about to upgrade to a mains hot water cylinder - pluber has tried to upsell us to a 250l cylinder rather than a 180l - we are a small family, 2 adults, and 2 year old - is a 250l necessary?
also, has anyone tried to powdercoat bath taps? we have been wanting to get black bathtaps but cant find any anywhere.so thinking about powdercoating the old ones - has anyone tried this, and did it work out ok once reassembled and fitted?
ryanm2,
Feb 19, 6:13pm
tried Mico's for your tapware? Black tapware is very in vogue at the mo so im surprised you cant find anywhere that sells them. 180L should be enough especially if you are not on a day/night rate.
tigertim20,
Feb 19, 6:46pm
have looked at mico online, along with several others, bah spouts in black are plentiful, but nothing in black as far as a traditional, basic bath type style goes - which is what we really want!
I thought 180L would be fine, I dont think ive lived in a house with bigger than a 180L cylinder before myself, but thought Id see what others have found works for them
trade4us2,
Feb 19, 7:18pm
I have a 180L low pressure tank with a 3kW heater. It is fine.
Why do you want a mains pressure tank? Most plumbers don't install the low pressure tanks as high as they could.
nzjay,
Feb 19, 8:11pm
Too small hot water cylinders have always been a problem in NZ. insufficient storage. In my 55 yrs of working with them, I have seen them grow from 20gal, to 30gal, mostly now 40gal. Should be a minimum of 60gal with a smaller element. The answer has been to fit bigger wattage elements, even boost elements. Elements were only 1 or 1.5kw in those early days, now they are often 3kw. The surface operating temp of the big elements, shortens their life considerably. The best answer is more storage and a smaller element that may pretty well last the life of the cylinder. The ideal is a big cylinder on night rate cheap power. You can only do this if you have the storage capacity. In the USA, you never see anything under 100gal, often 200gal, well insulated, a small element, sacrificial anodes and a very long life.
lythande1,
Feb 19, 9:09pm
Plumber.
Hell no. we are 3 adults and one older kid, and never use all the 180l.
spyware,
Feb 19, 9:38pm
You're assuming people only having showers.
180 litre is really only good for one bath and dishes at night (if you don't heat during day). Would then be stone cold.
270 litre should be minimum in any modern house (especially if nightstore only).
supernova2,
Feb 19, 9:45pm
Mains pressure hot water uses a lot more water. 5 minute shower on low pressure is a dribble but on mains it's a fire hose so much much more hot used. So I think if you are going mains pressure electric you will need to do what the plumber suggests. If its gas might not be such a problem as it will probably be able to reheat quicker. TBH if you want mains then the only option is a califont system (no tank). Running on LPG bottles is not very expensive and you never run out of hot water nor are you constantly paying to keep a tank full of water hot just in case you want to use it.
eddienz,
Feb 19, 10:46pm
2 adults and one child here. 300lt tank and we some times run it out if we all have showers one after the other
aredwood,
Feb 19, 11:21pm
Check the pricing on a 300L cylinder. Every time I have checked, 300L has either been cheaper than 250L. Or such a small difference, that you would be silly not to get the 300L
it also depends on your shower flow. If you have 25L/min, a 180L cylinder will be empty in around 15 min.
hammer23,
Feb 20, 10:03am
I had 180l mains pressure in my last house and 5 of us. 3 could shower in the morning and two at night and if you were number 3 bad luck.
amasser,
Feb 20, 12:32pm
Cape Town in news lately.
articferrit,
Feb 20, 12:54pm
if you are upgrading to mains pressure why not put in the biggest tank you can, it wont just always be 2 adults and a 2 year old in your house, what about 'future proofing'? or for when you sell it? We put in a 300l tank and heat it on night rate so no difference to power usage than before.
elect70,
Feb 20, 1:37pm
Taps can be powder coated quite cheap but if chrome need decroming first Hot water - id go for gas rather than new HWC endless suply of hot water & its cheaper than electricity, not paying for storing heat . if on town supply , bit dearer if using bottled gas ( unless you use BBQ type bottles ) which many do if only small family . For electric ,a 300L tank will have a bigger element & may need the wiring upgraded , but plumber wont tell you that adds to the cost .
tigertim20,
Feb 20, 6:21pm
thanks for the input people. want to go to mains pressure cylinder for a few reasons, current cylinder is not very old, however is installed at floor level, no header tank, and crap water pressure for showers etc.
Looked into gas, but is more expensive to install, and dont want to have to worry about bottles etc.
an upgrade to mains pressure cylinder is a happy medium in terms of both cost and outcome, so looks like the best option for us.
Looks like we will look into a larger cylinder
supernova2,
Feb 20, 8:00pm
And dont forget that the power required for a mains tank will be much more than your old low pressure system. Due to the imncreased pressure you will use much more water so much more power to keep it hot.
Has the plumber had a good look at what you have there now? Do you have the correct shower fittings etc?. Lifting the cylinder will probably fix your shower problem.
Our gas califont instal was a cheaper option than going to mains electric. Bottles are no worry/work at all. You watch the indicator and when it goes red simply ring your gas coy and they drop off a new one. I just check ours every Saturday morning.
300L cylinders are normally fitted with 3KW elements. Same as what most 180L cylinders come with. Heatup time is 6 hours from cold. Could always just fit a 2KW element if the wiring can't handle 3KW. Just have to make sure that if the 300L cylinder is on night rate power, It would be able to fully heat from cold during a single night rate on cycle. Budget 9.5 hours to completely heat a 300L cylinder with a 2KW element.
In comparison, my house when I first bought it. Had a 135L cylinder with a 1KW element. Just over 8 hours for it to heat up, and it was feeding a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. Not fun when it ran out.
jan2242,
Feb 21, 10:14am
180L here and for a time was used for 7 adults. Showers were spaced out though but would never go bigger.
trade4us2,
Feb 21, 11:39am
If the top of the current cylinder is level with or higher than the shower rose, the pressure should be adequate with a low flow shower rose (which is all you really need). Otherwise I'd recommend raising the current tank and putting an overflow pipe up 7.6 metres with a small tank with mesh filter on the top. And find a plumber who knows what he's doing. Most don't.
harm_less,
Feb 21, 1:37pm
If you have any future plans of installing PV a larger (250L+) cylinder with two elements is worth considering. Use the bottom element for now as the primary (only) heating. When you hook up PV then use the top element as a back-up (from the grid) with the bottom element being used to 'store' your PV generation rather than export it to the grid for a meagre return. This system is commonly referred to as a 'poor man's battery'.
elect70,
Dec 21, 7:59am
Unfortunaly most plumbers dont realise bigger element = higher current when they connect them up . Esp in older houeses usually the fuse blows or MCB trips after a while
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