If you’re thinking about buying a new water heater, you may be wondering whether you should get one that is gas-fueled or electric. Natural gas fuels more than half of all water heaters; electricity heats most of the remainder. A small percentage of water heaters burn propane (LP), oil, or kerosene. And some use wood heat or solar collectors to heat water.
If natural gas is available, your next water heater should be gas-fueled. Electricity is the fuel of choice only where it is the only option—or where it is impossible to run a flue out the roof to carry the water heater’s combustion emissions. Gas is both cheaper and much faster at heating a tankful of water. So are propane, kerosene, and oil, but they’re less convenient because they must be delivered (not piped) to a house.
According to March 2007 data provided by the Department of Energy (www.eia.doe.gov), residential energy sources by the average dollar cost per million BTUs of heat they produce were rated as follows:
* natural gas: $12.18
* heating oil: $16.01
* propane: $20.47
* electricity: $31.21
Obviously, these amounts vary with local energy prices and change over time, but in the relative world of energy, natural gas is by far the cheapest, most convenient fuel for water heaters.
If you have an electric water heater and want to take advantage of the economy of natural gas or propane, check out Gas-Fired Products’ Seahorse. With this system, the electric heating element is removed from the existing water heater, turning the heater into a storage tank. A new gas-fired heating unit is mounted on an outside wall, where it doesn’t require a vent, and is linked to the existing tank with two 3/4-inch water lines. Gas is piped directly to the new heating unit. The new system has three times the heating capacity of a standard electric water heater.
