Electric Water Heater Considerations for Homeowners

Electric is the water heater power of choice today for many builders and homeowners. An electric water heater has several advantages over a fuel-burning system and can compensate for most of its disadvantages. Electricity also widens the range of options for implementing water heating needs, giving homeowners a number of aspects to take into consideration. This article examines these aspects and shows how to make reasoned decisions regarding water heating in the home.

The standard electric water heater operates via submerged heating elements, one main element near the bottom of the tank (where cold water enters) and another, on-demand element near the top (where hot water exits). Each element uses 4500 watts of power, but they are never on at the same time. When demand exceeds the capacity of the lower element, the top element comes on (thus disabling the lower element) to heat the water in the vicinity of where it exits the tank.

Compare this with the operation of a gas- or oil-powered heater. The water also enters the tank near the bottom and exits at the top, but a flame is applied below the tank to accomplish the rise in temperature. The burner requires adequate combustion air and the exhaust has to be vented outside, usually through the roof. Such venting also has to be supplied sufficient draft air or exhaust is apt to flow down and back out around the top of the tank. Another aspect of fuel-burning water heaters is that when they are placed in a garage, a common location, they must meet flammable vapor ignition resistant (FVIR) regulations.

Owners of electrical heaters have no such combustion air, draft air, venting, or FVIR issues to worry about. These devices are therefore easily maintained and need little access; they can be tucked away in a corner. About the only need to call a plumberis for installation of the thing or to tend to a malfunctioning temperature-pressure release valve.

The primary disadvantage of electric heaters is their relatively slow recovery time. Oil-burning heaters recover the fastest, followed by gas-burning ones. To equalize somewhat these differences, heaters are sized in proportion to their recovery time. So electrical heaters are the largest, a potential problem for homeowners who wish to replace their existing oil or gas heater with an electric one in the same spot.

Going electrical opens up the possibility for using the newer technological innovations in water heating. One such innovation is adapting the heat pump, essentially an air conditioner running in reverse, to transfer heat that is captured in the surrounding air into water rather than into air in a different location. These devices come as stand-alone units (i.e., with their own tanks) or as add-ons to existing tanks. Because they take advantage of the latent heat of vaporization, they tend to be more efficient than conventional electrical water heaters.

This improved efficiency comes at the price of greater need for periodic maintenance, which in turn requires good access. This means that the water heater can't be tucked away in the corner anymore. Heat pump technology also demands about a thousand cubic feet of surrounding air from which to extract heat, so it must be in a more open environment. Furthermore, if the device is in livable space, the heat extraction will lower the temperature in that space and increase a heating demand.

Another approach is the on-demand electrical water heater, somewhat limited in its capacity but a nice solution for certain circumstances. For more information on it and all electric water heaters, click here.

Homeowners have so many water heating options these days that it can be difficult to make the best choice. We have discussed electrical technologies in some detail, but fuel-burning appliances are still in wide use and appropriate solutions in many cases. To see a complete treatment of water heaters in general, visit http://www.HomeInspectionWA.net.

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