Hot Water Tank

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by djeu, 17th Sep, 2018.

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  1. djeu

    djeu Member

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    Hi,

    Finishing up a bathroom renovation, and need to replace the hot water tank. Can't decide between solar, heat pump and electric. Some people I contacted said Heat Pump cost a lot to maintain and are not reliable, others said they are great. Not sure what to go for. Any recommendations?
     
  2. djeu

    djeu Member

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    Any feedback? Or experiences?
     
  3. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Is gas an option?
     
  4. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Gas instantaneous if you have a gas mains in your street.

    Not sure about over there, but here they're offering rebates for people swapping from electric to gas hot water systems so might be worth inquiring about.
     
  5. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    Speak to a plumber. I also faced this issue and when HWS went I asked about instantaneous but when the plumber arrived he discounted some options immediately for various technical reasons. ie the instant option wasnt within X metres of the shower outlet and Y metres of the gas inlet. Apparently they are best in close proximity AND dont serve multiple bathrooms in some homes well.

    The heat pump didnt work for some other cause. (Too near to a AC unit?)

    IMO Solar hot water isnt worth it v's solar for whole house electrical.
     
  6. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Do check with your provider though. While renovating we sold electric HWS before asking gas supplier about instant gas. We already had gas cooking in the hous.

    Turns out there isn’t enough pressure to support instant gas so we’ve chosen Therman gas storage tanks. Had I known I would have kept the electric tanks and saved some money but at least we will have new gas storage, warranty starting from now and not installing a unit that is already several years old.
     
  7. bashworth

    bashworth Well-Known Member

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    A good heat pump is generally the cheapest form of heating as it can have an efficiency of better than 200%, while even the very best gas water heaters will be no more than 95% (a basic gas water heater may be as low as 60%.)

    Its often hard to compare cost for heat value but a good approximation is 1 MJ of gas = 0.278 kilowatt-hours of heat.

    There is some more information on comparing the cost at the following link: Gas Comparison
     
  8. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I wonder what a heat pump would cost @bashworth? Any idea.

    Instant gas and/or storage gas seems to be about $1000(ish) for the unit and then installation on top.

    I know with our recent surprise that we couldn't go to instant gas for our IP, and now having chosen gas storage, we don't really care as it an IP. But at home, we have instant gas and gas cooktop and having solar here, our gas is now more expensive an our electricity. Even without solar, gas used to be very cheap, but it is not cheap these day.

    When we redo our kitchen, we will seriously look at switching from gas to electric.
     
  9. JASA

    JASA Well-Known Member

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    I have solar in one investment property which has given me nothing but headaches and large plumbers bills. Tenants don't know how to manage it. I love gas but if it's not available I guess I would go for electric.
     
  10. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

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    Yep, solar can be expensive when things go wrong. Gas tends to be expensive. I would probably go electric as well.
     
  11. HomePage

    HomePage Well-Known Member

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    We had a Sanden heat pump hot water system to replace a gas storage one three years ago. The gas system was costing $500+ a year whereas the heat pump costs < $100 in running costs. As we were able to get rid of gas entirely, we also save on around $300 per year gas connection fee so that's $700 in annual savings. Yes, the heat pump cost about $3200 more to install than a replacement gas storage unit but it pays itself off in under 5 years. Haven't had any problems with the unit itself.
     
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  12. djeu

    djeu Member

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    We don't have any gas connections in the house
     
  13. djeu

    djeu Member

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    Narrowed down then to Electric vs Heat Pump.... Any brand recommendations? I have asked a few plumbers but every answer is different, I think dependent on which brand they work with rather than what is the best option...
     
  14. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

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  15. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

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    You can get gas fittings installed for your house. I'd talk to your plumber.
     
  16. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    How did you know there wasn't enough pressure to support instant gas?

    I'm asking because I just got a gas meter installed and the plumber noticed it was a wider pipe coming in from the street, so he assumed it was a low pressure area (which is why they gave us a bigger inlet pipe to compensate).

    I haven't bought my gas instant yet, but i don't want to get stuffed up as a result (that said, my next door neighbour does have an instant gas).
     
  17. Chode

    Chode Active Member

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  18. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Gas retailer looked up the address and told me the pressure is low in the street. I could have put instant system on the wall but was advised to opt for gas storage instead.
     
  19. HomePage

    HomePage Well-Known Member

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    Then they'd be up for gas installation and daily gas connection costs, so unless they are planning on connecting up another major gas appliance, like ducted heating, it would likely not be worth it. Gas is not really needed nowadays anyway because, apart from instant hot water, electricity can do anything gas can do but not vice versa and you can bring down electricity costs significantly with solar panels, which generally pay for themselves in 5-7 years then keep on giving after that.
     
  20. Matthew D

    Matthew D Well-Known Member

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    The rheem heat pumps have improved significantly since their first model was released.
    They cost about $3800-$4500 depending on which model you ch
    Overall, heat pumps are very very energy efficient. (1300watts vs 3600/4800watts - for standard electric HWS)


    Electric systems are more reliable and will not cost as much to repair if anything goes wrong as there's only 3 main components which may break down.

    Hard to compare gas with electric (price wise) so couldn't comment on that.

    Is this for your PPOR? Or IP?
    If it's an IP, just put in the most affordable option which would be standard Electric tank. The tenants can deal with the electricity.
    If it's PPOR, go with a heat pump.