Your Water Heater Works Harder In The Winter
Your heating system works hardest during the winter, for obvious reasons. But it’s not the only home comfort equipment that works harder when temperatures drop: your water heater does, too.
Why the extra work load for your water heater in winter? Mostly for three reasons:
- Storage tanks lose heat – If you own a storage-type water heater, it’s probably in your cold basement holding hot water until it is needed for use. The problem is that water is constantly losing heat (we call this standing heat loss) – even if your tank is insulated. To make sure the water is hot when you turn on your tap or appliance, the water heater occasionally needs to reheat the water in your tank, which burns more fuel and makes your water heater harder.
- The water coming in your home is colder – The temperature of the municipal or well water entering your home is colder during the winter, too – which means it takes more energy to heat the water than it does at other times of the year.
- You use more hot water – Most people take longer, hotter showers to warm up during winter; they also wear more clothes, which usually means more warm-water laundry.
As you can see, overall hot water use tends to peak in winter.
Lighten Your Water Heater Load: 4 Ways
One way to offset the additional workload on your water heater is to use less hot water. Here are four simple ways to do that:
- Wash clothes on the cold setting – Each load of laundry you clean on the warm or hot setting adds 30+ gallons of water heating to your bill. That can add up quickly. Today’s detergents are designed to work at all temperatures.
- Install low-flow showerheads and aerators – Low-flow showerheads and aerators (the screw-on tip to your faucets) can cut your hot water usage in half without any noticeable difference in water pressure or comfort.
- Run appliances only when they’re full – Wait for a full load to accumulate before running your dishwasher or washing machine.
- Service your water heater – Like any home comfort equipment, your water heater will lose efficiency over time without routine professional maintenance. To get the best performance from your water heater, consider having it serviced every other year at minimum by a water heater service professional.
Keep the hot water coming and your energy bills as low as possible with high efficiency water heater maintenance and expert water heater installations in North Carolina from the pros at James Oxygen. Contact us today to learn more!
