Gas vs. Electric Hot Water Heater

[jibe]

Which is more cost effective, a gas or an electric hot water heater?

I know this is a little subjective due to varying costs of NG. I'm asking because I could free up some space by getting a "shorty" electric H2O heater but I'd rather keep the costs down than gain 4 sq ft of space. And I get a $100 back from the electric company if I install one with better than .91 efficiency

I've been running at around ~$18/month for just the gas H20 heater, but I recently added a gas range so I think my costs might go up a little.

 

[jebatty]

You're right, depends on NG cost as compared to elec cost. Does your electric company provide off-peak rate or another incentive rate rather than standard rate?

For us, regular electric rate is $0.103 kwh and off-peak rate for elec hot water is just about $0.04 kwh. To go off peak you need enough hot water storage to make it through the day without elec for heating, as off peak provides power only at night. So you may not gain the space you want or the purchase cost you want if you need to add larger hot water storage. Our power co recommends 100 gal minimum.

For us, we have an 80 gal + a 50 gal elec hot water heaters. With extra tank insulation (6" top, sides and bottom), hot water pipe insulation, and plumbing heat traps I added, our monthly elec cost is right around $4.00.

 

[eightpilot]

$4.00 a month.... wow. I have a LP water heater and am looking at replacing with an electric model. My LP's power vent went out and its 10 years old so electric is a fraction of the cost to replace. Recovery times are a bit long though....twice as long to be exact. 8

 

[ICY99]

You should check out a Marathon electric heater. Highly efficient.

http://www.marathonheaters.com/

 

[TinasArk]

Jibe,

Have you considered the possibility of a tankless (point of use) water heater? Could save you more money, yet!

 

[Redox]

On a $/BTU/gal basis, it's hard to beat a natural gas storage heater. There's a little more standby loss, but NG is so much cheaper than electric, in most cases. Cheap off peak rates would change this as well as using LP as the fuel source.

Chris

 

[billb3]

Gas heats up or recovers much faster than electric.
Comes in handy when there are a couple ladies in the house who want/like to take baths one right after the other rather than quick showers. Kids.

My DHW is still a tank off the oil furnace and with last year's oil prices I've considered going solar/solar electric.
(no NG here, just propane)

 

[RJP Electric]

You should check out a Marathon electric heater. Highly efficient.

http://www.marathonheaters.com/

I have one of these, I purchased off the NHEC power company for peanuts from converting from oil to electric, you may want to check with your utility company too. It only requires a 20 amp 240 volt circuit and guaranteed for life.

Jibe,

Have you considered the possibility of a tankless (point of use) water heater? Could save you more money, yet!

The Bosch AE-125 electric tankless ones look good, but it requires THREE 40 amp 240 volt circuits(120 amps total). It runs on demand but I wonder if there will be any total savings ant the end of the year?

 

[jdemaris]

Which is more cost effective, a gas or an electric hot water heater?

Obviously, the main consideration is the price of gas versus electricity. But, also keep in mind you can super-insulate any electric tank heater to retain the heat - and you cannot with a gas heater due to the open bottom and chimney in the top. There is just about no difference in efficiency with electric hot water heaters (with internal heating elements) - from cheap to high priced - other than the insulation.
I also kind of wonder about the extra expense for more durability? I've got an electric tank heater in my barn that was bought new from Sears in 1965. Also have a Reliance (el cheapo) in my house that I bought new in 1982. I've had to replace a few $12 heating elements a few times, and one upper thermostat - and that's it. Considering they were both bottom-end, cheap heaters - I cannot think of a reason to pay more for one. Also, back in the late 70s, the government via the power companies was giving out incentives for new electric tank heaters. The program was - a homeowner could get a brand new heater - free of charge - if the one they were using was more then 15 years old (or something like that). I replaced many under the program - for customers- probably more than a 100. I removed many old GE electric tank heaters with the external heating coil that wrapped around the outside of the tank. I think they came out in the late 1940s are rarely seen today. Funny thing is, these things were still working and not leaking. And yeah, there might be some real cheap crap out there. I've already come across that with thin heat exchangers in hot-air furnaces along with worthless "lifetime" warranties.

A gas tank heater loses about 3 1/2% of it's heat every hour. A well insulated electric only loses around 1% per hour. On the other hand though, you can get by with a smaller gas heater since it heats water faster than an electric. I've got electric, LP gas, and wood-heat sources in my home for domestic hot water. All I have to do is flip a few gate valves and I can change from one to another. I stopped using my electric a few years ago when power went up to 18 cents per KWh. LP was getting so high a short while ago ($4.19 per gallon), I was going to use the electric anyway. But now, prices are going down again. I'm on all solar now and make 100% of my own electric power. But, if I started using my electric hot water heater, I'd be short by quite a few KWhs. I heat all my water with wood in the winter anyway. The issue is during the summer and if I'd get smart, I'd get some solar hot-water heating in. Just never got around to it yet.

 

[Kansasplains]

There is just about no difference in efficiency with electric hot water heaters (with internal heating elements) - from cheap to high priced - other than the insulation.

The main difference in the Marathon Water Heaters is the warranty. It has a poly tank with a non-prorated lifetime warranty. Simply stated, if it ever leaks, you get a new water heater. I think the elements have a 6 year warranty.

A well insulated electric only loses around 1% per hour.

The Marathon water heater is only supposed to lose a couple degrees in 24 hours.

I also kind of wonder about the extra expense for more durability?

My understanding is that you can't get any metal water heater today that is built as well as the older ones. (Like the ones you are running, jdemaris) For me, at .07/kwh, the very high efficiency electric made sense.