Gone are the days of having to wait outside the shower to have the water warm enough to not shock your body, then having to creep in while trying to keep the water from escaping out the shower door or the shower curtain. We now have the luxury of an instantaneous water heater.

An instantaneous water heater allows the homeowner to bypass the expensive energy losses that are associated with water storage tanks and heaters. Thus they are extremely energy efficient, and you will no longer have to pay for standby heat losses.

They work as soon as a hot water tap is turned on. This causes cold water to travel through a pipe into the instantaneous water heater. There, one of two things happens. Either an electric element or a gas burner will heat the water. An instantaneous water heater however does not have the same output in its flow rate, as a water reserve tank heater does.

An instantaneous water heater can provide hot water at the rate of 2 to 5 gallons per minute. Gas fired heaters do even better than electric models! However that does limit simultaneous demand for hot water even when using the largest heaters now available.

For instance, running the dishwasher or clothes washer at the same time as someone takes a hot shower will not allow an instantaneous water heater to keep up with demand. If you foresee this kind of dilemma arising in your home, then you can install two different instantaneous water heaters connected in parallel.

Another important tip is that if you are going to use a gas fired instantaneous water heater instead of an electrically powered one, you may wish to save an additional amount of energy by not having a constantly burning pilot light. You may wish to inquire about what the cost will be to operate the pilot light in the model you are contemplating for purchase. If everything else fits your needs, you may consider turning it off when not in use, thereby saving yourself substantial energy. Or, you might prefer to purchase an instantaneous water heater that has been equipped with an intermittent ignition device, referred to as an IID.

If you have a large home with a lot of hot water demand, you will still save 8-14% with an instantaneous water heater if you use approximately 86 gallons per day. However, if you use 41 gallons or less a day, you can look forward to saving 14 to 24% of energy costs. Energy savings can become even greater by the installation of an instantaneous water heater at each hot water outlet.

Due to the high cost of energy, many people now opt to have a split plan. By this I mean that they are combining a solar water heater with an instantaneous water heater. Your plumber can easily accomplish this, if you have enough sunshine in your area to make solar practical.

In conclusion, remember that most hot water storage tanks typically have a life span of approximately 10-15 years, while an instantaneous water heater will often last 20 years or more. Chances are very good that installing an instantaneous water heater will be very cost effective for you.