Storing a large quantity of water in a home is never trivial. A water heater that empties following a failure is guaranteed water damage. Particularly aggressive water can cause the tank to burst. Almost all of the contents of the latter then spill into the housing. According to Drainage Maintenance Services, if your storage water heater is more than ten years old, it’s a safe bet that your insurance company will not cover the claim.
Rapid wear against limestone
Subject to scaling of its components, the storage water heater has a limited lifespan. Ideally, it should be regularly purged and descaled by a professional. Over time, limescale-related problems inevitably appear. Very often, the cost of the intervention (travel, labor, spare parts, and VAT) encourages rather change the device than try to troubleshoot it.
Instantaneous water heater
According to Drainage Maintenance Services avoid the drawbacks of the storage water heater, the manufacturers have designed the instantaneous electric water heater, also called a tankless electric water heater. The latter has a copper heat exchanger linked to the DHW circuit of the house and electrical resistance.
When a hot water faucet in the house is open, the device’s flow sensors trigger the resistance. The very high conductivity of copper allows the transfer of electrical calories to the water. This type of water heater does not store any amount of water. The production of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) is instantaneous and continuous as long as the tap remains open. Manufacturers today offer a whole range of instantaneous water heaters with a power of 3 to 27 kW.
Real savings
Although it consumes kWh during the day, that is to say during peak hours, the instantaneous water heater is more economical than its storage equivalent. If the electrical resistance of the instantaneous water heater operates more often, it does so for a much shorter time.
Here, no volume of water is to be maintaine at 55°C permanently. The resistance simply heats the amount of water needed at a given time for a specific use. Specialists estimate that the instantaneous water heater allows a 40% reduction in electricity consumption compared to a conventional electric water heater.
Significant space saving
the corollary of an instantaneous water heater, the absence of a water tank translates into a significant space-saving. Although it is recommend for small homes, it allows, large houses, to free up a space to create additional storage space.
Unlimited hot water
As mentioned above, the instantaneous water heater produces domestic hot water continuously. In principle, the quantity of hot water available is unlimited. No risk of deprivation of this important element of comfort when, for example, the house welcomes a large number of guests who all take their morning shower!
Reduced risk of water damage
The absence of reservoir limits, de facto, the risk of water damage without eliminating it. A water leak is always possible at the level of the piping or an internal connection of the appliance. The consequences, however, of such a leak would remain more limited than those caused by the pierced tank of a storage water heater.
