Standing Loss is a key factor in deciding the power consumption of a water heater. This is the element that decides the BEE Star rating of a water heater.
Many of you may not know what is standing loss and how it affects the power consumption of a water heater. So, in this article let’s learn more about standing loss in this article.
What Is Standing Loss In a Water Heater?
Standing loss is the amount of power that is lost when the water heater is in standby mode, which means no water is drawn from the water heater. This is the power that a water heater wastes to keep the hot water in the water tank at the desired temperature.
Standing loss applies to water heaters and any appliances that dissipate heat.
When there is a heat loss, there is a waste of power. That is why standing loss is an important factor in the overall power consumption of a water heater.
The higher the value of the standing loss, the higher the power consumption by the water heater and vice versa.
Standing loss in An Instant water heater is much less as these types of water heaters do not store hot water. That is why instant water heaters are very energy efficient, unlike storage water heaters that need to maintain water at a certain temperature all the time.
How To Reduce Standing Loss In Water Heater?
There are multiple measures taken by manufacturers to reduce the standing loss in water heaters. When you buy a water heater, you need to make sure that there are enough features available to reduce the standing loss.
When you talk about a 5-star geyser against a 3-star geyser, it’s all about the standing loss that comes into play and manufacturers offer more insulation features in the 5-star geyser to make it more energy efficient.
PUF Insulation
PUF (Polyurethane Foam) insulation is an excellent way to reduce heat loss. It is widely used in refrigerators and now some manufacturers offer this feature in water heaters too.
PUF Insulation acts as a barrier between the metal tank and the plastic outer body and restricts the heat from dissipating outside. It is in liquid form when applied but then solidifies.
Many manufacturers offer some sort of coating on the inner water tank to reduce heat loss, but PUF insulation is the best among all methods.
Turn Off The Water Heater When Not In Use
Many people tend to keep the water heater turned on all the time thinking that the thermostat will take care of the power.
But that is completely wrong as the thermostat has nothing to do with reducing power consumption except the fact that it reduces a small amount of power when it breaks the circuit.
When the water temperature goes down, the thermostat starts working again and this goes on throughout the day until you turn off the power.
Keep The Water Temperature Low
Keeping the water temperature low will ensure that the thermostat has to keep the power circuit on for a less amount of time and that will ensure that there is a minimum amount of heat loss.
Insulate The Pipe
Not only the water tank, but the pipes also dissipate a lot of heat. So you must insulate the pipes so that there is a minimum amount of heat loss.
Use a Tankless Water Heater
Tankless water heaters do not have any water tank. So standing loss from the water heater is almost none although there are heat losses in the pipes but that is not much to consider.
The only problem with tankless water heaters is that they use high-power heating elements that consume a lot of power to heat water.
Use A 5 Star Water Heater
A 5-star rated water heater takes care of most of the points mentioned above and thus has a very low standing loss. Low standing loss means more power saving and that is why rated as 5 stars.
Conclusion: Standing Loss In Water Heaters
Standing loss is an important factor to look after while buying a water heater. Either you can apply some measures after buying or buy a water heater that has all the features to reduce the standing loss.
Buying a water heater with high standing loss could be cheap but in the long run, you will spend more money on the power bill. So you need to make a proper decision.
