But if you’re building a new home or adding to an existing one, installing a tankless water heater may make economic sense.Ĭonsumer Reports recently tested several electric and gas whole-house tankless water heaters from brands such as Bosch, Navien, Noritz, Rheem, Rinnai, Tempra, and Trutankless. Switching from a tank water heater to a tankless unit can be expensive because it requires you to retrofit your plumbing and possibly your electrical system. Typically, homeowners replace their old water heater with one of the same type that runs on the same fuel-natural gas or electricity.

New storage tank water heaters are required to operate more efficiently, and tankless (on-demand) water heaters are even more efficient than that. If your water heater is nearing the end of its useful life and you’re thinking of replacing it before disaster strikes, you’ll be happy to know that you have better choices, thanks to federal regulations that require water heaters to be more energy-efficient. Despite this expense, water heaters are typically ignored until they break, leaving you with no hot water and, possibly, a flooded basement. And if you’ve been spending more time at home because of the pandemic, it’s likely that your usage and costs have gone up. The cost of heating water consumes almost 20 percent of your household budget, second only to what you spend on heating and cooling your home.

Electric water heater