Instant Water Heater Vs Storage Water Heater

Undoubtedly, the geyser is one of the most essential winter home appliances.

Imagine having a bath on a freezing cold winter morning without a geyser.

When you try to buy a water heater from the online market, you will be flooded with too many options. A simple task that often becomes a herculean task!

If you have already started looking for a water heater, you must have come across two types of water heater: instant water heater and storage water heater.

Not many people know the difference between the two and it gets difficult to choose when the option lies between instant water heater vs storage water heater.

To make it easier for you to decide, we have drawn a comparison between both the types of geysers. We have considered all the essential factors. However, while taking the final call, you will have to draw a balance of all the different factors!

Initial Cost

The cost of an instant water heater is lower in comparison to the cost of a storage water heater. You can buy a good instant geyser starting from Rs. 2,500. However, the price of storage geysers starts from Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 5,000. And that’s for storage water heaters with 10 or 15 litres storage tank. The price of a good quality water heater with a storage tank of 25 litres is even higher.

Winner: Instant Water Heaters

Convenience

When talking about convenience, many users have agreed that a storage geyser is far more convenient than an instant geyser.

Because of a very small water tank, an instant water heater heats the water in just 4-5 minutes. The problem with an instant geyser is that once the geyser has released all the water, one will have to wait again for the water to get heated. And this makes them inconvenient to use for bathing. Also, in the event of power failure, you will have very limited hot water stored in an instant water heater.

On the other hand, storage water heaters are the ideal choice for bathrooms and can store up to 35 litres of hot water. Even in the case of power failure, the stored water is enough to meet the bathing requirement of 1 or 2 persons. Also, once the water gets heated you can enjoy an almost continuous stream of hot water, unlike instant water heaters.

But the storage water heater has its own drawback. It will not instantly provide you with heated water which is easily done by an instant water heater. You will have to wait for around 20-25 minutes before you can start getting hot water in case of a storage water heater.

Winner: Storage Water Heaters

Space Requirement

The space occupied by an instant geyser is less in comparison to a storage geyser. The good news is that both the geysers can be mounted on the wall. Depending on the size of the bathroom, you can decide whether you should go for an instant water heater or a storage water heater. If you have a really small bathroom with limited wall space then an instant water heater is the ideal choice for you.

Winner: Instant Water Heaters

Lifespan and Maintenance Cost

The lifespan and maintenance cost of any geyser depends on several factors like the quality of water, corrosion resistance, the material of tank and heating element, and the overall build quality.

Keeping all the above factors constant, the lifespan of an instant water heater is generally considered higher than storage water heaters. The lifespan of an instant water purifier is around 15 to 20 years whereas the lifespan of a storage geyser is 7 to 12 years.

The maintenance cost of an instant water heater is comparatively lower than a storage water heater. It is mainly because the parts, like heating element and tank, which need maintenance are a little cheaper for instant water heaters as compared to storage water heaters.

Winner: Instant Water Heaters

Water Heating Capacity/Time taken for heating water

Just as the name suggests, an instant water heater will almost instantly heat your water. Input water with a temperature of 15 degree Celsius, can be heated to 60 degree Celsius in just two minutes.

The time taken by a storage water heater is higher and it will take approximately 10-15 minutes more than an instant water heater to get hot water. The reason for this lies in the capacity of the storage tank.

An instant water heater is required to heat a very limited quantity of water while a storage water heater has to heat 3 to 9 times the quantity of instant water heater.

Therefore instant water heaters are ideal for applications where you need instant hot water in limited quantity, like washbasins and kitchen sinks.

Winner: Instant Water Heater

Water Storage Capacity

An instant water heater is generally available in very small storage tanks of 1-litre or 3-litres. But a storage water heater has a storage capacity that ranges from 6 to 35 litres.

Winner: Storage Water Heaters

Energy Efficiency & Load

If you heat the same amount of water, both the geysers will consume the same amount of power. But an instant water geyser is considered more efficient as compared to a normal storage water heater.

Usually, an instant water heater is 24-35% more efficient than a storage water heater.

This is mostly because of the fact that in case of an instant water heater you always heat the quantity of water that is actually used. But in case of a storage water heater, you always end up heating more than the required quantity of water. This results in wastage of electricity.

Since instant geysers are required to heat the water almost instantly, they use high-power heating elements in the range of 3 KW to 4.5 KW.

On the other hand, storage water heaters generally use heating elements of 2 KW. Both geysers will ultimately consume the same amount of power. But, instant water heaters heat water quickly and therefore use more load from the system. Storage water heaters take longer to heat but put a lesser load on the system.

Winner: Instant Water Heaters

Wrap Up

In the battle of instant water heater vs storage water heater, the winner should be decided on the basis of your requirement. If you are planning to use the geyser for bathing, especially if you take a shower, then we recommend buying a storage water heater.

If you plan to buy the geyser for kitchen sink or a washbasin then we recommend buying an instant geyser.