Like any other purchase, buying a new hot water cylinder in NZ requires a bit of research. When your system finally breaks down, you don’t want to be stuck having cold showers for a month. Having heated aqua at your disposal is a luxury that shouldn’t be wasted. However, it is very important that you have the right system in place, one that considers your home’s specific needs, like how many people use the system and the structure of your home (like how many tap outlets there are).
So, if you’re in the market for a new hot water cylinder in NZ, here are several key things you need to do and remember before making that final purchase.
Know how they work
It’s always worthwhile knowing how your appliances work (roughly), should they break down or need to be repaired. At a basic level, your hot water cylinder in NZ stores aqua for your home. There are two basic system types: indirect and direct models. An indirect model relies on external heaters to warm the liquid in tank. Conversely, a direct system has immersion heaters within the tank, which heat the liquid internally.
The process
Cold liquid enters the tank when warm liquid exits (i.e. when a shower is being run or warm liquid is being used). As a result, the aqua at the bottom of the tank is relatively colder than the liquid at the the top of the tank. At the base of the storage tank is the thermostat, which triggers the heating mechanism when the temperature of the liquid drops below a certain benchmark. This process operates 24/7, ensuring that your hot water cylinder in NZ is always providing heated liquid.
Find out your sizing needs
If you have your hot water cylinder in NZ professionally installed, then leave it up to the professional to pick the right size. However, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have an idea of size and scale. It’s very important to have the right size hot water cylinder in NZ for many reasons, one of the most important ones being the climate. New Zealand is well known for enduring incredibly cold winter months, particularly the inland areas of the South Island, which can drop to temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius.
Another thing you need to consider is how many tap/outlets and people the tank needs to service daily. Usually, a single tank can provide enough for 1-3 people, however, if you have a family of 4+, you’ll certainly need to think about a size upgrade.
Know how to improve the system’s efficiency
Your hot water cylinder in NZ can vary in efficiency, which can be attributed to several factors. Old plumbing can inhibit your system’s capacity to heat the stored liquid at a rate fast enough to travel the poorly insulated pipes. Warm liquids that pass through poorly insulated plumbing will lose heat at a faster rate – so by the time the liquid gets to you, it might have lost a lot of heat.
Furthermore, larger homes (particularly multiple-storey homes) are prone to having temperature issues. This is because the system is often located further away from your home’s outlets than smaller homes, thereby undermining the heat and pressure of your plumbing. To get the most out of your hot water cylinder in NZ, you should consider having additional, more direct pipelines installed in your home. This will ensure the aqua, once heated, travels more directly to the various outlets within your home. Say goodbye to cold, lukewarm showers!
