The Department of Energy notes that tankless water heaters offer significant savings over last-generation models. Upgrading a water heater with a high-end electric model can reduce hot water costs by 24 percent, and up to 50 percent if tankless heaters are installed at each point-of-use. That's why it's no surprise that growth in the global hot water industry is being driven by the sale of electric tankless water heaters. Taking a closer look at the latest forecast for the hot water heater market will show why tankless water heaters are quickly becoming the country's new standard.

Tankless encouraging conversions
Two major market analysts project the hot water heater industry to enjoy another year of continued growth. Persistence Market Research released its New Market Report, which included a section titled, "Water Heater Market – Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2020." According to Digital Journal, the Persistence Market reported that a growing demand for tankless water heaters is creating a new global market for the industry. The "Global Water Heater" analysis performed by TechNavio analysts predicts a consolidated annual growth rate of 5.43 percent between 2013 and 2018. TechNavio's report likewise pointed toward growing demand for tankless electric water heaters as a main driver of the industry's recent growth, according to Market Watch.

International industry appeal
The United States is actually the second largest water heater market on the planet. The Asia-Pacific region currently holds the crown for the greatest consumption of water heater technology, and this growth also revolves around tankless water heaters. The Digital Journal notes that nations like South Korea, India, Japan and China are markets full of potential customers.

The vast majority of these purchases have been made by clients in each country's respective industrial sector to upgrade factories and plants. Building designers in the Asia-Pacific region often employ compact building designs, so the small size of tankless water heaters makes them perfect for the factory floor. In fact, high-end tankless water heaters take up just 10 percent of the space occupied by a full sized water heater. The small size of a tankless water heater also makes it ideal for point-of-use installation. Installing tankless units on each floor of a factory, as opposed to investing in a large central reservoir, could have a dramatic impact on a company's bottom line.