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When you’re planning your new kitchen, it’s often a good time to review your options: gas hot water or electric?
For example, it might make sense to add a small electric cylinder just for the kitchen – especially if there’s a long pipe-run from the existing cylinder.
And is your existing solution the RIGHT solution? If this is a kitchen renovation, then its a good time to look at the whole house.
According to Energywise there are five possible hot water solutions. Well, there are actually six, but a fireplace wet-back isn’t really an option for the kitchen, is it?!
The traditional NZ solution, the good old hot water cupboard is where the cylinder is located for delivery to the whole home. There’s a cheap upfront cost but, unfortunately, it can be the most expensive to run. Although there can be advantages in using a night-time tariff to reduce costs.
If you have an older cylinder (pre 2002) this might be a good time to check it’s been wrapped to prevent heat loss.
If you’re tight on space, a gas cylinder has the advantage that it can be located outside the house – although they do have higher heat losses than an electric cylinder. Running costs can be expensive, especially if you don’t have gas in your street and need to rely on bottles.
On the plus side, you’ll still have hot water in a power cut, because gas cylinders can work without an electrical connection!
That’s a disadvantage for so-called “limitless” systems – they DO need an electrical connection. And, because there’s no cylinder with hot water already stored in it, if the power is off then so is the hot water!
That said, there’s definitely a lot in favour of hot water whenever you want it. In fact, having a limitless supply can lead to changed usage patterns, with an increased cost – because you’re using more hot water.
These systems are also located outside, which gives you more internal space.
Ah! Free energy from the sun! Actually, solar hot water has the lowest running costs because you can get 50 – 75% of your hot water needs from solar energy.
But there’s a couple of negatives: there’s quite a high upfront cost AND you’ll still need another hot water source as back-up.
Interestingly, this is a solution with low running costs, because it’s more efficient than traditional electric or gas water heaters. Plus, there are night tariff options, which provide further discounts.
On the downside, there’s a relatively expensive up-front cost.
SUMMARY
You have options – and now’s a good time to consider them. Talk to us about how your hot water delivery can be upgraded, while we’re installing your new kitchen.
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