“Ten-minute showers, guys,” I said. “I’m getting Hallmark cards from the gas company.” My teenagers grumbled as I laid down the rules for the hundredth time. Between my kids camping in the shower and my furnace (even though it is an efficient 90% model), my propane bills were going through the roof.

Then I installed a tankless water heater. That was four years ago. My teenagers are grown and gone. And we finished this last billing cycle with a credit from the propane company. Our tankless water heater definitely is saving us money!

Should you throw out your standard tank type water heater and install a tankless model? Maybe, maybe not. There have been many technological advances in tankless water heater manufacture in those last four years. Nevertheless, tankless water heaters are not appropriate for everybody.

A bit of tankless water heater history.

Tankless water heaters first came into widespread use in Europe after the second World War. Shunned in the United States as being incapable of providing sufficient volumes of hot water at high enough temperatures, they were brought over to Canada where they gradually gained popular acceptance. After the energy crisis of the 1970’s they saw increased use in Europe and Canada, but they still were not an acceptable alternative to the standard tank type water heaters used in the United States. We Americans were used to big things. We wanted lots of hot water standing ready for our use, indifferent, for the most part, to the cost of the energy required to achieve this.

As the years have gone by and energy costs have heated up, more and more Americans have looked for ways to save energy, money and water. Correctly chosen for the application, properly sized and installed, tankless water heaters can help accomplish these goals.