If you’re building or renovating, you might be thinking about the best choice for heating water. Gas hot water, electric hot water cylinder, heat pump, or solar – there are lots of options.
This is the perfect time to consider whether gas hot water might be right for your home, because Firstgas has a fantastic deal on offer: homeowners can get up to $1,000 toward the installation cost of a high-efficiency Rinnai EF26 gas water heating system. This is a great upgrade option for older gas hot water systems, the EF26 uses 11% less energy than a standard Rinnai model thanks to its high-efficiency condensing technology. Plus, you get all the benefits of endless hot water for the whole household.
Source: Rinnai
The pros and cons of hot water systems
Why choose a gas hot water system? It’s not the right solution for every home, but it works particularly well if you already have a gas connection for cooking or heating and if your household uses a lot of hot water. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of various types of systems:
- Instantaneous gas hot water: Gas hot water systems (also known as continuous flow or ‘infinity’ systems) are ideal for households that need lots of hot water. They don’t store hot water in a tank, heating it only as required, which makes them very energy efficient. Plus, gas systems take up very little space, they’re reliable, and they deliver an almost endless amount of hot water so everyone in the household can shower whenever they like. Running costs are typically higher than a heat pump but lower than an electric cylinder; you will need a gas source, whether that’s a natural gas connection or LPG bottles on site.
- Electric hot water cylinders: These are popular for ease and cost of installation. But they’re costly to run and interior cylinders take up an entire cupboard. Plus, when you run out of hot water you have to wait for the entire cylinder to heat up again.
- Heat pump hot water cylinder: Much more efficient and cheaper to run than the traditional Electric hot water cylinder, but expensive to buy and install. The equipment sits outside of your house, requires a bit of space, and can create some noise.
- Solar water heating: Can be used to heat water in your home directly (rather than to power an electric hot water cylinder). This requires a collector mounted on your roof, usually with a booster for peak periods and cloudy days. Setup is costly but once installed it has very low ongoing costs.
Picking the best system for your home
Source: iStock image
There’s no single answer for which hot water system is best for every home. It depends on how much hot water you need, your budget, the space in your house, and what other energy sources are available.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when you’re considering a new hot water system or an upgrade to an existing one:
- How much hot water do you need? Large households with overlapping showers need more hot water, which is when gas systems can be particularly useful.
- What space is available for a system? An electric hot water cylinder might take up an interior cupboard, while a heat pump cylinder will need to go on the outer wall of the house. Think about how you want to use the available space in your home.
- What energy is available at the property – is there a gas connection? Make the most of it with water heating, cooking and keeping your home warm.
- Do you know the upfront costs of each viable option? What about the ongoing costs? What will best fit with your budget?
It’s useful to chat with your builder, plumber or gasfitter to get a sense of any installation complications or costs that you might not have factored in. Once you’ve gathered all the information you need, you can make an informed choice about which water heating system will be best for your household.
