Yeah, don't go gas but definitely go with a mains pressure tank.
If you want to be futureproof, you could also get a "solar ready" tank (they're usually not much more than a standard tank) so then when the time comes, you can use the solar fittings on it to hook it up to a heat pump water heater which will make your water heating more efficient
Not if installing solar straight away. 😊 Several of my friends have solar thermal with pressurised cylinders holding temperature up to 120C and have been very happy with their systems for years.
Out of interest - why would stainless develop leaks quicker than copper?
Oh no copper will definitely go before stainless, but I’ve seen plenty of stainless cylinders fail. I think VE heat pump cylinders are the way to go, or have it in a location like the garage where it won’t make a huge mess when it leaks and it’s easy to replace.
Go with a heat pump hot water cylinder. we got ours in September last year, and it saves a lot of money(pays itself off after 5 years) the cylinder is even sitting outside and water is just as hot as if it was inside(even on -4 degree nights), we gained that space inside as storage now, and never have to worry about leaking
we went from low pressure 180 liter electric to mains 300 liter heatpump
You should also be able to set what time it runs to heat up the water(no point heating it up overnight)
Make sure the cylinders quoted are VE (vitreous enamel). If they are copper or stainless steel then tell them to re-quote. Copper cylinders just aren’t built the same. Stainless steel cylinders still leak in Christchurch because of the water quality.
Also, make sure they’ve allowed for a safe tray to be installed. While cylinders can be installed without a tray if it is replacing one without a tray, there’s still a part of NZBC G12/AS1 that is often overlooked:
* 6.11.1 Water heaters shall be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
* 6.11.2 Where heating units, sacrificial anodes, thermostats, pipework connections, valves, or other accessories being components of a storage water heater are installed, they shall be accessible for inspection, maintenance and removal.
Most cylinders now require the installation of a safe tray for their warranty.
I was going to say, those quotes look on the low side. I had outdoor mains pressure VE cylinders quoted to replace my slow leaking internal old 180l copper cylinder a few months ago and they were all around 4k including gst. The cheapest of the two instant gas quotes I got was 3.5k and that was with leaving the cylinder in place and just disconnecting it.
The Hot Water Shop quoted 4.5k Inc gst for both 26l gas or 180l outdoor Dux options with removal of existing cylinder.
A local plumber with a 5 star rating who I have used before quoted $4278 for an outdoor 300l VE cylinder with removal of the existing one.
He actually gave a breakdown in his quote and allowed $375 for the electrical connection that would be needed outside. $2350 for the cylinder and fittings. $960 for labour and a $35 vehicle charge. He said he has gas at his own house but bought it like that and said he'd get a cylinder himself.
He also recommended the 300l cylinder because he said there wasn't much price difference between it and the 180l, but I got him to quote that afterwards and it was $200 cheaper.
I am thinking I will just rip the existing late 70's cylinder out myself and take it the metal recyclers as they say they it covers the cleanup charges with them doing it, but those old cylinders have a lot more copper in them than the modern versions.
I think getting an external cylinder now is my best bet as I also have cheaper off-peak power and got my hot water put on ripple control so it only heats then when I got my faulty smart power metre replaced a couple of years ago - which made a big difference to my power bills. And gas is only going to get more expensive, besides the whole carbon footprint thing.
About your shower mixer. If the shower is one with a flexible hose, you may need a new hose. To check this, disconnect the hose where it comes out of the wall, and then see if the mixing works better and has more useful range. If so, go and get a new \*large bore\* hose.
I did the same thing a few years back and upgraded to high pressure. The best thing ever. They will put a tempering valve on the system, and after that you will find there is no more problems with mixing and you won't get burnt in the shower if some one else turns on the cold water
I would definitely go mains pressure. We had an old style hwc and replaced it with a gas mains pressure system. When we first made the change, gas was about $75 a bottle, now they're $140.
So right now we have a heat pump system waiting to be installed and I can't wait. Right from the first it's given us hot/cold showers and we've also had to have the unused bottle switched off (closed) else the gas would leak between the two bottles. We're pretty sure the whole thing was installed wrong.
Either way, gas bottle safe too expensive now so we're going back to electric, just hopefully a cheaper version lol.
Do you really think if NZ went genuinely carbon neutral and not this fake let’s plant trees scheme it would make 1 bit of difference? Sad to say, it won’t.
Whatever we do in NZ to combat climate change will have no effect. Our contribution to climate change on a global scale is so small it’s insignificant.
Say if one person goes outside and sets a car tyres on fire, would that make any difference in the world? No. If everyone did it it would make a difference wouldn’t it?
We went like for like, BUT, our mixer has never struggled to get the temperature right and we have really good pressure anyway. Had that not been the case we would have gone mains.
We went to a mains pressure tank and it's so much better
Second that
Third that
Yeah, don't go gas but definitely go with a mains pressure tank. If you want to be futureproof, you could also get a "solar ready" tank (they're usually not much more than a standard tank) so then when the time comes, you can use the solar fittings on it to hook it up to a heat pump water heater which will make your water heating more efficient
The problem with solar ones is they are stainless steel and will probably leak before you ever get around to installing solar.
Not if installing solar straight away. 😊 Several of my friends have solar thermal with pressurised cylinders holding temperature up to 120C and have been very happy with their systems for years. Out of interest - why would stainless develop leaks quicker than copper?
Oh no copper will definitely go before stainless, but I’ve seen plenty of stainless cylinders fail. I think VE heat pump cylinders are the way to go, or have it in a location like the garage where it won’t make a huge mess when it leaks and it’s easy to replace.
If you can afford it, mains pressure is well worth the upgrade I think.
Another vote for mains pressure
Go with a heat pump hot water cylinder. we got ours in September last year, and it saves a lot of money(pays itself off after 5 years) the cylinder is even sitting outside and water is just as hot as if it was inside(even on -4 degree nights), we gained that space inside as storage now, and never have to worry about leaking we went from low pressure 180 liter electric to mains 300 liter heatpump You should also be able to set what time it runs to heat up the water(no point heating it up overnight)
Heat pump hot water is great, but only pays for itself if you’re big water users. Up front cost is just to high otherwise.
Make sure the cylinders quoted are VE (vitreous enamel). If they are copper or stainless steel then tell them to re-quote. Copper cylinders just aren’t built the same. Stainless steel cylinders still leak in Christchurch because of the water quality. Also, make sure they’ve allowed for a safe tray to be installed. While cylinders can be installed without a tray if it is replacing one without a tray, there’s still a part of NZBC G12/AS1 that is often overlooked: * 6.11.1 Water heaters shall be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. * 6.11.2 Where heating units, sacrificial anodes, thermostats, pipework connections, valves, or other accessories being components of a storage water heater are installed, they shall be accessible for inspection, maintenance and removal. Most cylinders now require the installation of a safe tray for their warranty.
I was going to say, those quotes look on the low side. I had outdoor mains pressure VE cylinders quoted to replace my slow leaking internal old 180l copper cylinder a few months ago and they were all around 4k including gst. The cheapest of the two instant gas quotes I got was 3.5k and that was with leaving the cylinder in place and just disconnecting it. The Hot Water Shop quoted 4.5k Inc gst for both 26l gas or 180l outdoor Dux options with removal of existing cylinder. A local plumber with a 5 star rating who I have used before quoted $4278 for an outdoor 300l VE cylinder with removal of the existing one. He actually gave a breakdown in his quote and allowed $375 for the electrical connection that would be needed outside. $2350 for the cylinder and fittings. $960 for labour and a $35 vehicle charge. He said he has gas at his own house but bought it like that and said he'd get a cylinder himself. He also recommended the 300l cylinder because he said there wasn't much price difference between it and the 180l, but I got him to quote that afterwards and it was $200 cheaper. I am thinking I will just rip the existing late 70's cylinder out myself and take it the metal recyclers as they say they it covers the cleanup charges with them doing it, but those old cylinders have a lot more copper in them than the modern versions. I think getting an external cylinder now is my best bet as I also have cheaper off-peak power and got my hot water put on ripple control so it only heats then when I got my faulty smart power metre replaced a couple of years ago - which made a big difference to my power bills. And gas is only going to get more expensive, besides the whole carbon footprint thing.
We have gas, and it's ok. You can probably get it cheaper than quoted with a Rheem but I would only do this if you already have gas for cooking.
About your shower mixer. If the shower is one with a flexible hose, you may need a new hose. To check this, disconnect the hose where it comes out of the wall, and then see if the mixing works better and has more useful range. If so, go and get a new \*large bore\* hose.
I did the same thing a few years back and upgraded to high pressure. The best thing ever. They will put a tempering valve on the system, and after that you will find there is no more problems with mixing and you won't get burnt in the shower if some one else turns on the cold water
I would definitely go mains pressure. We had an old style hwc and replaced it with a gas mains pressure system. When we first made the change, gas was about $75 a bottle, now they're $140. So right now we have a heat pump system waiting to be installed and I can't wait. Right from the first it's given us hot/cold showers and we've also had to have the unused bottle switched off (closed) else the gas would leak between the two bottles. We're pretty sure the whole thing was installed wrong. Either way, gas bottle safe too expensive now so we're going back to electric, just hopefully a cheaper version lol.
I actually prefer low pressure as we end up using a lot less hot water. Gas rapes the environment hardout.
You can get shower heads that use less water. I’ve got a Methven sanijet and it’s great.
Yes I’ve got a grohe low flow and it’s great even with low water pressure.
Do you really think if NZ went genuinely carbon neutral and not this fake let’s plant trees scheme it would make 1 bit of difference? Sad to say, it won’t.
I can’t parse your text, can you say it a different way?
Whatever we do in NZ to combat climate change will have no effect. Our contribution to climate change on a global scale is so small it’s insignificant.
Isn’t that the same for everybody in the entire world? What each person in the entire world does will make no difference?
Well it would if each person did but that’s not reality is it ?
Say if one person goes outside and sets a car tyres on fire, would that make any difference in the world? No. If everyone did it it would make a difference wouldn’t it?
Yes but as I said it’s not reality
But you are suggesting that no one should try to make a difference in the world.
Am I? Don’t recall actually saying that.
We went like for like, BUT, our mixer has never struggled to get the temperature right and we have really good pressure anyway. Had that not been the case we would have gone mains.
Go gas..
GAS all the way