Gas hot water

goose29, Aug 1, 3:51pm
So our hot water cylinder which is in our ceiling leaked and the plumber found that it isn't even on a drip tray and quite illegal. He suggested we look at changing to a gas system instead of replacing what we have. Our current cylinder is quite hard to access so replacing it would be tricky anyway.
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations please? We're in christchurch if that makes a difference.
lee72, Aug 1, 4:12pm
we have gas it is wonderful we have a rinnai but they all do the same thing we get 6 to 8 weeks out of a 45 kg gas bottle their is 4 people in house
cagivachick1, Aug 1, 4:56pm
we were in the same position, we were doing up a upstairs bathroom and the new tapware wasnt really going to preform on unequal pressure plus the old cylinder was 20 years old so we went with gas, The rinnai 27 cost $900 and to get the gas installed and certed was around $1000, we get 3 months out of a bottle (usually 2 in the house) there is a annual charge for bottle hire around $100 and bottles cost $100 to refill. plus you have the added bonus of mains pressure, i have worked out we save around $50 a month on our power bill
goose29, Aug 1, 5:57pm
Sounds good. Although there are 7 of us and we currently just use night rate for hot water, so it might not be cheaper but we will have the bonus of hot water all day instead of just warm by dinner time.
ryanm2, Aug 1, 8:00pm
You wont regret going gas - we had a Rheem 27 system installed on our last place and it was great. Hot water is often around 40% of your power bill so it may give you a rough guide as to how much money you will save or not. We used No Bull gas and plumbing - good to deal with.
smalltrader2, Aug 1, 9:51pm
Go for instant gas hot water instead of storage gas cylinder . Instant gas is much more efficient and save you money. Rinnai, Rheem, Bosch all have instant gas hot water.
carter19, Aug 2, 3:09pm
The hot water is continuous not instant. It still travels from the califont to the tap. If there is a long distance between, there can be a long wait from the water. In one house we had a loss of 5 litres at the kitchen tap before the hot came thru. This was only a problem when the in laws visited and had about 30 cups of tea each per day and insisted on washing the cups after. This seriously depleted our tank water. Correct placement of the califont is really important.
jane310567, Aug 2, 8:19pm
Only would have gas now - also in chch. My plumber said that a heat pump hot water storage system - tank is outside, is the most economical but the dearest to install. He has solar hot water on his roof that is topped up with gas when needed and thinks its great. Make sure you install a unit capable of the load. 2(+) showers need a bigger unit. We recently built and the units available now are much better than a few years ago, much more efficient. We are with Nova energy and our cylinders are only $93. Approx 6-9 weeks - was 6 adults - now 4. You just have to have easy access to cylinders so you remember to check them occasionally! When we were looking around to buy a new build we were amazed that most had electric cylinders.
jane310567, Aug 2, 8:21pm
re carter19's comment - as the kitchen is the furthest away from the gas unit we were advised to get a tiny kitchen cylinder as you need hot water instantly in the kitchen! This works well. In our last house we didn't have this issue.
jane310567, Aug 2, 8:24pm
also watch out as you will have longer showers as no -one pressuring you to get out as you won't run out of hot water! When we rented recently as our house was being repaired we soon found out the hard way not to spend too long in the shower!
lynken37, Aug 3, 10:23pm
Gas is wonderful, we moved and the new house does not have it, I really miss the instant hot water and not having to run the tap for ages before you get any semblance of hot water, as well as never running out of hot water.
Highly recommend it.
fordcrzy, Aug 9, 1:16am
gas isnt "instant" its just lasts longer. for 7 people id definitly go with gas from the street not gas bottles
cagivachick1, Aug 9, 1:39am
not every street has reticulated gas, ours doesnt
tintop, Aug 9, 2:25am
Correct placement of the inlaws ? lol
gpg58, Aug 9, 5:19am
Chch too, Love my bosch unit, 8+yrs old now, and never misses a beat, using "On Gas" @ $106.90/45kg.
Best feature for me is the bath fill button, beats flooded bathrooms from forgotten fillings, especially with water saving taps being so slow to fill (150 litres taking 20mins with some), and being able to set fill temp, same for shower, i just set to 42 deg and use full hot on.
jonners2013, Aug 9, 5:44am
id really appreciate anyone in christchurch posting up both the cost of converting to gas and which company you used. so far ive heard prices ranging anywhere from $2000 to $5000!
d.snell, Oct 31, 12:06pm
Also when considering what Califont to buy, consider one that ignites using a little water powered generator rather than one that requires an electrical outlet to plug into. 2 benefits, cheaper to install and you have hot water in a power cut. Long term power outages are becoming quite common nowdays, so best be prepared.