Hot Water Heaters

If any of the following sound familiar, you may be a candidate to convert to an oil-fired hot water heater.

• Do your family members have to take showers in shifts (some in the morning and some at bedtime so there is enough hot water?
• Laundry is done late at night so there is enough hot water to run the dishwasher or take showers and baths before bedtime?
• Electric bills are much higher than neighbors or friends who don't use electric hot water heaters?
• You run out of hot water when filling up your bathtub for a relaxing hot bath?
• The hot water runs out while you have the shampoo in your hair because the hot water supply cannot keep up with the demand?

Saving money is only one advantage of using an oil fired hot water heater. According to reports by a leading consumer group, the typical electric hot water heater cost 3 to 5 times more to heat an equivalent amount of hot water.

The typical American family spends 15% of their energy usage on heating hot water for the home. With electric rates and natural gas costs increasing faster than the cost of fuel oil, saving money is another advantage to heating your domestic water with fuel oil.

One measure of comparing various types of water heating options is the recovery rate of the hot water heating system. Direct fired water heaters using fuel oil have a recovery rating of 120 gallons per hour (gph), while indirect fired oil systems have a recovery rating of 140 gph, and using a tankless coil from a boiler provides 70 gph. Natural gas or propane direct fired water heaters have a recovery rate of 67 gph, and electric recovers at a rate of 40gph.

Another factor in the cost of heating hot water is the amount of energy produced from various energy sources and the cost of that energy. While prices of all energy change on a daily basis, over time they have kept a fairly constant relationship.

An equivalent amount of fuel oil, natural gas, propane, and electricity will produce the following amounts of heat measured in BTU. A BTU is the amount of energy required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.

There are three basic ways to heat domestic hot water for the home. They are hot water coil, indirect hot water and hot water heater. Domestic hot water heaters are the most common, and may use electricity, propane, gas, or fuel oil to operate.

Information on various types of hot water heating options is given in the following pages. Not all manufactures are included, but we will be happy to provide information and specifications on any equipment you are interested in installing in your home.

Direct Fired Hot Water Heater

This is a storage tank with a separate oil fired burner that heats the water and stores it in the tank. This looks very similar to the electric hot water heater used in many homes with the addition of an oil burner. There are several ways to provide the unit with fuel, and you may use the same fuel tank that supplies your furnace or boiler.

Direct fired hot water heaters are usually used with warm air furnaces, but may be installed in homes heated with a boiler or steam unit. If you are converting from an electric hot water heater, there are models that do not require a chimney but use a direct vent to supply not only fresh air for the unit, but also remove exhaust using the same venting system. Link to Bock balanced combustion

If you add a direct fired water heater to your home, please contact your fuel oil company so we may adjust your "K" factor or the rate you use fuel in your home so you don't run out of fuel when using our automatic fuel delivery program.

Click here for more information on this piece of equipment

Indirect Fired Hot Water

This system uses a storage tank con<></>nected to your hot water boiler that collects the water heated in your boiler and passes through a coil which heats up the water surrounding the coil in the storage tank. The recovery rating for these units is about 140 gallons per hour.

Indirect hot water heaters almost never run out of hot water with the storage of hot water generated by your boiler plus it is very fuel-efficient and an expected life of 30 years. These units are designed for use with boilers and cannot be used with a forced air furnace.

Additional information on this equipment may be found here

Tankless Coil

A tankless coil is a copper pipe within the boiler that heats your domestic hot water while the boiler is heating the water used in your baseboard heating system. You can use an aqua booster to increase the amount of water stored and heated by the tankless coil and also improves the response and efficiency of the tankless coil. Typical recovery rate for a tankless coil hot water heating system is 70 gallons per hour.

Commonly Asked Questions

Below are some common questions asked by customers considering an oil fired hot water heater.

Do I need a chimney to use a oil fired heating system?

No, oil heat systems can now be vented through an outside wall. This technology has dramatically cut the cost of converting from an electrically heated home (which usually lacks chimneys) to an oil-fired home.

We can use a power ventilator to remove the exhaust from your oil fired heating system and provide fresh air for your new equipment. To view information on this equipment, click here to find answers and specifications about this particular option.

This link shows an option that uses a direct vent providing fresh air and removing exhaust. This type of system is an excellent choice to use when converting from an heat pump using the electric resistance heating for extra heat in the winter to having an oil fired boiler provide this heat and heating the domestic hot water for the home.

Homes that want to convert from an electric hot water heater to oil fired hot water should visit here. This provides information on a system called balanced combustion system providing air for heating system efficiency and removal of exhaust.

Energy Savings Tips

We have also included a section with several tips on how you may reduce the amount of hot water and save money without sacrificing comfort in your home

• Turn down hot water heater thermostat
• If heater is in unheated part of the house, insulate with a hot water heater jacket. Check out installation instructions carefully.
• Buy a new, more efficient water heater. You could save over 30% and get more hot water on demand.
• Fix hot water leaks promptly. One drop of water per second if not fixed in one month will give you enough hot water for 16 baths.
• Install a water saving showerhead may save you up to 1/3 on your hot water use. These area available at your local home repair center or hardware store and can be installed with a few simple tools.
• Fix hot water leaks to help save money. One drop of water per second will give you enough hot water in one month for 16 baths!