All of us are concerned with conserving energy; it's good for the environment and with the prices of energy continually on the rise, it's a good way to save money as well. One way to save on your energy cost and consumption is to replace your hot water heater. Installing a more efficient heater can save you a great deal of money.

Even the most efficient energy star-certified appliances use electricity to heat the water held in your water heater's tank. Given the size of the tanks used in most of these heaters, it naturally takes a while to heat this water; and no small amount of electricity. However, there are some alternative types of heater now available, so you have choices other than the traditional large tank heater.

Before you decide to replace your heater, you may want to think about what sort of new heater you'll actually need. It may no longer be necessary to use as large of a tank on your new heater. Especially if you've had your children move out of the house, you probably don't really need that 50 + gallon tank anymore.

Maybe some or all the kids have grown up and out of the house, maybe it's time to consider something smaller. There are many energy efficient tanks that are smaller, under 40 gallons. You may even consider installing newer high efficiency water heaters, with the heating coils actually inside the tank, to cut down on energy usage.

However, if you'd like to reduce your costs but still need a large tank to meet your household's needs for hot water, then you might be able to heat your water with natural gas rather than with electricity. You'll have to ask your local utilities if this is an option in your locale, as well as what the costs would be. If the cost turns out to be lower, it's likely a change you'll want to make - and it can increase your home's resale value.

Another idea is a tankless water heater, or on demand heater. What a tankless water heater is basically a box with sets of coils running through it. One set of coils has water running through it, and the heating coil wraps around them. As the cold water flows through the chamber, it is heated up to temperature, and comes out as hot water. Electric heaters typically provide hot water at 2-5 gallons per minute, and slightly higher using propane or natural gas.

The advantages are that they are quite smaller than a regular heater, so they will fit almost anywhere. One of the biggest problems is that they don't do well for multiple applications, you may not be able to take a shower while the dishwasher is running for example. This can of course be easily fixed by simply installing more than one heater, close to where you need them the most.

If you're having a new home built, then you can see significant savings on your energy costs by using multiple heating systems for your hot water. For example, you could install a passive solar water heating system to provide hot water during the day to improve the efficiency and lower the cost of using your tankless system. You can also greatly reduce your hot water usage by replacing your current faucets with low flow style faucets; this can greatly reduce the demand on your hot water heater and keep your costs lower.

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Article Submitted By: TerryLamb
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