The necessary task of controlling and extinguishing structural fire requires cities to consume large volumes of water. This heavy demand for resources highlights the importance of fire departments minimizing their water use at headquarters –  the more gallons saved at the station, the less water consumed annually by fire departments. It's no surprise that fire stations of all sizes across the country are working to go green, according to a study performed by the National Volunteer Fire Council. One simple upgrade that can have a big impact on water use in a fire department is tankless water heaters. By ditching ancient storage tanks for modern compact appliances, fire departments can make water heating more efficient and convenient.

On-demand water heating is a great fit for a hectic work schedule
One of the major downsides of traditional water heaters from an efficiency standpoint is the fact that they depend on a storage tank. These large reservoirs holds several gallons of water at a time, spending energy to keep the water at a uniform temperature until it's requested from a point-of-use. Life as a firefighter is hectic, and there's no telling when or how often firefighters will be able to use the water stored in a typical water heater. During busy periods, entire shifts worth of firefighters can go without using hot water and forcing the department to foot the bill anyway. Alternatively, electric on-demand tankless heaters are designed to deliver hot water only when requested.

Fire stations can reduce water use by going tankless.

Compact appliances fit inside any fire station
Fire stations across the country vary greatly in square-footage and design, depending on the size of the population they serve. Thankfully, tankless water heaters are quite compact when compared to traditional models and can fit in nearly any location within the fire station. Departments that are struggling with storage space are especially apt to take advantage of these water heating appliances built to be just a tenth of the size of traditional models. The newly available space can be used to store extra supplies that fire stations can utilize in case of an emergency.

Tankless boosters great for departments using solar
Another way that several fire Another way that several fire departments have managed to go greener is by cutting down power use by heating their water with solar power, said Fire Rescue 1. Unfortunately, this solution has a few caveats. The main drawback of solar water heating is the fact that the technology depends on the sun. Hot water will be hard to come by after an extended period of rain or snow slows down the collection of solar power. In cases like these, it's vital to have a backup plan – tankless hot water heaters are the perfect back up option for a fire station with a solar array already installed. The on-demand performance ensures that firefighters can generate hot water immediately, and only as much as necessary to fill the gap.