Heating of water is considered the second largest cost of energy next to heat/air conditioning systems in the home and whether your home uses electricity, gas, or liquid propane gas, water heaters are designed to help you meet the hot water demands of your household. Water heaters are gas, oil or electric-fired devices that heat water for residential or commercial use with gas heaters tending to be more common for larger flow rates.

The function of the water heater is to raise the temperature of water and They come in a variety of sizes for different applications, such as a whole-house water heater, a hot water source for a remote bathroom or hot tub, or as a boiler to provide hot water for a home heating system. Energy is transferred into the body of water in the heater just as if someone put a flame beneath a pan of water on a stove.

In this modern day of advanced and advancing technology, ways have been devised to draw energy from natural gas to power water heaters. Other designs of the water heater make use of organic materials like propane or electricity. Due to the abundance of the resource, natural gas beats out the likes of electricity and propane at cost price with respect to the output of heated water.

Gas is burned and releases heat that passes through the burner under the tank of the water heater and eventually warms the water. The wall holds a valve that opens and shuts to control the flow of gas into the water heater. Devising a means by which the temperature in a heater is controlled by the aid of a thermostat was a good idea of the manufacturers.

The heating element receives its initial light from a pilot. Gas grills are ignited in much the same way. A venting system collects used up and harmful gas emissions to be expelled. The actual exhaust pipe of the venting system is the PVC pipe located in the roof of the heater.

Thanks to technology, fan-assisted vents now exist for blowing air into the vent which both cools and forces toxic emissions out through a channel in the wall. Connected to the water heater is also a pipe for supplying cold water. One important thing to note is the way heated water flows from the cylindrical tank of the heater through the piping and via faucets to the appliances in which it is used.

Some tanks actually do not have a water storage system. Due to the absence of a tank, the water has to be run through several burners continuously until it is needed for its final application. Gas water heaters that do not have tanks work in a slightly different way from those with tanks.

Being unable to store water, they simply cycle it repeatedly, and supply it at any time needed. More than the regular gas water heater, a tankless version is able to deliver more hot water for less fuel pumped into it. The design of this prototype depends on the opening of the faucet to begin heating. If you are looking for a heater that can hold water, do not get a tankless version. The function of the tankless heater is just to heat water and channel it to the final point of use via the faucet.