Hot Water

Hot water is an essential part of life, we don’t think of it day to day until inevitably it becomes unavailable and we realize just how much we need it. Our priority when called in regards to this is to get you back up and running with the best solution for you as quickly as possible.

Whether its a service or a complete new system, we’re ready to tackle whatever obstacles stand between you and your hot water. We also recycle old units to ensure a minimal environmental impact.

Bearing in mind the relevant information on your households hot water demands and usage habits, we can help you design a hot water system that will keep you going for years and years.

Key areas of our hot water unit decision considerations include the following:

Storage hot water unit or Continuous hot water unit?

In an ideal situation we recommend Continuous flow units, as these units deliver instant, infinite hot water, they are much more compact as they don’t require a storage tank and only use gas when a tap is opened. Therefore not running a pilot light 24/7 and heating cycles are no longer a requirement, which increases energy efficiency dramatically. Not only do you save space you’ll also lower your bills when compared with a storage unit with the same demand.

Something to consider however, is that the demand of the burners in the unit requires a lot more gas to heat and deliver correctly compared to a storage unit. The supply lines for Gas and water may need upsizing or replacement to ensure correct operation. The cost of upsizing or replacing your gas line depends on a few factors including: Appliance and meter distance, locations and competing consumption from other appliances

The initial expense will be made back in the long term with your savings on gas. And you’ll also enjoy the benefits of instant hot water that never runs out.

Storage unit replacements are our most common callout or service situation, not all properties have the option to convert to continuous or it may not be required by the client. Units can be both internal or external with different capacities based on demand and space. Our favoured storage units come with stainless steel tanks e.g. Aquamax and some Rheem, Rinnai and Thermann models. These tanks in many cases outlast all other componenets of the unit and have a much longer life expectancy.

Gas hot water or Electric hot water?

The two main energy supplies of hot water units are Gas or Electricity, Think of an electric hot watre storage unit as a giant kettle, with a heating element at the bottom that is heated using electric currents to heat the water in the tank. Electric hot water units are commonly found internally, particularly in unit/apartment situation, or where gas may not be in supply. Smaller capacity electric hot water storage units are a great practical solution in an environment where there is not much demand e.g an office kitchen or factory setup.

Gas storage hot water units are the same principal as electric storage, but utilising a pilot light and burner instead of an element. Gas continuous hot water units use intense burners to heat the water as it flows through the unit on demand, they use electronic ignition supplied via a power point in place of a pilot light.

Service or Replace?

Our methodology when it comes to deciding on a course of action on a faulty hot water unit depends on a couple of factors, one being the condition of the hot water unit. If it has a leaking hot water tank or burst a repair is not an option, if it is exhibiting discoloured water it is usually evidence of corrosion to the internal hot water tank and this also means repair is not an option.

If the hot water unit is simply not heating or delivering hot water the fault can lie at the unit. When undertaking a service/repair we start at the existing units date of manufacture, as all hot water units develop more and more problems later in their lifecycle, we use this info to weigh up with you whether investing in a new unit or going down the path of repair is in order. This also depends on the type of fault the hot water unit is exhibiting, the best course of action is to call us and we can give you tailored advice.

Gravity Feed conversion

Gravity feed hot water units have been around since the dinosaurs, well known for outputting scalding hot water at very low pressure by modern standards giving you an authentic stone-age volcanic hot water experience.

They are well outperformed by modern hot water unit standards, we have a wealth of experience in converting these miracles of ancient technology to a more efficient and powerful modern hot water unit. The old gravity feed hot water unit is then excavated by our team of archaeologists and displayed in museums of ancient technology (just kidding).

As budget can be a constraint at times and if condition allows for it, these gravity fed hot water units can be repaired. The main consideration is if it is worth investing into the old unit as it is located in the roof space usually with poor access coupled with the uncertainty of the lifespan of other components.

Temperature control

Temperature control is another service we offer, hot water units set to 60 degrees require a water tempering valve on the line to the bathroom. Hot water tempering valves ensure that scalding water is not sent to the bathroom, minimizing the risk of burns. Some units can also have hot water remote controls installed to assign different temperatures to different rooms or manually control the temperature of your shower. Water tempering valves are one of the easiest ways in increase the safety of your house,