Hot water is essential for every family. Choosing the right water heater is important for maximizing performance without spending too much money on utilities or on the water heater itself. Whether you are replacing an old unit or selecting the best model for a new home, there are a number of factors that you should consider as you decide what size water heater will work best for your family. Here’s a quick overview of the main points, followed by a decision guide to help you make your choice.
Family Size
It just makes sense that a larger family will use more hot water. You have more people needing to shower, more meals to prepare, more laundry to do, and more dishes to wash. However, it’s also helpful to allow for some extra people in this category, depending on your habits.
If you frequently have overnight company, you’ll need to take that into consideration as it could quickly double the number of showers in a day. If you often host parties or family get-togethers, you’ll be using more hot water for those activities, too.
Your Lifestyle
Some families do a load or two of laundry every night, while others have a laundry day when they do all the wash. Spreading out that demand will allow you to use a smaller water heater, but running hot water through multiple loads of laundry while also using the shower or kitchen will call for a larger capacity on your water heater.
Your choice of water temperature for laundry is also a big part of the equation. A typical load of laundry will use 25 to 40 gallons of hot water. If you choose hot water for more of your laundry, you’ll want to find a water heater with a higher first hour rating, which is an indicator of how quickly it will replenish its tank after it’s depleted.
Your family’s schedule is a major factor in the size you’ll need for your water heater. If you work outside during the day then spend more time outdoors in the evening, you may take two showers a day compared to just one for people who are indoors more. If everyone is getting ready for work or school at about the same time, your family will need more hot water available than if the schedules are more spread out.
Your Home’s Fixtures
While every shower, faucet, or appliance may seem the same, there are some small differences that have a big impact on water consumption. Most energy-saving guides mention showerheads, because modern designs do a great job of making your shower effective and enjoyable with much less hot water than older models. The same is true of faucets in kitchens and bathrooms.
Modern laundry machines also do more cleaning with less hot water. The newest models are all high-efficiency designs that will not require as much hot water as older machines, and front-load washers use less than top-load models. Dishwashers are also more efficient these days, but hand washing your dishes uses even less water.
If you’re building a new home, make sure to have your appliance vendor and your plumber provide information on the hot water consumption of the models they are using. If you’re replacing a water heater in an existing home, you’ll want to take an inventory of everything and account for which things will have high hot water consumption and which ones will use less hot water. This might be a good time to replace any older showerheads, too.
So Where Does That Put You?
Now that you know which variables to think about, let’s put together a decision guide. Remember that it’s all about first hour consumption. If your water heater holds enough water to do an hour’s worth of your family’s demand on it, the unit will be able to replenish that supply in time for the second hour of work.
A typical shower requires about 20 gallons of hot water. Shaving takes about two. Washing dishes by hand uses roughly three gallons of water, as does food prep. An automatic dishwasher uses about seven gallons of water per load. Finally, you’ll use about 25 gallons of water per load in a top-load washer and 15 in a front load.
Now you simply multiply these rates by the number of uses per hour. Since your laundry will only be able to complete one load per hour, there’s no need to multiply. Add up your total use and find a water heater that meets that demand.
That result is a good starting point, but it can help to ask for a professional’s input. The team at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing can help you make other adjustments so that you choose the best water heater.