The Pros of Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters heat water on demand instead of holding it hot around the clock. They are also called demand-type or instantaneous heaters. Compared with a traditional water heater, they offer:
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Lower standby losses. Traditional water heaters keep a full tank hot whether or not anyone is using it, and that energy leaves through the tank walls. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that water heating is typically the second largest energy expense in a home, so trimming that waste shows up on the bill.
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The supply of hot water doesn’t end. A tankless unit heats water as it flows, so a long shower cannot drain a tank that isn’t there. With a storage heater, hot water runs out once the tank is emptied and you wait for it to recover.
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They last longer. The Department of Energy puts the life of a storage water heater at 10 to 15 years and a tankless unit at more than 20, with parts that are replaceable rather than throwaway.
The Disadvantages of Tankless Water Heaters
One issue with tankless water heaters is flow capacity: a single undersized unit can struggle to serve two fixtures at once. If your household runs the shower and the dishwasher at the same time, the fix is either a larger unit, two units, or staying with a tank. Sizing is the whole game here, and it is the part homeowners most often get wrong on their own.
Tankless heaters also cost more upfront, and the annual savings may not offset that difference as quickly as you expect. Water temperature can also swing with water pressure elsewhere in the house, and some homes need an electrical service upgrade to support an electric tankless unit. We do not perform electrical work, so when a panel upgrade is required we coordinate a licensed electrical contractor before the install date. If the upfront number is the sticking point, we offer financing on water heater replacement.
Central Florida’s hard water is the other factor. Scale builds inside a tankless heat exchanger faster than most people expect, which is why we often pair an install with a water softener or whole house water filtration. Our comparison of water softeners and whole-house filtration systems covers which one your water actually calls for, and how hard water damages a home explains what the scale is doing in the meantime.
Talking it through with a licensed plumber is the fastest way to land on the right unit for your house.
Looking to replace or upgrade your water heater?
Storage water heaters in Florida commonly reach the end of their service life around the 10 year mark, and many homes are running one well past it without knowing. If that sounds like yours, our guides to the indicators your water heater needs replacing and repairing versus replacing a hot water heater will tell you where you stand. Ignoring the early signs is expensive: a tank that fails without warning floods whatever it is sitting above.
If the unit is still worth saving, water heater repair is usually the cheaper call. If it is not, we handle the swap, including tankless conversions in Winter Haven and across Polk and Hillsborough counties.
Give us a call today at (863) 667-6364 to talk through tankless water heaters versus traditional water heaters.
