Boiler Vs Water Heater - What's The Difference?

Boiler vs water heater. Water heater vs boiler. Which one is right for you? It depends. While people use the names interchangeably at times, there are differences you should know about when evaluating options for hot water and home heating.

What Is A Boiler?

A boiler doesn’t boil water. It turns water into steam. The steam is what heats your home and can be used to provide hot water and generate power as well. There are several types of boilers:

1. Combination boiler
2. System boiler
3. Conventional boiler

Learn more about how does a boiler work in our boiler homeowner guide.

A combination boiler handles both heat and hot water. It will keep your hot water flowing with an unending supply and doesn’t take up a lot of space.

A system boiler contains a hot water cylinder. As water comes into the system, it is heated and stored. With a system boiler, you can get quick access to hot water, but it has limits. When you drain the tank, you’re out of hot water.

A conventional boiler will include a hot water cylinder and a cold water intake. It takes up more space but works well for homes where multiple people might need to turn on the water in different rooms.

What Is A Water Heater?

Water heaters do only one thing, which is to heat your water. There are three main types:

1. Conventional water heater
2. Tankless water heater
3. Indirect water heater

See the pro's and con's of a hot water heating system.

A conventional water heater stores water in a tank, which is keeps heated. It can be heated by electricity or gas combustion. Cold water is supplied to the tank, where it is heated. A tankless water heater doesn’t store hot water but can heat it rapidly.

Conventional water heaters will have large tanks to store hot water on demand. If you have too small a tank, you can run out of hot water at times. Tankless water heaters are small because they don’t store water in a tank. It takes a little longer to get hot water to the tap since it has to heat it before delivering it but the hot water continues as long as you need it.

Indirect water heaters look like a conventional water heater but just store hot water that is heated by a boiler. Therefore they do not actually heat the water but they do keep it hot.

Water Heater Vs Boiler: Efficiency

Debating the use of a water heater vs boiler, you may wonder which is more energy efficient? Depending on the type of equipment you choose, there are a couple of things you need to think about. For example, if you’re using a water heater, you need a separate system for home heating. If you’re comparing a boiler vs water heater, you’ll need to take into account the energy that’s also attributable to a furnace or other home heating system.

You can compare energy efficiency by looking at the yellow operating cost tag on the appliance. Boilers and water heaters with the ENERGY STAR® label typically exceed the minimum standards set by the federal government.

Boiler Vs Water Heater: Lifespan