A Tankless Gas Water Heater Could Cut Your Hot Water Costs By 20-40%

Installing a tankless gas water heater instead of a traditional tank heater can help increase your energy efficiency and help save money on your hot water bills. A gas tankless water heater heats water on demand, to a preset temperature, which means that there's no wasted energy from hot water sitting in a tank and not being used. A tankless gas water heater is relatively easy to install, and as units are fairly large compared to smaller electric water heaters, they are usually hung on a centrally located wall. You will need venting in an outside wall to vent the flue gas and bring in fresh air.

Tankless gas water heaters generally have larger capacities than their electric counterparts. Some of the larger units are capable of heating 5 gallons a minute, which should meet the equivalent needs of two showers being used at the same time. Compare this to the 3 gallons per minute that is typical of electric tankless water heaters. In general, the cost of tankless gas hot water heaters increases according to the amount of hot water you require at a time.

A tankless gas water heater might cost anything from around $600 up to $1200 for one with a really large capacity. However, it is estimated that gas tankless water heaters use 20-40% less energy than a tank heater, compared to tankless electric water heaters, which typically offer savings of 10-20%. Something to consider with a gas tankless water heater is that leaving the pilot light on constant standby uses a lot of energy over the course of a year, depending on the type of unit and gas, so switching it off when not in use is a good habit to get into.