Having a water heater is an absolute necessity for taking showers, cleaning clothes, washing dishes, and so much more. You have many options if it’s time to upgrade your existing water heater. Knowing what size water heater you need is a good place to start.
Water Heater Types
Your options include both tank and tankless water heaters. The traditional tank-style water heater is the most common. It’s easily identifiable by its cylindrical holding tank. This type of water heater is sized based on its water holding capacity, given in gallons.
On the other hand, a tankless water heater doesn’t store water. Rather, it simply heats water as it flows through it. This on-demand water heater is sized based on the number of gallons of hot water that it can produce per minute. Depending on the style of water heater that you’re looking at, you want to ensure that you know what sizing measurement it will have.
Tank Water Heaters
Tank-style water heaters are available in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 30 gallons to 120 gallons. In general, homes with one to three residents will typically need a water heater between 30 and 50 gallons. Houses with four to six people may need a water heater between 50 and 75 gallons. Households with more than six people should opt for a larger 80- to 120-gallon water heater.
When choosing the perfect size water heater for your home, you want to ensure that you’re picking an option that can meet your hot water demands without wasting excess energy. If you opt for a capacity that’s too small, you’ll run out of hot water when performing activities like taking a shower or washing the dishes. If you choose a water heater that’s too big, it will use excess energy to heat more water than you need. This translates to higher utility bills for you.
Tankless Water Heater
When determining the appropriate size of tankless water heater for your home, there are two main calculations you need to keep in mind. First is the flow rate, which is the gallons per minute that we talked about above. You basically want to add up the flow rate for all the fixtures that you plan on running at one time.
For example, this could be a sink, washer, and shower. Each appliance should have its own flow rating identified in its operating manual. For sinks and showers, you can simply time how long it takes to fill up a five-gallon bucket. Then, do some division to get the estimated water it produces within one minute.
The second factor you’ll need to consider is the rise in temperature. Most residential water heaters are set to a temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature rise is the difference between the final temperature of 120 degrees and the temperature of the water supplied to your house via your main water line.
For example, let’s assume the water inlet for your home has a water temperature of 55 degrees. The temperature rise would be 120 degrees minus 55 degrees, which equals 65 degrees. When measuring the temperature of your water inlet, you need to do so on the coldest days of the year. This ensures that your tankless water heater is capable of increasing the temperature to your desired 120 degrees, even when the water is at its coldest.
All tankless water heaters will have a maximum gallons per minute flow rate and a maximum temperature rise. You want to take the maximums you discovered in the step above and compare them to the available tankless water heaters to get an accurate idea of which ones will meet your household’s demands. If you get a tankless water heater that’s too small, it will fail to deliver adequate hot water to all of your plumbing fixtures. If you get one that’s too big, you’ll end up spending way more money than necessary.
Reliable Water Heater Service
Next Level Plumbing offers reliable water heater service for the entire Sarasota, FL community. We can also assist with all of your drain cleaning, water filtration, water softener, sewer line, hydro jetting, slab leak repair, and hybrid heat pump water heater needs. Contact our office today to schedule an appointment with one of our highly experienced plumbers.