Every household has appliances that people generally don’t think about until they break.  Once they are replaced or fixed, people will forget about them in about a month or so too.  Water heaters are one of the most common appliances that people generally don't like to think or worry about.

Water heaters are also one of the most common appliances that no one really knows anything about until it breaks.  So, when yours breaks down and you need to start shopping for a new one, here are a few tips to help you search. Since most water heaters look alike on the outside, you really need to learn about what goes on inside the shell to make a wise choice.  The first piece of information to know that is your typical usage of water.  There are tons of online calculators that will help you find a number.

Then, you will want to look at these two important abbreviations: FHR and GPM.  FHR stands for First Hour Rating and is generally associated to storage tank water heaters.  GPM stands for Gallons Per Minute and is generally associated to tank-less water heaters.  Both abbreviations will tell you how much hot water the system can deliver during use.  There are two types of water heaters and those are storage tank Water Heaters and tank-less water heaters.  The storage tank water heater is the most common and is a big white cylinder tank in your basement that is generally heated by electricity or by gas.