How Much Gas Does A Hot Water Heater Use

How Much Free energy Does my Water Heater Utilise?

Your water heater is ane of the more than robust consumers of energy among your habitation appliances. In the average abode, the hot h2o heater is responsible for about 17 percent of the total energy use, according to the Department of Energy. If you tin can calculate how much energy you expend heating h2o, however, you will be armed with the information y'all need to improve your efficiency and bring your bills down to a minimum.

How Much Energy Does my Water Heater Use?

How Much Electricity Does a Hot Water Heater Use?

Exactly how many watts an electrical water heater uses depends on a number of variables, including the age and size of the unit, whether it is a tank or on-need model, what temperature you set up it to, how much hot water you use in a day, and other factors. Y'all can come up with a cost estimate by multiplying the number of watts your heater uses past the price yous pay per kWh by the number of hours the heater is active per 24-hour interval, so dividing by 1,000. Typically, a hot water heater that uses a tank will run for 3 to v hours per 24-hour interval. And then, a 4,000-watt heater used for three hours a day at $.10 per kWh will cost $one.20 per day, nearly $36.l per calendar month, or $438 per twelvemonth.

How Much Gas Does a Hot Water Heater Use?

If you use a gas hot h2o heater, the aforementioned factors affect the cost every bit with their electric cousins. The formula for estimating your bill is similar as well: Multiply the therms your heater uses per 60 minutes times the number of hours it's on times the price you pay for therms. For case, if yous pay $1 per therm and use a heater that consumes .205 therms per hr, for three hours per solar day,

your totals come to nigh $.62 per day, $18.70 per month and $224 per twelvemonth.

Gas vs. Electric Water Heater Operating Cost

Generally speaking, a gas water heater will cost less per calendar month than an electrical model, since natural gas prices tend to be lower than the cost of electricity. Going by the examples given higher up, where the electrical heater costs $438 in fuel vs. $224 for gas, you would save $214 per year using gas, although the exact numbers you see would depend on all the other variables in play, such as the efficiency of your unit.

To refine your calculations, consider that how much gas a hot h2o heater uses depends on its Energy Factor, or EF rating. The college the number the improve, with the well-nigh efficient models weighing in around .67. If you need to purchase an electric h2o heater, wait for models with EF ratings in the 90s. You lot can besides look for models that use alternative methods of heating the h2o, such equally solar heaters or heat pumps.

How Much Electricity Does a Tankless Water Heater Use?

Tankless water heaters warm up water on demand, rather than storing a reservoir that is kept hot at all times. Generally speaking, these units will swallow less energy than a traditional hot h2o heater, although how much electricity tankless water heaters use volition still depend on the demand yous create in your abode. Since they don't need to oestrus water when you aren't using them, tankless heaters may only run for two hours a twenty-four hour period or so.

According to the Section of Energy, tankless heaters are around 24 to 34 percent more efficient than heaters with tanks in homes that use 41 gallons or less of hot water per day, or 8 to xiv percent more efficient in homes that utilise 86 gallons of h2o or more. Keep in mind, however, these models also to price more to purchase and may crave new wiring in your firm, which will offset some of your energy savings.

How to Keep Your Bills to a Minimum

To reduce how much electricity or gas your hot water uses and bring your bills down, consider these tips:

Turn down the thermostat: Many hot water heaters are set to 140 degrees past default, but 120 is plenty hot for almost household uses, and creates less of a scalding gamble.
Don't linger as well long in the shower: A hot shower can exist a relaxing pleasure, and no one is suggesting that you suffer through cold showers in the wintertime. However, call back nigh limiting your bathing fourth dimension and not indulging in 20 or 30-minute long cleaning sessions. One tactic to keep your water consumption to a minimum is to turn the shower off while y'all soap upwards and wash your hair, then restore the menstruum to rinse off.
Install depression-catamenia faucets and shower heads: The less water that flows through your fixtures per minute, the less heat you demand to use up.
Insulate your tank: An cheap insulation blanket tin assistance your water tank retain its heat, and then it expends less free energy warming it back up again.
Discover a tank size that fits your family: Yous demand your water heater to exist large enough to handle the busiest hr of the 24-hour interval in your household, merely non so large that information technology's wasting energy heating water you don't demand. Check out the Section of Energy'due south guide to sizing a new water heater to help calculate how many gallons yous need in an hr, and find a model with a matching start 60 minutes rating.
Upgrade to a more efficient model: Efficiency technology is constantly improving, so the next time you need to buy a new hot water heater, you'll be able to shave a few dollars off your bills by investing in a model with the Energy Star label, promising to be amidst the more modest free energy consumers on the market.
Don't forget about your other appliances: A large chunk of the energy consumed by your dishwasher and washing machine is due to hot h2o usage, so investing in efficient appliances and using low-energy settings volition reduce the brunt on the hot h2o heater.
Favor the dishwasher over handwashing: While dishwashers do use their share of energy, they tend to use less hot water than washing dishes by hand, specially if you have a loftier-efficiency model and wait to run the unit until you have a full load of dishes.

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