3 places you should install a point-of-use tankless water heater

Point-of-use tankless water heaters are usually installed as close as possible to faucets or appliances that need hot water, and because the device is dedicated to that location alone, you’re guaranteed a steady flow of instantly heated water. While this may sound expensive, point-of-use tankless heaters can actually save you money if you use them correctly. Check out these three places in your home that could be much more efficient with a point-of-use tankless water heater.

1. The shower
A cold rinse might be refreshing after a workout or on a hot summer day, but throughout the rest of the year, most people enjoy waking up to a steaming shower. However, with traditional water heaters, somebody running a sink downstairs or flushing a toilet can place too much strain on a? traditional heater and leave you with a sudden stream of ice cold water running down your back.

Point-of-use tankless water heaters all but guarantee a steady supply of hot water for your morning showers due to a number of reasons. First, there’s no other demand placed on the heater than the user in the shower. Second, the further the distance is between your shower and your traditional heater, the more heat will be lost in the walls of your house. The California Energy Commission explained that, from the 1970s to today, the distance from the heater to the furthest hot water fixture has increased from 30 to 80 feet, which means it now takes three times longer for you to get hot water from a traditional heater.

Point-of-use tankless heaters are installed directly to the shower’s incoming water source, so there’s no lag between source and destination.

2. The washing machine
If you’re interested in making your home greener with a tankless water heater, odds are that you’ve researched how to make your laundry machines more efficient. Forget about front- or top-loaders and focus on how much hot water your washing machines uses instead.

According to energy efficient living blog, Jetson Green, only two loads of laundry per week will cause the average washing machine to use more than 5,000 gallons of water per year. If your entire family does laundry at home or you need to wash certain clothes for a longer cycle, expect this number to increase. Even if you use cold water sometimes, your washing machine is a tremendous strain on your home, and your water heater must always be turned on and costing you money if you expect a clean load of laundry.

With a point-of-use tankless water heater, your washing machine only uses as much water as it needs and only when it needs it. Combined with a low-flow washer or an Energy Star-approved appliance, Jetson Green estimated that you could save anywhere between 2 and 5 percent on your annual water bill.

3. The kitchen sink
The age-old saying goes, “Everything but the kitchen sink.” However, when it comes to point-of-use water heaters, you definitely want to consider the faucet in your kitchen as a likely candidate. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the average residential faucet uses about 2 gallons of water per minute. If you’re doing the dishes or cooking and leave the water running when you don’t need it, this number will rise.

Point-of-use heaters can’t turn the tap off for you, but they can make sure that as soon as you do, no more energy is being wasted. These units also heat up much faster than traditional models so you can get right to scrubbing away at that built-up grease in your pans without waiting for your heater to catch up.