Green water

My husband and I are in desperate need of a new water heater, but we have been procrastinating due to the lack of reliable information on what truly is the greener alternative. Here I was, thinking that making such a seemingly small decision would be easy, especially considering all the work I have done on eco-labels, and green products. Man, was I wrong. Probably close to two years ago (yes, we have really needed a new water heater for that long), I started doing some research on different products, talking to plumbers, contractors, and environmental experts. No one really seemed to know, except for a generic “on-demand is better” from the green camp and “conventional is better” from the plumbers. What we have found, is that there are lots of factors to consider when buying a new water heater, including the temperature of your groundwater, your usage, and the number of major appliances you have. In our case, it’s just the two of us and every appliance we have, including faucets and shower heads are low flow. We have restrictors in all our faucets, and we never run the washer and dishwasher at the same time (our only two major water-using appliances). Generally, we are a very low-flow household. Despite that, the overwhelming recommendation is to not buy a 4 gallon-per-minute (GPM) or smaller water heater. We did the math (adding up all our uses in GPM, and considering that we never use 100% hot water), and it seems 4 GPM, for us, should be plenty. But I am inclined to listen to the professionals, even though I think there is a certain fear of anything new and unconventional. Additionally, on-demand water heaters are more expensive and come with major installation costs, but I am willing to make the “green” investment. And there is that $250 tax credit. Here’s a summary of what we learned:

1. Certain on-demand water heaters cannot be operated where groundwater temperatures get below 60 degrees.
2. Electric on-demand water heaters require a large amount of amps (we have 100 amp service and would need to upgrade at least to 200, which is a significant expense).
3. Gas on-demand water heaters are not nearly as efficient as electric, but still more energy efficient than conventional water heaters.
4. Finding a plumber in Muncie to install an on-demand water heater is tricky, but can be done.
5. On-demand water heaters last much longer than conventional. A conventional water heater seems to last 3-5 years at a maximum in Muncie due to our hard water, just based on conversations with other homeowners. So the up-front and installations costs of conventional heaters should probably be doubled or tripled, because they have to be replaced more often.
6. Installation of gas water heaters require special venting, and the purchase of a $350 venting kit. Vents must be a minimum of 4”, which can be an issue in some homes, especially one that is 100 years old, like ours.

Check out this spreadsheet that I put together just for a simple comparison.

In my opinion, you also shouldn’t consider installing an on-demand water heater before you have made sure that your water consumption is at its minimum. We have spent the last five years minimizing our water consumption by our practices (turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth…), installing water-efficient appliances (including a dual-flush toilet, which doesn’t use hot water, but is very neat…), and installing restrictors in faucets and showers (and getting used to them!).

Wish us luck! I hope this info may prove helpful to you, too. Later.