As you might expect, water heaters are used to heat up water for your morning shower as well as for dozens of other household applications. For years homeowners were given on two choices when it came to water heaters—they could either buy a traditional water heater with a tank that was heated by gas or one that was heated by electricity. But as technology is wont to do, over the past few years the water heater market has been shaken up by the introduction of tankless gas water heaters.

What is a tankless water heater?

As you might expect, a traditional water heater has a large cylindrical tank that was often installed in the basement and would heat water and then send it wherever it needed to go. But tankless gas water heaters are a step up the evolutionary chain. To begin with, there is absolutely no storage. Water is heated by a heating unit as soon as the hot water tap is turned on.

Why are tankless gas water heaters superior?

When you are dealing with a traditional water heater, water must be stored and then heated when it is needed. This means that when hot water is not being used, the water in your tank will simply sit around and lose heat. According to industry reports, a traditional water heater costs ten to twenty percent more than a tankless model due to the simple fact that water must continually be heated and then reheated.

Another shortcoming of traditional water heaters is that they are only designed to heat about forty gallons of hot water an hour, which means that if you are running two or even three showers simultaneously in the morning, there is a good chance that you will run out of water before you’re through.

By comparison, tankless gas water heaters can heat up to five gallons of hot water every minute. That’s three hundred gallons of hot water an hour, more than seven times as much as a traditional water heater.

Just like their forebears, the new tankless gas water heaters are available in either electric or gas models. As we mentioned, tankless gas water heaters can heat up to five gallons of hot water every minute, while the electric model can only heat about 3 gallons a minute. Electric models are also at a disadvantage when it comes to cost, since they require a substantial amount of electricity to heat the water. They are also, obviously, inoperable during a blackout.

But whatever type or model you choose to purchase, the point is that you should definitely take a look at tankless gas water heaters. I mean, why not? They are not only more efficient and heat more water, but they also save you up to 50 dollars a month on your water bill. With that said, anyone seriously considering buying a traditional water heater should probably have their head examined. We apologize for being blunt, but tankless gas water heaters have so many advantages over traditional water heaters that they honestly aren’t even comparable.