Electric Water Heater Benefits

If you don’t have a gas line to your house – let alone on your street – buying an electric water heater is a pretty obvious choice.

But what if you do have gas, or currently have a gas water heater, but need to replace it? Should you stick to gas, or switch to electric?

Before you answer, consider these electric water heater attributes:

1. Safety: While water heater explosions are rare (thank goodness!), they’re even less likely to occur with electric water heaters. And that means a reduced potential for damage to your home.
2. Cost of purchase: Electric water heaters cost less than gas heaters of the same size, e.g., comparing one 50-gallon tank size to another.
3. Cost of installation: Gas water heaters must be vented outdoors to expel processed natural gas. As such PVC tubing is required up through your home and out your roof. No such need exists with an electric system.
4. Smaller footprints: Gas water heaters need at least 6-18″ of ventilation around all sides and top, which means you can’t just install the tank in a small closet or crawlspace. An electric tank can be installed in confined spaces without fear of gas buildup or an explosion.
5. Life expectancy: Electric water heaters use fewer parts than their gas counterparts – plus, those parts are subjected to less heat. That adds years to their expected lifespan vs. gas units.
6. They both can lose power: Once upon a time, gas water heaters were built with pilot lights. So, when a home incurred a power outage, the system could still operate. Not anymore – not, that is, for gas units with electric ignitions. Should the power go out, electric or gas, you’ll be going without hot water until power is restored.

Rheem Marathon Water Heaters

At Best Choice Plumbers, we recommend and install Rheem Marathon electric water heaters. They come in multiple sizes and, more importantly, they feature a lifetime warranty. That means the tank is guaranteed to last for as long as you own your home.

Marathon electric water heaters are durable, lightweight and non-metallic. And, due to their seamless molded polybutene inner tank, they don’t require anode rods – metal-lined tanks do. No anode rod means no smelly water, the kind caused by chemical reactions with sulfates.

To learn more about electric water heaters in general, and Rheem Marathon models in particular, contact Best Choice Plumbers today. We’re the only water heater plumber you need.