Climate change is also important and this seems like one of the largest electricity draws on the home so it’s worth focusing on it, right?
yes
Or is it best to ditch tank heaters and go tankless?
This really depends on how you plan to use the water that you heat and how many people in your house want to be able to shower in hot water simultaneously. Do you use a dishwasher? You should also factor in how cold you expect the incoming water to be. If it's already 80+F most of the year, a tankless makes more sense than if your water is always 45F because with proper insulation it's a bit easier to maintain a large tank at 120F than it is to constantly heat incoming water from 45F to 120F. Having an electric tank also lets you use a time-of-use type electrical billing plan so that you do the bulk of the water heating off-peak and still take a hot shower on-peak without paying peak prices for every watt hour put into the water you're enjoying during the on-peak interval.
If you end up getting one with a tank, get the best thermal resistivity per dollar that you can in its insulation.
That might be related, but I don't think it's a thing where I live. I was referring to power billing schemes that bill based on when peak demand occurs. In the winter, if I use electricity between 5 and 10am (times fuzzed for anonymity) it's a lot more expensive than if I use that same power "off-peak"
yes
This really depends on how you plan to use the water that you heat and how many people in your house want to be able to shower in hot water simultaneously. Do you use a dishwasher? You should also factor in how cold you expect the incoming water to be. If it's already 80+F most of the year, a tankless makes more sense than if your water is always 45F because with proper insulation it's a bit easier to maintain a large tank at 120F than it is to constantly heat incoming water from 45F to 120F. Having an electric tank also lets you use a time-of-use type electrical billing plan so that you do the bulk of the water heating off-peak and still take a hot shower on-peak without paying peak prices for every watt hour put into the water you're enjoying during the on-peak interval.
If you end up getting one with a tank, get the best thermal resistivity per dollar that you can in its insulation.
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That might be related, but I don't think it's a thing where I live. I was referring to power billing schemes that bill based on when peak demand occurs. In the winter, if I use electricity between 5 and 10am (times fuzzed for anonymity) it's a lot more expensive than if I use that same power "off-peak"