Cant decide weather you want to upgrade your hot water heater to instant hot water or stick with the trusty old electric storage hot water heater?
Let us help you decide which way is the best to go!
Gas vs electric hot water is a case where the initial cost and running costs are major factors to be considered.
Depending on your gas and electric prices you are receiving, gas heated hot water systems are less expensive to run but cost a little more to set up in the initial installation, but don’t worry studies have shown that within a year of installing the gas hot water heater that you will have made that money back in savings.
Electric storage hot water heaters have been the most commonly used heaters in Australia for decades, unfortunately with the rising cost of electricity and high green house emissions generated with electricity these units are quickly becoming unpopular amongst Australian house holds. In fact the Australian government have passed legislation to try and limit their use.
How do electric hot water heaters work?
The most common electric hot water storage tank heats the water up all day depending on use. Although there are off peak options where the hot water is heated up over night and storing the hot water during the day, as soon as that hot water is depleted your hot water will not be heated until the next off peak time, therefore those heaters are quite large and cost a lot more on the installation as they need to store a lot of hot water.
How do instant hot water systems work?
When you choose instant hot water systems, they are extremely energy efficient, some coming with a 7 star energy rating. Instantaneous heaters only heat the water when they are turned on so when you turn your hot water tap on and water starts to pass through the pipework, the heater ignites and quickly heats the water as it passes through the heater on the wall and onto your back in the shower.
As I mentioned above, the instantaneous heaters are tankless and do not store water and only heat when water passes through, this means YOU NEVER RUN OUT OF HOT WATER!
Benefits of Instantaneous Hot Water Systems
Instant hot water systems do not store any hot water so therefore are free from potential bacteria that can form within a storage heater. Unless a minimum temperature of 60 degrees Celsius is maintained, electric tanks can be breeding ground for legionnaires. This is a respiratory disease that can cause severe pneumonia and is sometimes fatal.
Instantaneous heaters are also space saving, they are not very large can be mounted onto a wall high up and out of the way, storage heaters are quite large and take up a lot of room down the side of your property or taking up valuable storage space with your kitchen or laundry.
Traditional storage tank water heaters have a life span of around 10 to 12 years. Instant hot water systems can last up to 20 years.
So I hope that I have helped you decide on whether you’d like to upgrade your bulky old storage heater and replace with a sleek small instantaneous heater.
If you want more information we are only a phone call away and we’d be more than happy to answer any other questions you may have.
Thanks for reading.
Scott Atkins | FXD Plumbing Solutions
