Tankless Water Heater Services in Calgary

In its most basic form, an on-demand water heater works using either an electrical element or a gas burner, which turns on or off, depending on whether the movement of water is detected by a sensor.

When a faucet in the plumbing system is opened, this triggers the movement of water in the hot water lines, which is instantly detected by the sensors.

Water is then heated through a heat exchanger to arrive at the faucet at the required temperature.

There are two main types of tankless water heating systems – electrical and gas-powered.

Gas-fired instantaneous water heaters have been used extensively in Europe and are generally ideal for the cold climate in Calgary and the rest of Alberta.

Electrical units are more popular in warmer parts of North America than in Canada. Here, they usually work out considerably more expensive to purchase, install, and to run.

Electrical units will also need to be very powerful if you have a moderate to large household and this will further increase costs, especially if you have to revise your electrical power infrastructure.

For these reasons, most Calgary households considering an instantaneous water heater opt for a gas-fired system.

Some systems can work without any electricity connection at all, using air from inside the home for combustion. However, these are generally low-end models that not recommended due to possible safety issues (carbon monoxide emissions).

The better models still require electricity as they use electric ignition systems and sealed combustion systems, where one pipe supplies the burner with fresh air from outdoors, with another pipe to discharge waste gas.

Note that in some remote parts of Alberta, where a continuous gas supply cannot be guaranteed, propane-fired models may be the best choice.

Supplying a household with a steady supply of hot water on demand is a necessity in our cold climate in Calgary.

That’s one of the drawbacks of a tank system. We’ve all felt the water go cold during a shower on a winter morning. It’s not a great feeling!

An instantaneous heating system makes this far less likely to happen but you still need to be careful with choosing your system and weigh up all the factors.

An on-demand water heater cannot technically run out of hot water because it works as long as there is a water supply.

However, if demand is high, it can become overrun. If multiple hot water taps are on at the same time as a shower or a washing machine, a tankless water heater of limited capacity will struggle to maintain the supply of hot water.

You may need a second water heater installed or a higher capacity one if your needs increase.

Before you select your model, it is important to consider a number of factors, including:

• The size of your house
• Estimated water usage
• The temperature rise required
• The rate of water flow in your home
• The size of household

Following is a sizing guide that can be used to assess the size of the tankless water heater needed in Calgary households, based on the number of people, standard usage, and capacity required: