When searching for a new or replacement hot water heater for your home, it’s always a good idea to do a little research. Luckily, we’ve gone ahead and done some comparisons for you to give you a bit of a jumpstart and hopefully make it an easier process.

When I bought my new (to me) home, I understood that I had a "job" to do. It was to assist in bringing this 100+ year old beautiful and traditional adobe home into the new earth in a way to would truly honor it. This understanding, however, came to me about three days after I’d officially moved in! And so, I’d had many hours before that revelation to be completely nuts while running on "the moving in" mode.

During the "moving in" mode, the water got turned on, and coincidently the hot water heater exploded! of course. The house was talking, and it spoke loudly. In a rush to have that precious hot water, I ran to Lowes and bought a 40 gallon Whirlpool hot water heater to replace the blown up one.

Afterwards, however, it was time to research my choice and this is what I found:

Size

For choosing the size of a traditional tank storage hot water heater or heat pump hot water heater, do a first hour rating (FHR) to see (roughly) how much hot water you’ll be requiring. A FHR is the amount of hot water gallons the tank can supply per hour. Then, the EnergyGuide label will list the FHR in the top left corner as "Capacity" so you’ll know what to look for. This is good to know so that you don’t run out of hot water if you’re third in line to take a shower on any given day!

To do this, let’s first look at average amounts of hot water used for different tasks during the day.

* We use an average of 20 gallons per shower, per person
* We also use an average of 20 gallons per bath, per person
* Men use an average of 2 gallons with each shave
* When we wash our hands and face, we use approximately 2 gallons
* Doing dishes manually uses about 4 gallons
* Letting the dishwasher do them uses about 14 gallons
* Preparing and cooking food uses approximately 5 gallons
* And, using an automatic clothes washer uses about 32 gallons

Now to figure out what FHR rating you will need, you have to find your peak hour demand. It’s easy. Think about a peak hour usage time during your average day. It may be in the morning when several people are getting ready for the day, or at night when several people are cleaning up and winding down. Then insert the appropriate numbers. For example, if two people take showers in the morning, you would put "2" under "Times used during 1 hour", then put "40" under "gallons used in 1 hour", and so on. The number of gallons that you come up with at the bottom of the chart will be your peak hour demand, and you"ll want to buy a "tank" water heater that fulfills that demand.

Worksheet for Estimating Peak Hour Demand/First Hour Rating

Shower

20

×

=

Bath

20

×

=

Shaving

2

×

=

Hands & face washing

4

×

=

Hand dishwashing

4

×

=

Automatic dishwasher

14

×

=

Food preparation

5

×

=

Automatic clothes washer

32

×

=

Total Peak Hour Demand

=

Source: Gas Appliance Manufacturer’s Association
*The above worksheet assumes no water conservation measures

Gas or Electric?

Now for the question of whether you’d prefer a gas or electric water heater. You’re obviously going to want to choose an electric water heater if your home is already set up for an electric one. You’re also going to probably choose a gas water heater if your house is already set up for that.

If, however, you have a new construction or even maybe feel like spicing up your life a little, you then, get to choose whatever you want!

The Energy Solutions Center, representing 31 utilities, 13 municipal authorities, and 30 equipment manufacturers, conducted a hot water heater systems test, and this is what they found:

* Between traditional electric and gas tank water heaters, natural gas heating operating costs were 35% less than the electric water heating system operating costs. 
* The natural gas tank delivered 36% more hot water than the electric unit.
* The natural gas tank recovered 64% faster than the electric unit.

So we can see that gas water heaters are definitely more economical and efficient for the most part. Electric water heaters also do have some benefits of their own.

* As a rule they’re less expensive to purchase
* There are no gas pipes to install or venting to install, so the installation is ultimately easier.
* Since there are no gas pipes, there also isn’t the risk of a gas leak or explosion.
* The venting flue on the gas water heater is open to air and thus less efficient than electric.

Tank or tankless water heater

Accessibility is the first word that comes to mind when thinking about a storage tank water heater vs. a tankless water heater. As I said earlier, when my hot water heater decided to die, I easily replaced it within minutes by simply going to the local hardware store.

Plus, since it was older construction and already set up for a storage tank water heater, it was simply a pull out/put in process.

Looking at this from an energy conservation point of view, however, the choice would most likely be a simple one, and here’s why:

* Storage tank water heaters store hot water which causes minerals to settle at the bottom. The minerals will eventually block the transfer of heat from the burners to the water, which reduces efficiency. 
* With the life span being quite a bit shorter for storage tank water heaters, that means more big metal garbage filling our already cramped landfills.
* Tankless water heaters are on the average, 82% efficient for the lifetime of the heater.
* Tankless water heaters heat water on demand instead of always storing water at a preferred temperature.

Tankless water heaters are more expensive to purchase, yet easy to install. They’re definitely not as easy to find as the storage tank water heaters, but are becoming increasingly more available and will continue to do so.

The choice is always yours, however, and your choice is always perfect!

Happy water heater hunting!