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Helping You Make Your Home Your Castle |
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Hot Water Heaters for Your Home
The Most Economical Home Hot Water Heater
Introduction: All homes have a hot water heater to heat water. There are several different types to choose from but you should consider the least expensive of the hot water heaters for your home. There are three primary types of hot water heaters used to heat domestic hot water; electrical, gas, and oil.
In addition to these there are several high tech
hot water heaters such as; solar, point of use hot
water heaters and on demand hot water heaters. All
these heater use energy to heat the water but
heating hot water can be inexpensive depending on
which hot water heater you have.
The electric hot water heat is by far the most
expensive heater to operate although it is the
least expensive to buy. Typically you can purchase
a 40 gallon storage tank electric hot water heater
for approximately $400, depending where you buy it.
However, for a household of four it will cost
approximately $200 a month to heat the water. By
far this is the most expensive of all the methods
to heat water.
The gas fired hot water heater cost is
approximately $350 to $450 for a 40 gallon storage
tank and for a family of four it will cost
approximately $180 a month to operate using LP gas
and approximately $150 for natural gas.
There are two ways to heat water using oil. One is
off a boiler or with a separate hot water heater.
Either way heating hot water with oil is the least
expensive. If the hot water is heated by the same
boiler that provides heat to the house you have a
choice of having a storage tank that is connected
to the boiler or an on demand hot water unit that
is part of the boiler.
The on demand hot water heater or tankless hot
water heater, cost approximately $160 a month to
operate. Keep in mind that every time there is
demand for hot water the boiler will fire start to
heat the water as you use it. This frequent
starting and stopping does add maintenance cost to
maintain the boiler.
An oil fired boiler with a storage tank for hot
water has a heating element in the storage tank
that is plumbed to the boiler. The boiler has a
separate water circuit that runs to the tank to
heat the water in the same way the boiler heats
water for baseboard heat in a forced hot water
heating system. The cost for a 40 gallon storage
tank is approximately $700 and cost approximately
$120 a month to heat hot water for a household with
four people.
A separate oil hot water heater cost approximately
$1000 to $1100 depending where you buy it. The cost
to heat the water for a family of four will run
approximately $120 dollars a month to heat the
water for a household of four.
Based on this information the electric hot water
heater is the most costly to operate while a boiler
hot water system is the least inexpensive. A boiler
that burns LP or natural gas will still cost more
than a boiler that uses oil.
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