Now may be a good time to replace your old unit because hot water heater prices have come way down in recent years. Not only that but you old one could be actually wasting you money everyday on electricity bills. You have so many choices of units today when it comes to a water heaters, that it can be confusing at times.

Before you look at hot water heater prices, maybe it would be a good idea to go over some of the basics of water heaters, especially now that you have so many choices. First thing to consider when buying water heaters these days is what source of heat are you going to use? There are electric ones, as always, but there are also natural gas, propane and other alternatives like geothermal. While this later source is available for do-it-yourself people, for many people this is an impractical option.

So your real choices are gas, or electric, and each has their pros and cons. For people using alternative energy sources, like solar and wind power, an electric water heater is a good idea. It will run off the grid, and many of these heaters are highly efficient. However, if you are still on the main power grid, and have natural gas or propane available in your area, you should go with a gas heater. Because of their direct combustion, they heat water faster, hotter and cleaner.

Now the other choice you have is whether to go with a conventional tank model, or tankless,(inline,) water heaters. There are advantages of going with an inline heater, whichever power source you choose. One of the advantages is size. Without a big bulky tank, they are lightweight, small and compact so they can be placed almost anywhere you need hot water, under a kitchen sink, in the bathroom, or in a laundry room. They provide almost instant hot water wherever you need it. The other advantage is that you are wasting energy heating water when you’re not using it. With an inline heater, the water is heated only when it is needed, and shut off when not in use.

Here are just some hot water heater prices that are available. Bosch has several models available, in both heat sources. They are mostly a manufacturer of tank less water systems. One of them is the Bosch 1600PNG natural gas tankless whole house water heater. It’s AquaStar Model 1600P It is a 117,000BTU input and can provide endless water for one application at a time. It retails for $542 brand new. Bosch also sells an electrical model, the Thermotech Electric TanklessWTR Heater Powerstar. It too is a whole house heater, but can handle only one application at a time. This model should be used where the average water temperature is 60 degrees and above. It retails for $357 brand new.

The Kenmore 20 gallon 120v electric water hearer is compact in size, has one inch of high efficiency foam insulation, and sells for $269.99 brand new. Even their electric 40 gallon model is only $110 more. The hot water heater prices for gas models from Kenmore, as well as other name brands, are almost the same as these electric models.