Electric Tankless Water Heater Savings

Save up to 50% with an electric tankless water heater!

A conventional tank water heater is one of the largest energy users in homes and businesses, accounting for approximately 25 - 35% of the electricity consumed. Part of the reason for this is because a tank heater continually heats water whether or not it is actually being used.

Tank heaters require you to heat the stored water to an exceptionally high temperature in order to provide an adequate supply of hot water. This temperature is typically far higher than what would be comfortable or safe for showering or other household uses. You must first pay to heat this water only to cool it again by adding cold water to make it comfortable for use. In other words, you are paying for electricity which heats the water to a much higher temperature than you will ever actually use. Furthermore, you must pay to keep the water in the tank hot all day, not just for the few minutes of each day that it is actually needed. This results in a substantial amount of wasted energy - and wasted money too!

The solution?....A Tankless Water Heater....

The Tankless Concept

Expenses related to heating water represent the largest portion of residential utility bills (up to 30%). By heating water on demend as it is needed, and only to the temperature that it will actaully be used, Stiebel Eltron Tempra Series tankless water heaters provide unlimited hot water for full house use, offering potential savings of up to 50% of water heating bills in residential applications and even greater savings in commercial applications.

Instead of requiring a 30-80 gallon storage tank, Stieble Eltron tankless water heaters operate on demand by heating water as it flows through an appliance roughly the size of a brief case. Stiebel Eltron Tempra tankless water heaters utilize energy only when the hot water outlet is turned on, shutting down immediately when the outlet is turned off.

The Inefficient Conventional Tank Water Heater

Traditional electric or gas tank water heaters ("conventional heaters") have been used in commercial and residential properties since the early twentieth century. Conventional heaters utilize a simple heating element and tank technology that, with the exception of some fairly recent gains in the area of energy efficiency, have remained virtually unchanged over the years. Conventional heaters require a substantial amount of space; generally located in utility rooms or garages, they consume valuable square footage that could be put to better use. Most conventional heaters have upper and lower heating elements, one of which is cycling on or off 24 hours per day, even when you're not at home.

Conventional Heaters are pre-set at temperatures that are so hot that scalding is possible, and when water reaches the tap, cold water must then be added so that the temperature is comfortable to human touch. This process of heating water is an extremely inefficient use of valuable energy, not to mention a waste of water and money. When a hot water faucet is activated, the conventional heater is at the same time replenishing the tank supply with cold water, thereby lowering the overall water temperature in the tank and triggering the element to draw more power to re-heat the water to the desired set temperature.

Because of this inefficient process, if you have, for example, a 60-gallon tank, you actually only have about 45 gallons of useable hot water. The other 15 gallons are lost as cold street water is added to the tank during the usage process.

In addition, a conventional heater is consistently radiating heat (loss), which also contributes to the re-heating rate and energy consumption. This type of heat loss is often referred to as "stand-by" heat loss. Simply by eliminating stand-by heat loss alone, energy consumption can be reduced by 20% to 30%.

Stiebel Eltron Tempra Tankless Water Heater Vs "Conventional" Storage Tank Water Heaters

The following comparison was based on a family of 4.
Assuming 4 daily showers, 2 hand washing applications per person, 1 hand dishwashing based on filling the sink and 4 bathroom sink usages per day. Total of 93 gallons of hot water used per day. Amounts are in Canadian dollars.

	Stiebel Eltron	GE Electric (40 gal)			GE Natural Gas (40 gal)
Model	Tempra 20	GE 40T6A	PE 40M9A	SE 40M12A	GG 40T6A	PG 40T9A	SG 40T12A
Energy Factor	0.99	0.88*	0.91*	0.93*	0.57*	0.56*	0.62*
Cost $/year	273	505**	489**	478**	395**	402**	363**
Savings $/Year		232	216	205	122	129	110
% Savings		46	44	43	31	32	30
	Stiebel Eltron	GE Electric (50 gal)			GE Natural Gas (50 gal)
Model	Tempra 20	GE 50T6A	PE 50M9A	SE 50M12A	GG 50T6A	PG 50T9A	SG 50T12A
Energy Factor	0.99	0.86*	0.91*	0.93*	0.56*	0.54*	0.62*
Cost $/year	273	517**	489**	478**	402**	417**	363**
Savings $/Year		244	216	205	129	144	110
% Savings		47	44	43	32	35	30

*These Energy Factors are present in new appliances, a conventional electric tank will perform at 80% efficiency after the first year and degrade slowly thereafter. The Stiebel Eltron Tempra Tankless Water Heater is rated an incredible 99% efficient for the lifetime of the heater!
**ADD $150-$200 /year if you rent your tank.

Assumptions:

$0.0719 per kWh for electricity is the SW Ontario average electricity supply rate.
$0.38 per cubic meter for gas is the regulated Consumers Gas natural gas supply rate (Jan 2001), included is a $10.00 per month service charge.

Hot Water Usage Estimates:
Average shower (10 minutes) - 20 gallons
Average clothes washer (one load) -- 10 gallons
Average dish washer (one load) -- 6 gallons
Average faucet flow -- 2 gallons/minute
Total average daily usage is 64 gallons per day
Usage Assumption:
Tank Temperature setpoint of 135 °F, inlet water temperature of -- °F and 365 day a year use.

These comparisons are based on the U.S. Department of Energy Hot Water Usage Guidelines as reported on the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearing-House.

Energy Factor and Average Annual Operating Costs based on D.O.E. (Department of Energy) test procedures.