5 things for selecting an electric water heater
Jan 04, 2017 Home Appliances
Anchor: Relin Hedly
Photograph: Shutterstock
Photograph: Shutterstock
Electric water heater is an important appliance that helps to heat the supply of water in your home. Abhijit Banshelkikar, Head R&D, Racold Thermo Private Limited lists factors to look out for while purchasing an electric water heater.
- Cost and energy efficiency: Firstly energy efficient electric water heaters help to save energy and cost. Look for star-rated products as they are high on energy efficiency. While some of the most efficient models (5-star rated) may be expensive, they are designed to save money in the long run. These options are environment friendly as well. Water heating accounts for 15 to 25 percent (higher in winters, lower in summers) of the average household’s energy bill and is second only to heating and cooling for claiming the biggest chunk of your budget. Replacing an old unit with a high-efficiency model will save you money and reduce your overall domestic energy usage.
- Capacity: The capacity of the electric water heater will vary according to the usage and the number of family members. For a family of 4 members, a 10 to 15 litre capacity is sufficient. If you need instant hot water for bath, choose instant water heaters of 3-6 litre capacity. For shower applications, you can choose higher capacity water heaters like 35-50 litres.
- Life span: Generally electric water heaters last for more than 5 years. Companies offer different warranty periods from two years on the products to 3-4 years on heating elements and 5-7 years on the inner tank or container, depending on the product variants. Proper maintenance of water heater unit (scale removal from heating elements, replacing Mg anodes) is also important and is based on the water quality or water hardness of your region.
- Design: With growth in urbanization and aspirations of a luxurious lifestyle, a lot of consumers are looking at style and elegance in whatever they choose. If you are one of them, selecting an elegantly designed water heater becomes a necessity. Many brands offer water heaters with varied colours and designs. In electric water heaters, you can choose from a cylindrical one, square shaped or prismatic shape depending on your bathroom. Look for features like timer-setting, temperature regulations and alarm settings. These are some of the value added features being offered in electric water heaters.
- Additional features: Depending on your needs, enquire about vertical/horizontal orientation, shapes, colours, energy efficiency ratings, coating on tanks, type of tank used (stainless steel or copper), speed of heating (heating element power-KW) and capacity required. Recovery speed is the amount of time it takes to heat a full tank of water. If you tend to use a lot of hot water, look for a model with fast recovery speed and higher capacity.
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About the author
Abhijit Banshelkikar
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