Today’s buyers want more than a great deal on a home’s purchase price or mortgage rate. They want energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs. Let your clients know about the advantages of natural gas water heating.

Reduce Energy Usage and Costs
Next to the heating and cooling system, water heaters are the second-biggest energy users in a typical home — accounting for approximately 15 percent of a home’s energy use. Natural gas water heaters may help to reduce both energy usage and costs.

Value Rate
Selling a new construction home? Make sure your clients know that including natural gas water heating may save them on their energy bills. Newly built homes with natural gas water heating qualify for SCE&G’s cost-saving Natural Gas Value Rate. Find out more about our Value Rate.

Efficiency and Reliability Count
That’s not all. Gas water heaters warm water twice as fast as electric models, ensuring there’s always plenty of hot water for showering, bathing, washing dishes and washing clothes.

Even during power outages, natural gas water heaters keep supplying hot water. They typically last longer than other types of water heaters as well, saving homeowners on replacement costs over the years.

More Comfort. More Options.
Natural gas water heaters can help your customers incorporate some of today’s most desired amenities into their homes. Radiant heat flooring, multi-head showers and infinity edge tubs are just some of the comforts that are made even better by the seemingly endless supply of hot water that natural gas water heaters provide.

The Feel Good Heating Option
From an environmental perspective, natural gas is one of the cleanest energy sources available. Homebuyers will feel good knowing that natural gas is a clean, efficient energy source that’s abundant and largely produced right here at home.

Choosing the Right Water Heater
Whether choosing a natural gas water heater for a soon-to-be-built home or an existing home, your customers need to consider three things: efficiency rating, size and type.

1. Energy Rating: Bigger is Better
   Energy Factor (EF) is the ratio of the energy delivered as hot water compared with the total energy used by the water heater over a typical 24-hour period. The higher the EF, the more energy-efficient the water heater is. While an older water heater could have a minimum energy factor (EF*) as low as 0.48EF, newer models can range up to 0.86.
2. Size: It Matters
   A water heater should provide enough hot water at the busiest time of the day. This capacity is indicated by "first hour rating," which accounts for the effects of tank size and the speed at which cold water is heated. First hour rating is included on the EnergyGuide label alongside efficiency rating. For a typical family of four, a 40 gallon water heater will provide ample hot water during peak usage times. Customers may want to consider upgrading to a 50 gallon water heater if they have a large family, teenagers, a whirl pool tub or other factors that may require more hot water. For tankless water heaters, sizing requires a few other calculations that installation contractors can provide.
3. Type: Tankless
   New energy-efficient tankless water heaters may be a good replacement option for an existing water heater. Tankless water heaters don’t store hot water. Instead, water is heated on demand as it passes through a series of coils in the unit. That way, you are saving energy by not maintaining a large tank of hot water 24 hours a day and you pay only to heat the water you are using. Tankless water heaters also save space, as their compact size allows them to be installed almost anywhere.

Make the Call
Encourage your customers to call SCE&G toll-free at 1-866-301-7272. Representatives will let them know if natural gas is available in their area, the procedures and costs for installing a gas line to the home and other information they need to enjoy the benefits of natural gas water heating.