Hot Water System | Replacement cost advice (QLD)

Hi. A hot water system (on roof) needs replacing on one of our properties, so we requested our PM to supply us with a few quotes to replace. She has since come back with 2 quotes, ... but from the same company (?). Both quotes include install, $29 per STA and removal of the old system:

- Envirosun 300 Litre Stainless Steel Roof Mounted tank, 2 x solar collectors = $4360
- Chromagen 300 Litre Slimline Roof Mounted tank, 2 x solar collectors = $3340

The property is in SE QLD.

Are these prices within an acceptable range? I'm a bit miffed as to why the PM obtained 2 quotes from the same company... I have asked her to get 2 more from different companies.

 

If you installed a Rheem system, you would be paying a lot more

 

Roof mounted solar is why the price is higher, are other options not available to you there?

Typically the replacements we get for our clients have ranged from about $1200 - $1850 depending on type and size, but none have been roof mounted solar ones yet.

 

The existing system is roof mounted. The PM has gotten back to me and said she's investigating electric (cheaper up front and more expensive TCO) and gas (more expensive up front and lower TCO).

The quote for electric installed is about 2k.

I don't really like the idea of leaving a "dead" system on the roof and installing another one on ground level. At this stage I'm leaning towards the Chromagen 300L solar.

I'm a terrible landlord, I tend to try and treat my IPs like my PPOR.

 

Had this problem with one IP.....was roof mounted solar from new but the replacement cost to overcome a persistent leak was much higher than getting a ground level electric HWS installed.
Plumber was able to run piping from the roof outside and down the wall easily.....covered with some conduit....looked ok.

Easy enough to convert back to solar if it become a PPOR later
Keeps the tenants happy in hot water......

 

I used to had a solar HWS in one of my IP, it was broken at one point and I got it replaced by an electric HWS on ground. I guess the maintenance cost is lower in long run. Another thing the roofer told me solar HWS is not suitable for some roof tiles, mine one is decrasmastic roof which is too brittle to hold the weight of a water tank. The plumber who does the installation may not tell you this because he wants your business.

 

My goodness roof mounted solar systems are expensive...!

If you do go with a ground or wall mounted system, I agree that you shouldn't leave the old system up there. Also keep in mind the tenant may be unhappy with it being replaced with a unit that is not solar- costing more for them to run. You'd have to find out what it costs to remove and 'convert' to the new system, which might be similar to the cost of replacing like-for-like. @+men has an interesting solution though.

Assuming 'changover' costs aren't prohibitive and you have town gas, I'd recommend getting an instant gas system. They're reliable, cheap to run and the tenants will never run out of hot water.

You can always get a tank electric system if you want to keep things cheap, they work fine and are very cost effective.

We recently negotiated supplier agreements with a retail building company and fit our new homes with a Rinnai instant gas system. I'll have to check with my business partner to see if there's significant savings on retail but I'd be more than happy to look into if it this option turns out to be feasible?

 

We've replaced 3 HWS in the last 2 years. In our PPOR, it was a roof mounted solar, adn we replaced it with instantaneous gas. Cost was $2200, and we left the old one up there - we have a double story house and was going to be really expensive and arkward to remove.

 

HWS are not built like they used to. Those roof solar things rust out like a holden commodore and the pumps are unreliable (we havd a big brand one and frankly it sucked). One day we woke to a water fountain on our roof. That was its last day after years. Insta doesnt always work and depends on the flow rates in pipes and locations etc. I wasnt able to change one of mine but other was OK. Then I had extra costs for electricals, replumb etc.