The best tankless water heaters are essential for hot showers, sanitizing dishes, cleaning clothes & saving space over bulky tank-style ones.

Today, we get you prepared to replace your hot water heater. There are two types, a tank heater, which is the most common, and a tankless heater. "Tankless water heaters don't operate 24/7.

A tankless water heater is exactly what it sounds like: a water heater, minus the tank. Traditional water heaters require a large tank full of standing, heated water at all times to function properly.

For instance, Rinnai America is the only company that produces tankless water heaters in the United States. Its tankless, non-condensing natural gas water heater sells for about $1,000 at Home ...

While tank heaters store hot water in a tank, tankless heaters work on demand, heating the water as needed. Advertisement It sounds simple, but each system has advantages and disadvantages .

I personally was curious whether this was true. My water heater needs replacing. I'm on a well out in the county and the hard water wreaks havoc on tank heaters so I've been looking at tankless ones.

While tankless water heaters will heat the water as it passes through the appliance, tank-style water heaters, like this appliance from A. O. Smith, store a large amount of hot water for future use.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, tankless water heaters can be 24% to 34% more energy-efficient than conventional models in homes that use less than 41 gallons of hot water per day.

For example, a Rinnai America tankless non-condensing natural gas water heater goes for roughly $1,000 at Home Depot, while a comparable condensing tank goes for about $1,800.