Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Mar 15, 2012 10:57 am Hello all I must replace my electric hot water tank to bring it up to code for council plumbing approval. It's not worth repairing. I am paying maximum electricity rates for temporary connection and this won't change anytime in the near future so I have been looking into instant gas instead. We will only be here in this small "shack" for 3 - 4 years whilst we build our 'real' house further up the hill, so solar or heat pump is just too much up front for us to consider (plenty more urgent things to spend big bucks on). Our shack is only 63m2, one bathroom located close to the kitchen, taps less than 10m apart. We don't use hot water for our washing machine and are on gravity fed tank water. Our tank is 30+m up the hill so plenty of pressure. I probably only need a small capacity model. I am in Tassie so ambient and water temp in Winter is brrrr. We are a household of four, but try to minimise showers/baths because of limited tank storage. I've been reading feedback on the internet about these systems - Bosch, Rinnai, Dux. There is no information about Aquamax. Everyone seems to HATE them, curses them, wishes they could throw them off a cliff - it's pure vitriol. On one site Bosch has 104 negative feedback entries! Rinnai feedback isn't as bad but my local plumbing supply shop reckons their service in Tassie isn't great and he's had heaps returned lately. Seems all the options available are just awful. I am not sure how real this kind of feedback is and would really like to hear from people here who have used any of these brands or systems. Real experiences and views appreciated please about performance and economy. Seems my options are; Dux 20L50 Bosch 16H hydropower Rinnai infinity 16 or 20 Aquamax 20 Also I am worried about the ignition system in some models being reliant on elecctricity as losing power for protracted periods in storm season can be in issue here. Thanks for your help! Re: HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 2Mar 16, 2012 1:23 pm We have an "Chromagen Eternity G26" system here. The only annoyance is that you have to keep the water flow high or else the heater will switch off and the water goes cold. This only matter when having showers, and I have to keep the water flow higher than what I would have with an electric system. Something to consider if you have limited water supply. The other issue is that the hot water is not THAT hot on cold days. I can put my hand under full hot water during winter. So for washing dishes I will usually boil water in a kettle, especially for anything oily. We have used it for 1.5 years now. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 3Mar 16, 2012 1:34 pm We have one of the larger Rinnai - had to for Basix when we built. Have had no issues with it in the 2 yrs odd we have been living here. In regards to the Aquamax brand - we installed one of the electric water storage ones in one of our rentals. We haven't had any issues since installing it close to 5yrs ago. We bought it from Bunnibgs and chose it solely on price. So far so good. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 4Mar 17, 2012 5:50 pm Where we are currently renting we had a electric unit that was replaced with a instant gas hot water system. The unit they put in is a Bosch. We have had no problems with it to be honest. The only hassle is as it is electronic ignition if the power is out then that equates to no hot water either. So your replying on Gas and electricity which we were not used to coming from a electric unit only. The unit at the house we are building is solar gas boosted. Re: HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 5Mar 18, 2012 1:09 am Thanks everyone for the feedback. Glad to hear there are some people out there who are happy with these! From further research, seems that a lot of the problems people complain about are supposedly eliminated if you have the controller fitted AND you don't have a system too big for your needs, so I guess that means opting for the more expensive models but not too big. I am leaning towards a Rinnai so far..... Re: HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 6Mar 20, 2012 12:27 pm We had Rinnai infinity in our previous 2 homes so we were already used to using it. There was a Bosch one in this little house when we bought so we were quite glad about that. I'd advise you to get a thermostat if you can afford it because without one there is a bit of tap fiddling in the shower as the temperature of the water can an drop due to the decrease in pressure through the unit when you turn on the cold tap. With a thermostat you set your shower temp to 40 and off you go! We are a family of 6 and we've churned through the gas a bit though. 3/4 of a bottle in just under 2 months for hot water and cooking. Sam. ETA oh yes I forgot about no hot water when there is no power. Ours was off on Sunday so we had that problem. It doesn't put me off having one though A blog about our renovation http://notmynightmare.blogspot.com.au/ Re: HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 7Mar 21, 2012 2:00 pm Hey Sam, thanks for that info. Yep I've definity worked out now that the controllers help iron out a lot of the problems with them, as well as making sure the unit is not too big for your needs to avoid low flow issues. Thanks for confirming that. Is the Bosch one you have now the 16? I guess not as that one uses turbine ignition. I like the idea of that as power outtages are an issue where we live but it's the one with the worst feedback. I wish there was a way of having a back-up battery for the ignition. My other half can't believe I care, am I going to have a bath every time the power goes out he wants to know. Well, why not, a candle-lit bath seems like an excellent pastime during a blackout. Wow that's a lot of gas you've used, but probably ok if you have a few hairwashing females in the house. Hopefully it's still well cheaper than electricity? Your family of 6 probably would go through all the electric hot water being stored in an electric tank, whereas we wouldn't ever come close (even with me liking to wash my hair now and then), being on tank water and all, so we would just be paying for heating water we never used. Re: HELP LPG instant gas hot water feedback please 8Aug 23, 2012 9:28 am Hey I've got a G26 HWS Chromagen branded. Recently my hot water in the shower the flow and pressure is so pathetic! I have to put the hot water tap on full and the cold ever so slightly and even which the flow is extremely poor. Any idea what is wrong with the system? I don't really wanna have to get Chromagen out or a service agent cos that would cost a fair bit. Surely there is a quick fix for this? Cheers. I want to build a decking to the drawn shape outlined in black. The problem is how close can I build to the gas hot water unit? 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