tankless water heaters: the eco-friendly option for water heating
Stiebel Eltron pioneered basic tankless technology almost 90 years ago and has been refining it ever since. Today Stiebel Eltron is the world’s leading tankless manufacturer, with over 20 million units sold worldwide. Tankless, also called “on-demand”, or “instantaneous” water heaters differ from tank water heaters. Unlike a tank that always keeps a large amount of water stored at full temperature, a tankless water heater is inactive until there is a demand for hot water. Once the unit senses there is water flowing through it, it activates its heating elements to quickly get the water up to the desired temperature. This demand could be from a sink, shower, dishwasher or washing machine, for example. Tankless electric water heaters offer major energy savings, are compact and can be installed nearly anywhere plumbing allows.
Whole House tankless
Whole house models are powerful units designed to provide hot water to any of a household’s major fixtures, including showers, tubs, sinks and appliances. Sizing a tankless water heater is very important. Several factors are involved in choosing the right tankless water heater for your application. Heater size depends on how many fixtures will be serviced, a well as the temperature of the climate in which you live. Stiebel Eltron sizing guides are very helpful for the sizing process.
Point-of-use tankless
Point-of-use tankless water heaters are smaller in size and less powerful than whole house models. For example, Mini™ Point-of-Use Tankless Electric Water Heaters are designed to provide warm water for handwashing to a single sink. Many Stiebel Eltron point-of-use tankless heaters feature sophisticated electronic controls that allow the unit to provide hot water to multiple handwashing sinks, higher flow rate sinks, or in some instances, low-flow showers.
Multi-faceted efficiency
With tankless water heaters, you can never run out of hot water — and there are no standby losses! Stiebel Eltron tankless electric units are 99% efficient, so you can save energy and save money monthly bills.
A Stiebel Eltron tankless electric water heater only runs when hot water is needed. Tank-type units must keep water hot, even when you are not home. In addition, Stiebel Eltron tankless water heaters are incredibly space-efficient: the largest whole house tankless unit is about the size of a briefcase.
tankless alternative: heat pump water heaters
Those not interested in a tankless water heater still have options for energy-efficient water heating. Stiebel Eltron heat pump water heaters are efficiently designed from the ground up to rely on the heat pump instead of the back-up element. These heat pump water heaters are of large capacity, because large capacity means that as much as possible, the water you use was heated the most efficient way — with the heat pump.
Stiebel Eltron super-insulates their tanks, because minimizing stand-by losses means less energy is wasted. For maximum energy savings it makes no sense to skimp on the insulation and increase energy consumption. A single resistance element provides back-up water heating during times of high demand. For efficiency, the single booster element is located in the most efficient place at the very top of the tank as that’s where the hot water is drawn from.