Information about Calgary Water Heaters
Water Heater Products
Our team at
Calgary Water Heaters feels that as consumers
ourselves, we can appreciate how important it is to have the best information
about the products available to help you make the right decisions when
purchasing a new water heater.
Below you will find product information about water heaters available to consumers
in and around theCalgary and other city's in Canada.
Tank Style Water Heater
One of the most popular type of water heaters used
in Calgary is the stora
ge
tank with a burner on the bottom. This type has the temperature
setting on the control valve, and stores the water at the a set
temperature until your ready to use it. Problems with the storage
tank heater is you can use up all the hot water before the flame can
heat the cold water that is coming into the tank to replace the
hot-water going out. Some people add more tanks into the line to
increase the amount of stored hot water. Piping arrangement for this
type of install can be done in series, or parallel, basically, you
use all the water at the same time or, you use one tank to pre-heat
the water, and the other tank to finish heating the water. One tank
always plays a larger role in heating the water, while the other
tank gets less burner activity.
Electric Hot water Heater
Electric water heaters are mostly use when natural gas is not
available. If you have a choice of natural gas vs. electric, gas is
the preferred and cheapest to run solution.
A 1991 study by the Department of Energy (DOE)
rated residential energy sources
by the average
dollar cost per million BTUS of heat they produce.
Natural gas was found to be $6.05; heating oil $9.30; propane $9.74;
and electricity a whopping $24.15. Obviously, these amounts vary
with local energy prices and do change over time, but in the
relative world of energy, natural gas is by far the cheapest, most
convenient fuel for water heaters There are 220 volt and 110 volt
options along with different size water tanks to choose from. It is
a good idea to install a timer on the electric tank to shut the tank
power off when not needed, as well as install a vacuum breaker in
the water line to prevent the water draining out in emergency
situations requiring the main water supply to be shut off. If the
water drains out, and the power is left on, the elements will burn
out, leaving you with expensive repairs. Unlike the gas heaters,
twining the tanks would not be a good idea as the cost to keep the
water warm can be very high. You can mount a instant water heater on
the outside wall, remove the elements and use the tank as a storage
tank if gas/oil/propane were to become available.
Tank-Less or Instant Water Heaters
Demand water heaters are common in Japan and
Europe. They began appearing in the United States about 35 years
ago Unlike conventional tank water heaters, tank-less water heaters
heat water only as it is used, or on demand. A tank-less unit has a
heating device that is activated by the flow of water when a hot
water valve is opened. Once activated, the heater delivers a
constant supply of hot water. The output of the heater, however,
limits the rate of the heated
water flow
Demand water heaters are available in propane (LP), natural gas,
or electric models. They come in a variety of sizes for different
applications, such as a whole-house water heater, a hot water source
for a remote bathroom or hot tub, or a boiler to provide hot water
for a home heating system. They can also be used as a booster for
dishwashers, washing machines, and solar or wood-fired domestic hot
water system.
You may install a demand water heater centrally or at the point
of use, depending on the amount of hot water required. For example,
you can use a small electric unit as a booster for a remote bathroom
or laundry. These are usually installed in a closet or underneath a
sink. The largest gas units, which may provide all the hot water
needs of a household, are installed centrally. Gas-fired models have
a higher hot water output than electric models. As with many tank
water heaters, even the largest whole house tank-less gas models
cannot supply enough hot water for simultaneous, multiple uses of
hot water (i.e., showers and laundry). Large users of hot water,
such as the clothes washer and dishwasher, need to be operated
separately. Alternatively, separate demand water heaters can be
installed to meet individual hot water loads, or two or more water
heaters can be connected in parallel for simultaneous demands for
hot water. Some manufacturers of tankless heaters claim that their
product can match the performance of any 40-gallon (151-liter) tank
heater.
Mini Water Heaters
Small mini water heaters come in the Tank-Less model as shown, as well as the conventional small volume tank style. These types of water heaters are used in office bathrooms as well as small hard to plumb in areas of homes and commercial bays. They are a great way to provide quick small amounts of hot water to comply with local building codes. These heaters are sold in low voltages for ease of installations.
Solar Hot water Heaters
One
of the cheapest ways to heat your water
(after equipment purchase) is with solar energy. Systems include a
solar collector and a storage tank.
The collector collects the heat energy with a fluid (water or diluted antifreeze for example) and the sun. It is then pump down to a heat exchanger to have the energy transferred into a storage tank for use. A good description of the process can be downloaded by clicking here. Troubles you can have range from faulty pumps, frozen collector lines or damaged collectors.
Indirect Fired Water Heaters
If you have a hydronic
heating system in your building already, a great way to heat the
water is with indirect-fired water heater tank. The storage
tank holds about 50 to 100 gallons of hot domestic water. This
arrangement allows the boiler to fire less frequently in the summer
and thus save energy. It works by using a small circulator that
extracts heat from the boiler as it
fires and then transfers the
heat to the storage tank by way of a heat exchanger. During the
winter this is very good way of making domestic water hot because
the boiler is already hot for heating the building. In a way, the
domestic hot water is almost free as long as the boiler needs to
heat the building too. Seasonally, the efficiency of an
indirect-fired water heater ranges from about 80% in the winter to
about 70% in the summer. It also has the side benefit of delivering
a much higher flow rate at a more predictable, and comfortable,
temperature to the occupants. Combined space heating/domestic hot
water systems are not limited to hydronic (boiler) systems. Some are
integrated with a forced-air furnace. A heat exchanger is used to
heat the domestic water or a liquid-to-air heat exchanger to warm room air. Also, since a hot air
furnace is being used it is relatively inexpensive to add
space-cooling capabilities (air conditioning) to this type of system.
Commercial Water Heaters
Commercial hot water heaters
in Calgary are larger in volume for storage. Another major difference is they have much higher BTU ratings than their
residential counterparts. Design differences are the much larger venting chambers, burner surface areas, gas control valves.
Commercial water tanks also have access doors that can be removed
to physically clean the scale build-up that comes from heating hard
water.
What to Look For
Picking the right tank for you
- How many people are living in the home?
- Size the waterheaters recovery for the number of people over one hour to heat your water from cold to hot. Click on the link above for more on this.
-
Its been debated many times if its better to have two
smaller waterheaters, or one bigger one for storage
needs. Many plumbing professionals feel two 41.6 or 33.3 imp
gallon waterheaters piped together with proper
valves to isolate the tanks from each other is best.
Reason are the second tank can be completely turned off
when you do not require large amounts of stand-by hot
water.
What to Look For
- Do you have the proper power voltage to run the higher voltage waterheaters?
- Is your water very hard? this will cause the elements to calcify and burn out quicker than soft water.
- Make sure to install a vacuum breaker on the inlet and outlet of your heater to prevent it from draining back in the event of a water source disruption. Your water heater would drain back, and the elements would burn out once the water has drained past that point.
What To Look For
There are pros and cons to all waterheaters. These heaters are no exception.
Read more on the tankless heaters by clicking
here...
Scale Removal;
Tank-Less water heaters require maintenance to ensure safe and
efficient operation. Very important things to remember is the
de-scaling of the hot water tubes. De-Scale Kits are available
to easily clear the scale out as required.
What To Look For
Solar waterheaters are being installed by many utility companies in cities across Canada. Up front cost can be high, if the panels, tanks and pumps are not installed properly, your repair cost will also be high.
- Proper sun, make sure your not blocking the sun from hitting the panels through out the day.
- Proper panel tilting for winter time for your areas
- Provisions for over heater of the water. Even in the winter, you can have an issue with to much heat.
- Freeze protection for the winter months.
What To Look For
- How much hot water are you using per hour under you peak load? The BTU rating is listed with "Gallons of Hot Water recovery per hour".
- Make sure you can get at the scale removal door to properly maintain your water tank.
- Vent the water heater as per manufactures specifications.
- Make sure the room you have the waterheaters installed in have the proper make-up air coming back into the room to replace the air that is being burned off and vented through the venting system
