Choosing the Right Water Heater for Your Home | Tips from Your Marrero, LA Plumber

10/6/2019

Each morning when you wake up, you rely on your water heater to make sure you have enough hot water to shower. As important as water heaters are to our daily lives, a lot of people don’t put a lot of time into choosing and maintaining water heaters. However, any good plumber will tell you that there’s a big difference between different types and brands of water heaters, so your choice matters. If you’re looking for a new water heater for your Marrero, LA home, here’s everything you need to know about choosing the right type, capacity and brand.

Types of Water Heaters

The first thing you need to think about when you’re shopping for a water heater is what type you want. There are traditional water heaters, tankless water heaters and point-of-use water heaters, all of which are available in both gas and electric options.

More often than not, you’ll see traditional tank-style water heaters at most people’s homes. If you simply call a professional to have a new water heater installed with no special requests, this is what you’re going to get. While tank storage heaters get the job done, they also leave you with no hot water when the tank is empty.

Tankless water heaters heat your water on demand so you have hot water ready whenever you need it. While traditional water heaters have a listed capacity, tankless water heaters have a gallons per minute (GPM) rating. This tells you how much hot water the heater can put out per minute. If you want to make sure you’re getting the right size tankless water heater, you can have a plumberlook at your home to figure out your needs.

Point-of-use water heaters are a type of tankless heater that provides on-demand hot water to a single room. If you notice you run out of hot water a lot when people are taking a shower, you can install a point-of-use water heater in the bathroom to supply the hot water there.

As far as gas vs. electric goes, it’s really a case of what your home is designed for. If you’ve got existing gas lines that ran to your old water heater, a plumber can simply replace it with another gas model. However, it’s probably not worth having gas lines installed just for a water heater.

Capacity

One of the biggest things you need to consider when shopping for a water heater is how much hot water you need. This is done by figuring out how much hot water your various fixtures and appliances use and choosing a water heater that can meet those demands.

Showers are the biggest hot water wasters in most homes because everybody needs to take one every day. However, dishwashers and washing machines can also use a lot of hot water. Figure out how much water it takes to run your dishwasher, then figure out how often you need to do that; repeat this process for showering and using the washing machine.

Ideally, you want a water heater that can provide enough water for everybody to shower and allows you to do at least one load of dishes. While there will be times you use a little more or less hot water, this ensures you’ve got your basic needs met for an average day. If you’re having trouble figuring out how much hot water you need, call a plumber for help.

Efficiency

Did you know that your water heater accounts for a significant portion of your monthly energy bill? Heating water is expensive, so having a plumber install a more efficient water heater can help you save a lot of money.

If you’re shopping for an electric water heater, make sure you’re looking at ENERGY STAR-certified models. You can figure out just how efficient a water heater is by looking at the uniform energy factor (UEF) rating. The higher the UEF, the more efficient the heater is and the more money it can save you. If this all seems a bit confusing to you, you can have a plumber help you choose an efficient water heater that fits your needs and is within your budget.

Brands

When you’re choosing a water heater for your Marrero, LA home, the brand you choose plays a role as well. One of the simplest ways to make sure you’re getting a quality product is to shop for the right brands.

While there’s no guarantee a product from one brand is going to be better than another brand’s products, it is a good starting point. Some of the most popular water heater brands include Rheem, A.O. Smith, Bradford White and Rinnai. As long as you’re buying from one of these brands and having a plumber install your water heater, you should be good to go.

One important thing to keep in mind is that you don’t necessarily need the most expensive brand. Some water heaters are priced far higher than others because they’re made for performance rather than savings. While these water heaters are great if you’re looking for the best of the best, it’s important to remember that a simpler water heater will work for your Marrero, LA home.

The Simple Choice

If you want to get the right water heater without all the hassle of shopping around, you need to talk to a good plumber. Professionals spend countless hours buying and installing water heaters for people, so they know exactly what makes some models better than others. Plus, professional installation means you don’t have to worry about whether things were done right or not.

However, water heater installation is something you should leave to a plumber you trust. If you’re looking for one of the best plumbing outfits in the area, you can’t go wrong with bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of New Orleans. To schedule an appointment or find out more about water heaters today, give us a call at (504) 291-6121

Photo By Antonio Guillem at Shutterstock