Buying a tankless water heater can be of great trouble. There are a number of brands, a number of models and a number of sizes to choose from. Even if you are able to choose the brand and the model of the water heater you are going to have a problem with the size.
A tankless water heater comes in various sizes, so if you are wondering how do I select a tankless water heater in the appropriate size for my home- we have the answer to your problem.
Here are some of the tips I would like to give you which you can find handy while buying a tankless water heater of the correct size:
First step: Determine the Mounting Space Available
There are two types of tankless water heater, gas and electric. If the requirement is for one or two people then an electric heater is adequate for both and a gas heater is adequate for more than two people.
As tankless water heaters are much smaller and compact they can be mounted on the walls. The available size for a tankless electric heater ranges from 10inch in height to 7 inch in width.
And the average size for a gas heater ranges from 30inch in height to 20inch in width. As you see electric heaters are much more compact and easy to mount whereas gas heaters are much bigger and difficult to handle.
Second step: Determine the Size of the Heater
An average tankless water heater will be between 105-110 degrees and uses up to 3 gallons of water. First, we need to determine the flow rates of the water heater. For example, if you expect to get hot water simultaneously from a faucet and a shower head which has 1
gallons and 3 gallons of GPM respectively then you need to have a flow rate of at least 4 gallons. To reduce the flow rates you need to install low-flow shower heads.
Third step: Determine the Ground Water Temperature
It is very important to determine the ground water temperature. Water temperatures are different in different parents of the world.
In the northern regions, the temperature is as low as 36F and in the southern region the temperature is as high as 70F. Determining the ground water temperature is important as it will help you choose the capacity of your water heater.
Now that you know about the three main steps of choosing the most appropriate size of tankless water heater, you can simply choose among various models of heaters without much hesitance.
These steps have helped me a lot to find out the appropriate heater size for my home and these will come handy for you as well.