How a tankless works

 

Tankless water heaters deliver an endless flow of hot water, if you’ve ever tried to fill a large bathtub, and you run out of hot water, it’s because your existing tank-type water heater isn’t designed to keep up with that kind of demand.  

 

On the other hand, a single gas tankless water heater can deliver as much as 12 gallons per minute (gpm) of continuous hot water, you'll never run out of hot water again, a typical shower uses 1.8 to 2.2 gallons of water per minute. 

 

The best way I like to explain how a tankless water heater works, is to go back in time to 1897. See the first water heater was actually a instantaneous (gas tankless), yes the old potbelly stove that was used to warm up the home and cook the family's dinner had an exhaust vent pipe going up through the roof, this pipe was very hot and at the time was called a "standpipe" a soft copper pipe was wrapped around this stand-pipe which then transferred the heat to the copper coiled pipe, cool well water would then run through this copper pipe, and as the water ran around and around inside the copper coiled pipe, it then became very hot and supplied the need for hot water, thus a tankless water heater (no storage tank) was invented.

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The same concept still exists today, in a modern gas tankless water heater, a copper coiled pipe is in a box called a heat exchanger, and beneath this heat exchanger is a powerful gas flame that's called a burner, as a demand for hot water is made, (someone opens a faucet) the tankless senses this flow and in a split second fires the burner, as the water travels around and around inside the coiled pipe inside the heat exchanger, it becomes very hot and then enters your homes hot water piping system, and right to the faucet you have opened, hot water is then supplied, and it’s unlimited hot water until you close the faucet, then the gas to the burner flame will shut off and no more hot water is being produced until the faucet or shower is turned on again.

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Tankless water heaters only operate when on-demand when hot water is given (when a faucet is opened), if no hot is used for a week, the tankless water heater never turns on, and this saves you energy, and that saves you money. A traditional 50-gallon tank-type water heater must maintain a constant temperature of 125˚-130˚ degrees 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, wasting energy when you don't need hot water.

Now you know how a gas tankless water heater works, for free advice and helpful hints, call us and ask for Sid Baysinger (Master Plumber), at (602) 299-4343, he Sid will be happy to answer any question you may have.

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“Enjoy Hot Water Tonight”