Schools have been losing money for one reason or another for years, but an innovative way that these campuses can recoup those loses is to install an energy efficient tankless water heater. The average state is now spending 20 percent less per student on education than they did before the recession, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and reduced funding has prompted them to cut essential programs like art, music and the school newspaper out of the budget.

Saving starts with spending, and it's relatively easy to cut down on regular costs. By scrapping the storage water heater that's wasting resources in the basement, education centers can see an upgrade in energy efficiency. Using expensive resources judiciously allows other portions of the budget to breathe a little easier and could help turn around the statistics.

Tankless provides savings
The foundation of cost-effective spending starts by saving as much money as possible on things you must spend money on. An easy way of doing so is to make sure that money is well spent. The Consumer Energy Center estimated that switching to a tankless water heater could reduce energy bills by 10 to 20 percent. The reason behind that number is very simple.

By getting rid of standby heat loss, a problem that plagues storage water heaters, schools can increase the efficiency of the resources they use. Standby heat loss occurs when warm water is left unused in a storage tank, thereby losing temperature overtime. When this happens, the appliance slowly builds a supply back up, using more resources for water that will most likely still go unused. Tankless water heaters, on the other hand, create the supply on demand, which means there's no standby heat loss. Getting rid of this massive waste of resources allows schools to allocate money elsewhere, such as to an after-school art club.

With minimal repairs necessary and 20 years of longevity in store, the maintenance crew will perhaps be one of the most immediate beneficiaries of the switch. One less thing to worry about means better allocation of time, which translates to money saved.

Going with a tankless water heater will free up your maintenance staff to do other tasks.

High energy efficiency
Tankless water heaters also feature a high energy efficiency – this serves as a sort of numerical proof that a product is indeed eco-friendly. Energy efficiency is a fairly simple concept created to let customers know how much energy the product is producing, in this case warm water, compared to how much energy is being delivered to it. The higher the energy efficiency, the better it operates from an economics standpoint when using resources.

Tankless water heaters feature 99 percent energy efficiency, which is much higher than water heaters with tanks – 65 percent. Using less resources allows schools to reduce their carbon footprint – something that is consistently taught to the very children in their halls.

Safety first
Children tend to wander, which usually leads to trouble. Keeping them out of harm's way is paramount for schools teaching all ages. Because there is no standing supply of hot water, and because water temperatures won't spike, children are much less susceptible to burns should they stumble across a water heater. This keeps institutes out of litigation and confident that putting tankless water heaters in open spaces, such as under the sink in a bathroom to maintain better efficiency, will not result in an injury.

The American Burn Association's most recent statistics on burns clocks a staggering 34 percent of all admissions into a burn center coming as the result of scalds. Whether children or adults are using the bathroom, tankless water heaters allow schools to get ahead in the field by preventing these injuries before they occur.