The Illustrated Guide to Home Hot Water Heaters

The cost of hot water for Alabama households is highest during winter months because water coming into the home is colder and more heat is lost to cold surrounding air temperatures. Not to mention that a long, hot shower just feels good during the cold winter months. Here is a guide to getting the most hot water without getting soaked on your utility bill.

You can save money on your hot water bill 4 ways:

1. Use less hot water with shorter showers and low flow shower heads.
2. Reduce stand-by heat loss with insulation to pipes and tank.
3. Lower water heater temperature setting to 120 degrees.
4. Buy a high efficiency model and switch from electric to gas.

Our partners at Energy Star have created this terrific graphic with everything you need to know about hot water heaters for your home. 

Get the high resolution graphic: http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/04/f0/waterHeaters101-final.png

Many households in Alabama use electric water heaters. Electric hot water heaters are safest because there is no risk of carbon monoxide issues associated with gas water heaters. The downside to electric hot water heaters is the high operating cost and slower recovery, especially during winter months when water coming into the home is much colder. More hot water heat is also lost from home piping as hot water travels from the heater to point of use. Adding pipe insulation is a low cost do-it-yourself project. Start with the first six feet of pipe at the water heater. Insulating both hot and cold water lines and adding an insulating blanket to the electric water heater will cost less that $50.

If you have gas heat and electric hot water at your home, consider switching to a gas hot water system. The cost of fuel switching depends on the location of existing  gas lines.

Low flow shower heads can yield big savings. Look for models with flow rates of 1.5 to 1.7 gallons per minute, not the more common 2.5 gpm models. Note that lowering the flow rate will lengthen the time for hot water to arrive at the shower head, but you won’t be wasting more water. It just takes longer for the hot water to arrive!