Water Heaters Work Harder In Winter, Too…
During winter here in New Jersey, your furnace or boiler works hard 24/7 to keep your family safe and warm. But it’s not the only home comfort equipment that’s going that extra mile during the winter months.
Your water heater also works harder in the winter here in the northeast than it does at any other time of the year. Why?
Three Factors That Effect Your Water Heater
- Your basement is cold – 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). To make sure the water is hot when you turn on your tap or appliance, the water heater needs to reheat the water from time to time – which burns more fuel and makes your water heater work harder to do its job.
- The water coming in your home is colder – The inlet temperature of the municipal water entering your home is colder during the winter, 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 means more warm-water laundry. Overall, hot water use tends to peak in winter.
Make Life Easier For Your Water Heater This Winter
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.
- Upgrade your 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 the dishwasher and washing machine only when they’re full – Wait for a full load to accumulate before running either of these appliances.
- 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 third year at minimum by a water heater pro.
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 NJ from the pros at JW Pierson. Contact us today to learn more!
