A properly and professionally installed gas water heater will provide hot water more quickly. Now that you've seen that water heaters can take anywhere from half an hour to more than 2 hours to heat up, let's look at the factors that affect how long it takes. You rely on it to give you comfortable showers and to make sure you have enough warm water on hand to wash your dishes. The BTU of a gas heater refers to the amount of heat it produces to add a degree Fahrenheit to a pound of water.
You should know this if you have just installed a new water heater or if you just want to know if your water heater is working as it should. The recovery rate of a water heater is the number of gallons of hot water that the unit can provide per hour while in use. As the tank water heater accepts incoming water, the heating elements slowly heat the surrounding water until all the water in the tank is at its ideal temperature. While using a solar heater to heat water is cost-effective, the waiting time may be longer than heating water through gas burners or electrical elements.
While an electric tankless water heater is an on-demand system, it supplies warm water with simultaneous use of water. An average 50-gallon gas water heater may have an FHD rate of 80 to 90 GPH, but a 50-gallon electric water heater will have an FHD rate of approximately 58 to 66 GPH. If you have a smaller size tank or a higher BTU rating, the heating time of your hot water heating system will be much shorter. Even if you have the most energy efficient water heater, you may have some problems that can slow down your recovery time.
These are just a few of the ways you can get better results with your hot water heater. Contact a professional plumber to inspect and unload your unit if you have any of the above problems with your water heater. That's when the gas tank water heater will have to start heating new water once again from the temperature level of the incoming groundwater.
