Systems

Water Heater Sizing Calculator

Tell us how many people live in the home. We'll suggest a tank size and a tankless flow rate.

At a glance

What you enter
People in the household
Accuracy
Rule of thumb

30-40 gallon tank, or 3-5 GPM tankless

For that household, a 30-40 gallon tank or a tankless unit rated around 3-5 GPM usually keeps up. Lots of simultaneous showers or a big soaking tub pushes it higher.

Treat this as a guide rather than a final spec. Simultaneous demand (two showers plus the dishwasher), incoming water temperature, and fixture flow rates all matter, and a plumber sizes tankless by peak GPM.

Systems

Oversized is its own kind of broken

An air conditioner with too much capacity short-cycles, never pulls the humidity out, and wears itself down early. In a Carolina summer that matters more than the raw tonnage.

How this is worked out

No hidden fudge factor. This is the whole calculation.

  1. You enter people in the household.
  2. That runs through a rule of thumb calibrated for the North Carolina climate.
  3. It is a starting point for the conversation, not the calculation a licensed pro performs.

Common questions

Water Heater Sizing: how do I choose the right size?
Tell us how many people live in the home. We'll suggest a tank size and a tankless flow rate. It's a rule-of-thumb starting point; a licensed pro does the exact calculation for your home.