Jump to content

Electric vs Propane Water Heater


FLEX ROD

Recommended Posts

Once again I am reaching out to this great group of knowledge, as some may remember I am building a house in the Eugenia area and its time to finish my plumbing.

As I have no knowledge of propane vs electricity water heaters I am looking for some feedback, I was surprised that propane tanks are special order at all stores, even the ones out side of the city, but also the fact that a propane one is about 3 times the cost.

Does going with a propane unit justify itself in the long run?

 The basement in the house has been designed to be a rental property so it will have a separate water heater so the cost difference is quite large approximately 3 times per unit, which is a fair bit so any and all info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, FLEX

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you going to have propane for other items like kitchen stove or whatever. If not I wouldn't bother going with propane, however if you lose electric in that area a lot you could run out of hot water but if you have a well pump it would not matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live in a rural area here stateside, electric and propane were all that was available I recall as options for us. My home is all electric and my electric power is thru a multi county electric co-op.

You might check with your electric supplier in your area and see if they offer rebate programs such as these?

http://www.lmre.org/content/water-heaters

A gas or propane water heater probably need a chimney of sorts? a higher risk of CO2 problems?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Mister G said:

Are you going to have propane for other items like kitchen stove or whatever. If not I wouldn't bother going with propane, however if you lose electric in that area a lot you could run out of hot water but if you have a well pump it would not matter.

Most of the modern natural gas heaters are power vented and have electronic ignition; so they need electricity to run.  I suspect that the propane ones are the same.

However, a generator should be able to provide enough power for the ignition and venting.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Operating costs for propane are less than hydro. The best ROI is On Demand propane hot water. If renting a unit (gas or electric) is possible in your area I would consider it depending on monthly cost. You never need worry about break downs and repair costs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we had a Electric Tank-less heater here with a electric tank backup, it wasn't very good (Granted it was a old unit), the Landlord ended up swapping to a Natural Gas tank, much better!

As a Bonus, we don't pay as much for hydro now.

Edited by Lord Letto
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terry the hidden cost of the tankless heaters are they do scale up. It needs to be capped off and solvent clean every 1-3 years depending on the build up rate. They also allow people to use more hot water meaning 3 kids and 2 adults all want to shower in the morning call all get a 10 minute shower. With a conventional heater 75 gallons they all will get a 5 minute shower. The BTU rating of the tankless heaters have up to 3 times the burn rate so they can keep the coils hot when the water flows thru. So 50 minutes of 3 times the burn rate is 150 minutes of burn time compared to 75 gallon 1/3 burn rate for 1 hour. That means to keep the water warm thru the day to equal the amount of gas consumed the heater would have to run just shy of 2 hours. Now if people use the tankless heater in the same pattern meaning 5 minute showers then they do save money. 

Art

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events


×
×
  • Create New...