Tank Vs. Tankless

Tank

The most popular type of water heater for residential use is a storage (tank) water heater, which combines a gas burner with an insulated tank to store hot water. A storage water heater works by taking cold water from the home’s water supply and moving it to the bottom of the tank where it s heated by a gas burner controlled by a thermostat. Since hot water is lighter than cold water, the heated water rises to the top of the tank where a delivery pipe sends it where it is needed.

Pros:

• Lower initial cost
• Easy and inexpensive to replace

Cons:

• Higher utility bill from heating and reheating water to maintain temperature
• Can run out of hot water. If you’ve ever been the last person in your family to take a shower, you’ve experienced the downside of tank water heaters
• Shorter life, 10-15 years

Tankless 

Tankless water heaters use a heat source to warm up cold water on-demand as you need it.

Pros:

• More efficient – on average a tankless water heater uses 24-34% less energy than tanked heaters
• Smaller, take up less space in your home
• Longer life, 20+ years
• Delivers hot water on demand – which means you never run out

Cons:

• Higher initial cost
• Replacing a traditional water heater with a tankless heater can be more complicated and installation costs can be high