Water Heater Information, Service and Installation

Out of sight, out of mind. Your water heater is the classic strong, silent type. Day in and day out, it delivers the steady supply of hot water you rely on for washing clothes, bathing and cleaning dishes. Hidden away in the back of a utility closet or a dark corner of your basement, your water heater is easy to overlook until you realize that it can account for a whopping 15% of your total energy usage.

Improvements in water heating have the potential to save you hundreds of dollars a year or more, depending on how many people live in your home, and especially if you switch to a tankless water heater.

Don't Judge Your Water Heater by its Appearance

A traditional tank-style water heater is really nothing more than a big metal container of water that gets heated by either electrical elements or fossil fuel. When you open a tap or use hot water in your home, water you've paid to heat travels through hot water supply lines (and hopefully you've insulated these pipes) to its point of use. At the same time, cold water flows into your tank to replace the heated water that just left. The larger your hot water tank, the more hot water you can use before running out.

Tank-style water heaters represent old-fashioned technology that hasn't changed much in decades. Your water heater normally has a 5 to 10-year manufacturer's warranty, which is about the life expectancy before water heater problems can start to develop. Even a water heater that's 15 years old can still provide plenty of hot water and appear to be in good operating condition, but looks can be deceiving. It is probably wasting energy because of inadequate insulation, plus there may be problems inside that you can't see.

Tank-style water heaters come with 5- to
10-year warranties for a reason.

A Flood Waiting to Happen. The reality is that tank water heaters fail gradually, and then suddenly. One day you've got a flood on your hands that could cause thousands of dollars in damages, not to mention the longer term issues of mold or mildew that might result. Corrosion and sediment inside your tank steadily diminish your tank's water-heating efficiency and eventually lead to leaks, whether it's a slow drip or a catastrophic failure.

Dr. Energy Saver will inspect your water heater during your home energy audit. If your water heater is ready to be retired, there's good news: Installing a new Energy Star model can cut your overall energy bill by 10% or more. For even more savings, consider a heat pump water heater.

It's a Wrap: Hot Water Heater Insulation

Wrapping a water tank in
insulation helps lower
energy costs.

Try this test: Touch the outside of your water heater. If you feel warmth, your water heater is losing heat that you paid for to the surrounding air. This is known as standby heat loss.

Standby heat loss causes the water inside the water tank to cool so that it has to be reheated over and over again, a cycle that wastes energy 24/7, 365 days a year whether you're home or not, awake or not, or using hot water or not. Water heaters that have an Energy Star rating are manufactured with high levels of tank insulation to minimize standby heat loss, but they don't eliminate it completely.

If you don't have an Energy Star water heater, Dr. Energy Saver can wrap your tank with extra insulation to cut down on standby heat loss.

A Simple Way to Save: Turn Down the Heat

Turning the thermostat down
can save between 3-5% in
water heating costs.

If you have a tank-type water heater, there's a good chance you can save money simply by lowering your water heater's thermostat setting. At the factory, manufacturers can set a water heater's thermostat as high as 140 degrees. That's about 20 degrees higher than necessary. If you need to cool down your hot water by turning on the cold water faucet, that's a sign that you could be paying extra to overheat your water.

Dr. Energy Saver can test your water temperature and make the appropriate adjustments for you to save money on your home energy bills. For each 10°F reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%-5% in hot water heating costs. Instead of using more energy to make water hotter than you can stand, wouldn't it make more sense to have Dr. Energy Saver adjust your water temperature?

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