How does the cost of natural gas water heaters stack up against electric models?
Electric water heaters are slightly less expensive to purchase and install, but that’s where the savings end. Depending on the size and efficiency of the equipment, a natural gas water heater will save your customers about $120 to $150 a year in operating costs. The greater the efficiency, the more they can save. Over the lifetime of the appliance, that’s a significant amount. What about performance? The news just gets better. Recovery time for fully drained electric water heaters is substantially longer than for natural gas water heaters – see the chart below. That’s a big issue for active families, especially when waiting for hot showers on a cold morning. Even a modestly sized natural gas water heater will deliver hot water four to five times faster than a large electric model. And that’s another way your customers save with a natural gas water heater: Less stored water to heat equals more money in their pockets.
