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Benefits of Installing a Heat Pump Hot Water Cylinder: Is It Worth It?

In today’s world, we’re all looking for ways to save energy and reduce our bills. One way to do this is by installing a heat pump hot water cylinder. Heat pumps are energy-efficient devices that take energy from the air and use it to heat water. This process is much more efficient than traditional gas or electric systems and can save you a considerable amount of money in the long run. But is it really worth the initial cost and effort of installing a heat pump hot water cylinder? In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of installing a heat pump hot water cylinder to help you decide if it’s worth it for you.

What is a Heat Pump Hot Water Cylinder?

A heat pump hot water cylinder is a device that transfers the heat from your home’s air into your hot water system to reduce your energy usage. It works much the same way as a refrigerator, except that it uses the outside air as the cooling source instead of refrigerant. A heat pump hot water cylinder can be installed in the electric system, provided it’s of a high enough capacity. Heat pumps can save you a lot of money on your energy bills compared to traditional systems, but they do require an initial investment. Heat pumps take advantage of the “thermal gradient”, which is the difference in temperature between the inside and outside of a building. The smaller the difference, the more efficient the system will be. During the summer, the thermal gradient is reduced and the heat pump becomes much more efficient. Some heat pumps during the winter months are less efficient since the outside temperature is usually much lower at that time of year.  However, you can combat this by installing a heat pump that can provide good efficiencies down to -15 degrees.

Benefits of Installing a Heat Pump Hot Water Cylinder

There are many benefits to installing a heat pump hot water cylinder, including lower energy bills, reduced carbon emissions, and a more efficient system overall. A heat pump hot water cylinder such as this Rheem can save you hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs. Depending on the size of your home and the size of the cylinder installed, the savings can be even higher. Heat pumps are also environmentally friendly, as they reduce your carbon emissions by as much as 40% compared to a traditional system. A heat pump hot water cylinder can last for years, so you don’t have to worry about it breaking down and needing to be replaced any time soon as long as regular maintenance is taken (every 3-5 years). A heat pump hot water cylinder can lower your risk of water damage and water loss due to the increased efficiency of your system. If a heat pump hot water cylinder malfunctions, you can usually detect it and have it replaced without incurring any significant costs.

Cost Savings

Depending on where you live and your current energy costs, the initial investment in a heat pump hot water cylinder can be anywhere from $5,000 to $9,000. However, it can pay for itself in as little as five years if you’re in an area with high energy costs. The savings you’ll get from a heat pump hot water cylinder are due to the lower energy use and the fact that you don’t have to replace it as often. Your energy costs will be lower because heat pumps use less energy to heat your water than a standard system. This is due to the fact that the air outside your home is naturally cooler than the air inside your home. When you use a heat pump hot water cylinder to heat your water, the system uses that outside air as a heat source. This is much more efficient than using an electric or gas heating system, which transfers the heat from one area to another. A heat pump hot water cylinder will also last longer than a traditional system, meaning you don’t have to replace it as often. This will save you additional money in the long run.

Environmentally Friendly

Heat pumps are environmentally friendly due to the fact that they use outside air as a source of heat instead of transferring heat from one place to another as standard systems do. This means that there will be less heat loss, resulting in a more efficient system that requires less energy than traditional systems. This reduced energy use means that your carbon emissions will be reduced by as much as 40% when you use a heat pump hot water cylinder compared to a traditional system. Heat pumps will also last longer than traditional systems (with servicing), reducing the number of carbon emissions that are released due to the need to replace the system.

Potential Drawbacks

One of the drawbacks to installing a heat pump hot water cylinder is that it requires an extra electrical circuit. This means that you will either have to install a new circuit or add an additional circuit to your electrical system. The cost of adding an electrical circuit is usually not significant, particularly when compared with the amount of money you can save over a period of years due to the lower energy use. However, if your home doesn’t have enough electrical capacity for a new circuit, you may need to run an extension cable to the nearest circuit. The cost of this will depend on the length of the cable and the type of cable you use. Additionally a heat pump can be noisier than traditional hot water cylinders although modern technologies and being external often negate much of this issue. A heat pump hot water cylinder is also more complex than a traditional system, so you may need to hire a professional with the right credentials to install it for you. While a heat pump hot water cylinder is more efficient than a traditional system, the initial investment is usually more than when installing a traditional system.

Conclusion

Overall, a heat pump hot water cylinder is a great way to save money on your energy bills and reduce your carbon emissions. The initial investment may be more than a traditional system, but it will pay for itself in no time. The benefits of installing a heat pump hot water cylinder outweigh the drawbacks, making it a worthwhile investment for most homeowners. If you’re looking to lower your energy costs, a heat pump hot water cylinder is a great option. With the reduced carbon emissions and increased efficiency, it’s no wonder that heat pumps are becoming more and more popular. Give Hot Water Cylinders NZ a call today and see how much money on hot water you could save long-term!

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What Is The Best Hot Water Cylinder in New Zealand?

We get many phone calls and emails from people asking, “What is the best hot water cylinder”?

The quick answer is, there is no quick answer.

This blog could end up being thousands of pages long

In principle, this answer is not brand-driven but rather situation driven.

These situations consist of

  • Residential applications
  • Commercial applications
  • Efficiency applications
  • How many people are in your household?

 

Let’s explain.

 

Residential applications

If you only have two people in your household, sure you can get a “standard” 180L hot water cylinder. But this would be wasteful as you would never truly use all the hot water that cylinder provides and beyond that, you will be spending a lot more on energy costs heating up more hot water that you won’t use!

You would be much better off with a gas instantaneous unit instead, this unit is designed to only heat hot water when you use it. Because you only have 2 showers a day and run the kitchen and bathroom occasionally, you will only use gas when you need it.

These units as you can imagine are ideal for holiday homes. You visit the Bach a couple of times a year, normally when you arrive you’ve got to wait a couple of hours for the water to heat up. With an instantaneous unit, just hook up the gas bottle and turn on the electrical switch. Instant hot water straight away.


A 3–4-person household:

If you have 3-4 people in your household, your standard-size hot water cylinder of 180 litres such as a Rheem 180 would be your ideal solution as you would use most of the hot water of that cylinder and you wouldn’t be heating water that you don’t use.

 

However, if you have 5 or more people in your household, you’ll need more hot water. A gas hot water cylinder such as a Rheem Stellar would be most beneficial for your situation for energy consumption. Gas has the power to produce a great amount of energy in a short amount of time. Instead of 160 litres that the cylinder holds, it produces 300 litres in the first hour.

 

Commercial applications

 

Commercial properties undeniably require a lot of hot water and for this, you need a stronger unit. A Rinnai HD250 is designed for higher hot water demand such as hotels, nail salons and restaurants. These units are excellent for producing great amounts of hot water for busy business applications and again, it only uses hot water when you need it.

Efficiency applications

 

There are options to get more efficiency out of hot water. There are solar options that harness the power from the sun to heat up your hot water – at no cost.

You can get cylinder blankets that are wrapped around the cylinder to keep in as much heat within the cylinder as possible.

Insulating the hot water pipework is also an option to efficiently keep more heat from escaping away into the atmosphere. Much like the cylinder blanket, it’s wrapped around the pipework and acts the same way as a heat barrier.

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Is Your Gas Water Heater Safe from the Weather?

This is no coincidence. How can bad weather damage your instant gas water heater?

Two days of bad weather and this is the result!

Five units in just two days since tropical storm hits Auckland!

As the week went on, more and more instant water heaters have becomes victims to the weather.

Today we will be addressing why this happens and what you can do to safeguard your valued hot water appliance.

INSTALLATION SAFEGUARDS

It is needless to say that you require a registered plumbers and gasfitters to install a gas powered instantaneous water heater.

A Gasfitter will strictly follow appliance location as per standard AS/NZS 5601. Within you will find restrictions as where an external water heater can be located safely and compliantly.

Unfortunately despite having met compliance and safety the installer should take various other factors into consideration such as:

  1. High wind zones
  2. Exposure to environmental effects such as the sea where salt is carried by the breeze. It is a known fact that steel corrodes much faster in such environment.

POTENTIAL DAMAGE

First of all, we don’t want to worry any of our readers in case you do have an external water heater affected by one of the above scenarios. This information is more of an FYI and has become more relevant to the changes in our weather patterns over the last few year, especially given the high number of replacements that have taken place recently. We believe that installers should be slightly more cautious upon deciding where they will install an external instant water heater.

Whilst the appliances are I.P (Ingress protection rating) rated at IPX-5 (Protected against low pressure water stream from any angle) if positioned in a high wind zone, moisture may still find its way into areas that that includes electronics or if close to the ocean highly corrosion will create more risk especially if water finds its way into the flu which is made of very vulnerable metals. As you can see in the images above corrosion has been the main factor for the IP rating to fail which has led to the units EOL.

Further, in some instances and especially with gas powered hot water cylinders such as the Rheem Stellar high wind zones will cause ignition problems if the pilot light is affected.

TAKING PRECAUTIONS

So what can you do to safe guard your gas instantaneous water heater?

Once you have worked out where the unit is to be located, ensure it’s not a high wind zone. You can do this by using basic tools and in most cases common sense by evaluating the environment.

If there is a concern of high winds or high corrosion risk, then we recommend the unit is installed within a complaint box. This can be bespoke or something like the following example:

https://rinnai.co.nz/accessories/rinnai-infinity-metal-recess-box

The added benefit you will have is theft protection!

Whatever solution you find, your main objective is to ensure the installation is done by a registered tradesman and is fully compliant and safe. Hot Water Cylinders NZ has experience in both.

Give us a ring if you are after any solutions to safeguard your appliance.