OT: Hot Water

[Hounddog]

We just replaced our old electric hot water service. The old tank was dated as installed in 1972, WOW even the installer of the new one was impressed. In the process of changing I learned a few things about Hot Water so here's my advice.......Screw the environmental bandwagon BS and buy an off peak 1 or 2 electric hot water service. Today's tanks are cheaper to run than even tanks of 5 years ago. They use off peak electricity which is proabably more kind to the enviroment than gas tanks and, by law, can be converted to solar at a later time if you wish anyway. Just make sure the tank has a generous size, easily changable sacrificial annode and you should get at least ten years out of it.

Hope this helps

BTW we installed a 315 ltr Rheem Optima, for well under a grand, We can give you the installers details if you wish, he's a great guy to deal with.
PS We have noticed a huge drop in our power bills already.

[Geof]

If you want it to last and can handle low pressure a copper tank is the go. My last one lasted at least 40 years (could have been 60 for all we know) before the inlet pipe movement fatigued the tank and it cracked.

Do you have natural gas or LPG?

The instant electric hot water units I'v seen have only worked properly when the water is flowing at JUST the right speed. Too fast and the water is luke warm. Too slow and it cuts out and you get cold water. Pretty nasty unless your on hydro electricity.

I had heard that direct electric heated storage tank systems were going to be baned soon in favour of less reliable but more efficient heat pump heated units.

A heat pump is still less green than gas.

[GeoScrubers]

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The instant electric hot water units I'v seen have only worked properly when the water is flowing at JUST the right speed. Too fast and the water is luke warm. Too slow and it cuts out and you get cold water. Pretty nasty unless your on hydro electricity.
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This is something I was concerned about, as we are on tank water only - with house pumps, so the water does fluctuate a little. <p>
We are on gas LPG cylinders as there is no town gas (or water) out here <p>
Apparently, with the current rebates on solar with gas booster, the cost of the<br> unit is very minimal, just have to pay for installation

[Geof]

We are on gas LPG cylinders as there is no town gas (or water) out here....with house pumps, so the water does fluctuate a little

Got a wood heater? Wood boosted solar Add a tank on a stand for when the power is off and your laughing + no sharp fluctuations in pressure + you can run a copper tank provided the head isn't too great.

[Richary]

My parents just went solar on the north coast of NSW. Reckon it didn't cost much with the government rebates. No town gas there, just electrickery.

[Rainbow Spirit]

We have had the same solar system for 26 years (a Beasley, with a stainless steel tank), and use a manual electric booster for the cloudy days.
The booster is the weak point in the system, as it takes up to 45min to heat the water to an acceptable level.
What I would really like to do is to add a thermostat controlled, electric instantaneous system, onto the outlet side of the solar heater, so as we would get hot water on demand, and only heat the water we use, any ideas?

[SuperMoosie]

Has anyone had any experiance with Heat Pumps?

With the Goverment and NSW Goverment rebates I was thinking of replacing my old Off Peak 1 Electric hot water heater with one. It would only cost $400 to install with the rebates.The plumbing and cables would not need to be changed much.

However I have heard two bad reports about the noise they make. I also wonder how reliable they are.

There is a good comarision of runnig costs and emissions for different hotwater types under the same conditions at :http://www.sedo.wa.gov.au/pages/emissions.asp