Is a Hybrid Water Heater Right for Me?
If you cannot decide between a water heater with a tank and a tankless model, a hybrid water heater might be a good alternative. They offer the flexibility of a tankless water heater and the reliability of a tank. Here’s what you need to know.
How Does Tankless Water Heating Work?
If you are accustomed to using a water heater with a tank, imagining one without a tank may require some explanation. Tankless water heaters do not keep hot water in reserve for you to use as you need it. As a result, they do not expend the same kind of energy throughout the day that a tank water heater does to keep the water consistently warm. Instead, tankless water heaters rely on larger bursts of energy throughout the day, every time you turn on the hot water. Although experts have mixed views about the energy efficiency of tankless water heaters compared to tank water heaters, they agree that the smaller size of tankless water heaters often offers more versatility for homeowners, especially with new construction.
What Is a Hybrid Water Heater?
A hybrid water heater is not quite like a tankless water heater, but not a standard water heater, either. The hybrid technology is designed to take the best of both worlds. With the hybrid water heater, you have the hot water in the tank, ready to go when you need it. If that is enough, you do not have to expend the excess burst of energy to heat the water on the fly. When you do need more, the water heater uses tankless technology to continually heat the water that is delivered. That way, you do not have to worry about running out of hot water when you need to use a lot.
How Are Hybrid Water Heaters Different from Tank Water Heaters?
The physical differences between tankless water heaters and tank water heaters are obvious. Tankless water heaters are far smaller, since they have no tank. Hybrid water heaters, having a tank of the same size as a standard water heater, strongly resemble a water heater with a tank. Fortunately, this means that they usually have the same kinds of connections, making installation less complicated than it might be to retrofit a home for tankless technology.
Is a Heat Pump Water Heater the Same Thing?
There are two different water heater types that are commonly referred to as “hybrid water heaters,” but they are not the same concept. A hybrid water heater uses tank and tankless technology to provide a greater amount of hot water than the average tank model could. A heat pump water heater affects the way the water is heated, not the system of delivery. In contrast to hybrid water heaters, heat pump water heaters only heat water that is currently in the tank.
Making a decision about the right water heater for your home requires the expertise of a Sacramento plumber. To learn more about water heaters for your home and to see if a hybrid water heater may be an ideal choice, contact us at Ace Plumbing.