Are Combined Water Heaters Gas/Electricity Efficient?

When you come across the necessity of choosing the best water heater for your household, you might also face some hurdles. By finding a contractor, your selection is facilitated because you are guided among options. Yet, understanding alone what fits your preference and needs the most is a little bit complicated. This article will hint you at the best selection of water heaters, and speak of combined heaters.

What Are Combination Water Heaters?

So, the combination water heater is somehow an integrated system that performs several functions together including the function of heat pump, furnace, and boiler. It is aimed at two goals: to heat the water and provide space heating. As for the configurations of such integrated technologies, you will also come across 3 basics: 1) indirect space heating configuration which heats the water for domestic use, as well as circulates water through finned-tube coils, 2) indirect space heating which heats water for space heating, and heats exchanger in the boiler to boil water for domestic uses, and 3) a system which provides domestic water heater, space heating, as well as space cooling. By finding a contractor, you understand which unit is required for your particular case.

What About the Best Water Heater Efficiency?

The best water heater is the one that may achieve 95% of the AFUE which stands for

Annual fuel utilization efficiency. The more, the better.

The efficiency is achieved by one simple principle. Instead of venting excess heat energy outdoors, a combination water heater recycles that energy and uses it only for pre-heating water. So, it aims at helping your boilers to use less energy, and recycle energy that with simple boilers could be simply wasted. Accordingly, you may guess that all these approaches lead to savings on your utility bills.

If you do not understand the above information, let’s share some details on how it works generally. Such water heaters use condensing technology to both heat your water and distribute it for heating and your washing purposes as needed only. So, such combined heaters use tankless hot water technology which is known for on-demand purposes. Modern heaters also have a mechanism of storing excess heat energy in a special exchanger for reusing it later on.

Tips on Savings With Such a Tankless Electric Water Heater

Either you choose a solar hot water heater or an electric water heater, you will always think about savings. For instance, a modern electric tankless water heater (or solar one) may help you save the following way:

• You go for an upgraded AFUE unit. When you switch from old boilers to at least 95% AFUE units, your approximate savings may reach $360 annually. A combi heater with a programmable thermostat will help you even more because you save additionally 10% off on your annual heating, and energy bills;
• You reduce heat loss within your household. Your house should be energy efficient by conserving heat. It is achieved with the help of smaller units. Thus, if you live in a small house, your savings are possible with a small solar water heater, as an example;
• Alongside a boiler, you should smartly use fans. For instance, you have to run your fan in winter mode. It helps to blow warm air down into the room, so you experience a warmer atmosphere, hence, you will use your boiler less. Then, you come to savings again;
• By finding a contractor. As was numerously said above, by finding a contractor, you can access some savings too. For instance, you can organize annual inspections and maintenance services. A master can detect the issues, or prevent them. Thus, a boiler will serve you longer.

So, what is the difference between a combi water heater and traditional boilers? Summing up all the findings above, it is possible to say that traditional boilers carry one mission just to provide you with space heating. Hot water circulated through radiators. Beyond that, you can use hot water from traditional boilers for domestic purposes. Combi boilers are known to perform two functions to provide you with efficient space heating and water heating for a single appliance. It works on demand.

Why Not Choose Combi Boilers?

You are most likely to be determined now about choosing combi boilers. However, not everything is bright as it may seem at first.

#1 You may have a huge demand for water

Such on-demand boilers cannot always meet the expectations of all the house residents at once. For instance, if you are a family of three, and you all start using the hot water, you may experience that water pressure is radically dropped. It is all because such combi boilers do not have any backup tankers which may assist the main unit in providing extra water, and pressure.

#2 Complex Set-Up

By finding a contractor, you get rid of any complexity when setting up the boiler. While if you plan to do it all alone, it is a real challenge. For example, there should be chips and electronic devices that will make a unit operate. The same concerns the maintenance and repair services. If your unit is broken, you are most likely to come across complex fixing and huge bills.

#3 Poor Water Rate

Since such units draw the water directly from the mains because there are not backup tankers, you may have to wait for some time until a unit will fill your bath for your showering and bathing purposes. For some people, it is fine, while some may be frustrated when they run out of time.

Finally, if your unit is broken, you literally lose hot water, and central heating, while with traditional boilers you just experience outages. So, what to choose? It all depends on your paying capacity, your needs in terms of space heating and hot water for bathing. Yet, by finding a contractor with Contractorfinder, you may be occasionally also guided among the discounts for your future savings.