Electric Hot Water Heaters

What Are Your Choices For An Electric Hot Water Heater

Remember the old saying that says if it is out of sight it is out of mind?  You use most of your major appliances on a daily basis, but there is one that generally is forgotten about until you get a splash of icy cold water in your next shower.  That's right, we generally dismiss this major appliance because it does a lot of work behind the scenes.  If you're finding yourself in need of replacing your water heater, the most common kind (and what you probably have right now) is a tank water storage kind.  So, a couple of quick tips on what to pay attention to when looking for a replacement.

First and foremost, there are two types that you can look at.  There is the common electric, and the less common natural gas style.  The problem that many of us face is the necessity to have a gas line installed, so we'll focus only on the electric hot water heaters right now.  It's good to understand the basics of how one works so you will know what you're looking for in a new one.  Essentially, the tank stores so many gallons of water, and heats it up using an electric heating coil.  There is insulation around the tank that keeps this water hot which makes the system efficient by not needing to constantly reheat the water.

When you're out and about shopping for new electric hot water heaters, you're bound to run into a salesman or two who are going to, as usual, recommend the more expensive models.  But for once, this time you should actually pay attention.  The reason is that the price differences between the lower and higher quality models is usually less than $100, but that can result in quite different levels of quality on the inside of the electric hot water heaters.

All tank water heaters are sold with different warranties, usually ranging from 6 to 12 years.  Some of the really cheap ones even offer warranties covering only 3 years, but you'll want to stay away from those.If you don't want to be replacing your electric hot water heater every few years, you'll want to get the 9 - 12 year models, because on the inside they have higher quality heating coils and better insulation. This makes them even more efficient as a bonus, and they will last much longer than their cheaper cousins.