Residential Hot Water Systems - Ways To Beat Huge Energy Bills
Heating water for the home is a major cost for many people. It is estimated that it is approximately 20% of the monthly utility bills. This can mount up, especially as traditional energy sources that are used to heat the water increase in cost. This article will run you through a few types of residential hot water heaters that may save you some money on these monthly costs.
The principal sources of energy that heat water in the home are electricity or gas. For most homes, the water tank or boiler is the center of the water heating process. It is a large cylindrical metal tank. Inside the tank is a glass bottle that has insulation around it. The bottle stores the water and the metal casing protects the bottle from any damage.
At the bottom of the glass bottle will be a gas burner or an electric element. This is how the water is heated. These devices are generally controlled by a thermostat that will switch them on when the water drops to a certain temperature.
This system has a problem in that it will continually reheat water when it drops below a certain temperature.
If the water is not used, this heat is generally lost to the environment regardless of how much insulation is in the tank. This loss of heat has to be replaced by using electricity or gas, even if you don’t use the hot water it creates.
Thus the cost of having hot water on tap (so to speak) is the constant running of the heating element or burner. This is a really inefficient way of heating water and there are alternatives.
The remedy to this problem is to use a tankless hot water heater. This does the same as the traditional hot water system but without storing water in a tank. It provides on demand hot water.
The key component of this system is a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is still powered by traditional energy sources, like electricity or gas, but it is only activated when hot water is needed.
Part of the plumbing of the home is wound around the heat exchanger. As the water passes through the plumbing around the heat exchanger, the water is heated.
You will use less electricity or gas using this type of system because it is only used when needed rather than topping up hot water that may not be used. A tankless system can cost more than the other system but should last longer as it gets less use.
Another option that is gaining popularity and will continue in this way is to add solar power to your heating system. Solar hot water systems are really just the same storage and heating device ” so it could be a tank or tankless water system - but the energy source comes from the Sun rather than via a utility company.
There are two types of solar hot water systems. A passive system probably won’t provide all your energy needs but can augment the use of electricity or gas thus saving you money on utility bills.
The active system is a way to generate electricity via solar panels positioned on the roof or some other spot that gets plenty of sunlight. The electricity is then used to power the traditional water tank or the heat exchanger in the tankless system. This can save on energy bills as the electricity that is created is free after initial costs are taken away.
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