Electric or Natural Gas Tankless Water Heaters?

​Once you opt for a reliable tankless water heater, you may be faced with the dilemma of which type is better, and why. Rest at ease, for we’ve prepared a thorough comparison of both variants available on the market. Let’s dig right into it, starting off with the most important factor:

Initial cost​

​When it comes to the initial product price, electric tankless water heaters have a significantly lower cost than their gas counterparts. Generally, whole house electric tankless water heaters cost somewhere around US$500-800, whereas gas tankless water heaters usually cost US$1,000 or more, especially if they encompass better quality equipment with electronic ignition systems. The installation costs are not included in the prices mentioned here (more on that below).

​Efficiency / Operational Cost

While gas tankless water heaters may be considerably more efficient than gas tank water heaters, their efficiency most often peaks at 80-85%. Inversely, most electric tankless water heaters peak at 98+% efficiency. Even though natural gas is usually a way cheaper input fuel than electricity per BTU of output power, this benefit is often outweighed by the higher efficiency of the electric tankless water heater, its longer service life, and cheaper installation. Hot Water heater reviews
To top it off, electric tankless water heaters cost much less than the majority of tankless gas models, assuming that you own the best electric hot water heater. What’s more, gas prices usually fluctuate more dramatically than electricity prices, while most economists agree that gas prices are now expected to rise substantially in the years to follow, whereas in most areas, the price of electricity should be relatively stable or at least on a much slower rise.

Installation​

Gas tankless water heaters contain complex venting systems and have many combustion air supply requirements, especially if installed in a confined space. The existing gas lines and venting ducts are seldom usable. For the requirement of side wall venting, things can get even more complicated. Thanks to their high gas consumption, the existing ventilation systems rarely fit the norm. The bottom line is that these requirements may make installation quite expensive.

​Electric tankless water heaters often aren’t bulky, around one-third the size of a gas tankless water heater. According to their convenient size and the fact that they require no exhaust gas ventilation, they can be placed virtually anywhere not feasible to install a gas tankless water heater.

Consequently, electric tankless water heaters can usually be located closer to the actual usage point. They can be placed in a closet, in a crawl space, under a sink, or a wide variety of other areas where the traditional tank water heaters and gas tankless water heaters cannot. Unless an electric system upgrade is required, the installation of electric tankless water heaters is usually much cheaper than that of a gas tankless water heater.​

Warranty, Lifespan, and Maintenance

Electric tankless water heaters require little to no maintenance. In fact, aside from cleaning the inlet screen filter from time to time, electric tankless water heaters generally do not need any maintenance. On the other hand, gas tankless heaters need to be inspected annually by a skilled technician in order to ensure safe fuel combustion and performance.​

In the event of an issue, electric units are inherently easier to troubleshoot, diagnose and repair. The pure simplicity of their design means they have a much longer lifespan. Gas tankless water heaters possess very complex heat exchangers and fuel control, which are much more difficult to operate on in the field.