Domestic hot water is a good that all people need to have in their homes and that, apart from serving us to take a shower, wash the dishes or do other tasks in our home, it is also a totally necessary element to be able to put the water in the house during the winter heating during the winter and, to achieve this, we have to make use of devices that allow us to heat running water, such as oil or gas boilers.
However, if you live in an area where boilers are not necessary or if you have a second residence where you need hot water, we have another boilers are not required, or you have a second home where you need hot water, we have an alternative for you that may be more interesting: electric water heaters. But how do electric water heaters work and how much can we save? We will solve all these doubts below, so the best thing to do is to read on.
What is an electric water heater, and why can it save us money?
When we talk about electric water heaters, we refer to products designed to offer hot water to our homes or businesses in a much simpler and more economical way.
This type of device is especially useful in those geographical areas where winter temperatures are not excessively low and, therefore, it does not make sense to install a boiler because it could involve a much higher cost.
In the market, there are many alternatives with different interesting functionalities, although it is true that we can distinguish mainly between the types of thermos flasks based on:
- Mode of installation. This will depend on the space we have to place the thermos and can be vertical, horizontal or reversible.
- Type of resistance. It can be armoured or sheathed, and the choice of one or the other will depend on the type of water in your area.
- Capacity. Of course, there are several options on the market, based on whether we need to provide our home with more or fewer litres of hot water, which will be determined mainly by the number of people living there.
- Programming options. Finally, we can classify them into those models that allow us to carry out programming alternatives and those that do not allow us this type of option.
How do electric water heaters work?
Now that we know more about this type of device, the time has come to learn more about the operation of electric water heaters. Basically, this type of system does heat the cold water through an electrical resistance specifically designed for this process.
In this way, when the water reaches the temperature set on the thermostat, the resistance of the water heater is turned off, leaving the hot water accumulated inside it until the moment in which we are going to use it.
But, Does the water stay at the same degrees all the time? Yes, what happens with thermos flasks is that at the moment, we are going to use it if the domestic hot water has suffered a drop in temperature, the resistor will turn on again to be able to heat it again and thus be able to dispose of it.
In addition, there are currently different options of programmable water heaters on the market that allow us to achieve greater savings in our energy bill. This is because we can indicate the hours in which we will need to have that hot water so that the device is not carrying out this task at all times, something that will allow us to reduces the power consumption used by it.
How much does an electric water heater consume?
The first thing we must consider to solve this question is that it will vary depending on the capacity of our thermos and other issues, such as the chosen model. These devices have an energy efficiency label which usually indicates the approximate consumption value according to their average use time.
However, we will summarise below with thermos flasks of different capacities.
- 30 liter model – 1,375 kWh
- 50 liter model – 2,250 kWh
- 80 liter model – 3,375 kWh
- 100 liter model – 4,245 kWh
Thus, we can say that heating water with an electric water heater can cost us an average of between 0.2 and 0.8 euros for each liter we consume. Thus, if we consider that a person usually spends an average of 30 litres of hot water per day, we would be talking about a price of between 4 and 8 euros per month.
However, we will have to add the electricity or gas consumption that the boiler needs to work properly. That is why reviewing our electricity tariff is important to look for an alternative that allows us to pay the minimum price we need in our home.
Another factor to be taken into account: idle consumption
Finally, another issue to be taken into account is that thermos flask also residual consumption when they are at rest, which is usually in the range of 1 and 2 kWh. This is because this type of device must be turned on from time to time to reheat the water so that we have it in perfect condition when we need to use it.
However, this consumption is practically negligible and will have almost no effect on the final amount of our bill, although it is true that it should be taken into account when making our consumption calculations.
In short, we can say that water heaters are a device that allows us to save on water consumption and, consequently, on our electricity bill. We hope this article has helped you get to know them better.