What sort of Hot Water heater do I have?

Part 1
This is a commonly asked question by the home owner.  Basically  there are two types:

  • Gas Water heaters (often refered to as instantaneous water heaters as they heat water instantly when hot water is required)
  • Electric Hot Water Cylinders

This is fairly simple description of the two and yes there are a lot of variations on both types including, wet back (booster) options, solar options and a lot more.

We are not particularly interested in gas water heaters here, as they are a specialised field and maintained and repaired by gasfitters, which is a whole different trade. In New Zealand, by law, home owners cannot do ANY repairs or maintenance to any gas appliances. These repairs and maintenance must be carried out by a registered craftsman gasfitter. So please do not attempt any repairs to gas appliances!

Electric hot water cylinders
There are two main type of cylinders in use: Mains pressure (which operates on the same pressure coming in from the council supply water) or Low Pressure which has a maximum operating pressure of 76kPa by means of a pressure reducing valve fitted to the cold inlet side and venting by either an open vent (through the roof) or pressure relief valve. There are also variations of these cylinders including wetback and solar options for both low and mains pressure cylinders.

coming soon – part 2

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