4 Accessories You Might Want Your Plumber To Add To Your New Water Heater
If you're getting a new water heater installed, you may want to add some accessories that make it more efficient. Ask your plumber if accessories would help the type of water heater you intend to buy. If you buy a high-quality water heater with the best insulation and latest features, you may not need any add-ons to make it perform better. Here are four water heater accessories to consider.
1. An Outer Insulation Blanket
If your water heater is in the garage or in a cold basement, the heater needs insulation to help it operate efficiently. Some new heaters come with extra insulation in the tank, and you may notice a big improvement between a new heater and your current one that's several years old.
Still, if you want to add insulation, you can buy a water heater blanket for an affordable price and keep your heater nice and snug when the weather gets cold.
2. A Water Heater Booster
If you don't have room for a larger water heater, but you wish you had a heater with more capacity, a water heater booster might help. This is a small device that mounts on the tank or wall. It hooks up to the water lines and mixes cold water from the inlet line with hot water from the tank.
This setup allows you to set the water temperature in the tank higher than normal, and by mixing it with cold water in the booster, the temperature is delivered at a comfortable level. This allows you to take longer showers, or for your family to take multiple showers, without running out of hot water so soon.
3. A Circulation Pump
If you're installing a new tankless water heater and it doesn't come with a circulation pump built-in, you might want to have one added. A circulation pump can provide you with instant hot water. While a tankless heater makes hot water on demand, it takes time for the hot water to travel from the heater through the pipes and out of your shower.
A circulation pump kicks on periodically to send cold water in the lines back to the heater to get warmed up so you'll always have hot water waiting at the tap to use without a long delay.
4. Water Leak Alarm
If you've ever had a water heater leak, you know what an inconvenience and mess that can be. You probably never want it to happen again. You can install an alarm that alerts you to water collecting around the tank so you can respond before water damage is done.
The water heater is placed in a drip pan with raised sides. If a leak occurs, the water is held in the pan and triggers an audible alarm to let you know about the situation. You can even get an alarm that shuts off the inlet water so water stops flowing into the tank if a leak develops.
To learn more about water heaters, contact a local plumber.