GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

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aquaman
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GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby aquaman » Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:31 pm

Is it a good idea to use these gas water heaters, do they use a lot of gas ?

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby fincalospinos » Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:40 pm

They are very economical to run as they only heat the water that you use.
During winter, I shower and my wife baths daily, and we also use hot water for washing up, a gas bottle lasts between 4 - 6 weeks. Summer time it lasts a lot longer because the water doesn't need to be heated so much.
Hardworking resident !!

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby aquaman » Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:18 pm

Thanks, we thought this was the way to go.

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby El Cid » Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:15 pm

A decent electrical water tank on a timer on an off peak supply is almost certainly cheaper.

It also has the advantage that if you like a decent high pressure shower (as opposed to drip feed) they can provide the water which an instant heat gas boiler cannot.

Sid

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby gerryh » Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:30 pm

Just to throw my 2 cents worth in.
We have a gas instantaneous heater that supplies hot water to the kitchen sink.
Its mounted outside in a small metal housing.
Use 3 or 4 bottles a year.
Hot water for the bathroom sink is provided by an instantaneous electric heater.
Hot water for the shower is provided by an instantaneous electric heater via a pumped supply.
Average electric bill for water heating, air con, electric cooker, dishwasher, washing machine, microwave, fridge freezer, TV, computers, lights, water pump etc. is €85 a month.
No need for a bulking electrically heated water tank.
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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby El Cid » Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:34 pm

Well we get all the hot water we need for about €60 a year which is about the same as you pay for 4 gas bottles!

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby gerryh » Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:07 pm

Sid
I'm not suggesting you don't. :yawn:
Should have mentioned that most of the 4 bottles of gas are, probably, used by the gas hob.
Just giving an alternate method that suits us.
We don't have the space for a electrically heated hot water tank.
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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby annfoto » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:08 am

We have an externally mounted gas boiler which provides water for the shower, bathroom taps, kitchen sink and outside kitchen sink. It uses about 9 or 10 bottles a year at about €15 each.
The water pressure for the shower is controlled by our domestic pressure pump as we are on well water and is currently set to about 2.5 bar, much more than that will start to remove skin :thumbup:
Oh and by the way the boiler came with the house wasn't new then and we have been here 10 years (so did the pump but we converted it from a hydrosphere pressure controlled on to one of the modern pressure switches 4 years ago)
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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby Campo Steve » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:04 am

We have an electric hot water tank in one house, gas in the other. We are thinking of changing the electric one to gas.

It isn't a financial consideration, more that if we have visitors and four people want showers, the fourth one will be cold. The tank isn't small, it seems to be average size, but it takes a while to heat up a full tank, so the hot water can run out. It's been like that from new with all new plumbing so cal build-up isn't the probem.

For me, it would be gas every time. The only issue for me is availability of gas. Does the gas delivery truck come near to your house? If not, and you have to drive to exchange your bottles, then remember that having a gas bottle in the car is illegal, as discussed in threads elsewhere.
I've got an inferiority complex, but it's not a very good one!

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby masterob » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:29 am

El Cid wrote:
It also has the advantage that if you like a decent high pressure shower (as opposed to drip feed) they can provide the water which an instant heat gas boiler cannot.
Our system is identical to that described above by annfoto and it certainly gives us a very decent high pressure shower. I think I'm correct in saying that the instant heat gas boilers need a certain level of water pressure before they will work properly.
Campo Steve wrote:
If not, and you have to drive to exchange your bottles, then remember that having a gas bottle in the car is illegal, as discussed in threads elsewhere.
I've read previously here about carrying gas botles in the car but as the garage sells them (presumably legally), how else would anyone transport them from a garage? Rightly or otherwise, I tend to take with a pinch of salt some of the dire warnings I read here - hope I'm not proved wrong! :shock:

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby Mike.M » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:37 am

We had one for several years before switching to oil / solar ..... they work fine and are efficient .... we had a Fagor. Simple, no fancy electronics and easy to taker the cover off and service / clean.

Not so sure how they'd last if placed outside though.

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby Campo Steve » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:06 am

I stand corrected on the matter of carrying them in the car.

Real Decreto Ley 15/1999 Art 1.2 states:
"Se autoriza el transporte de envases que contengan gases licuados del petróleo, de hasta 15 kilogramos de capacidad unitaria, en vehículos de uso particular y con un máximo de dos envases, siempre que se transporten en posición vertical cuando esten llenos y se adopten las medidas adecuadas para evitar su caída. Queda prohibido el estacionamiento de vehículos que contengan envases de gases licuados del petróleo, cualquiera que sea su volumen y carga, en estacionamientos subterráneos."

Which translates to (according to Google translate):

"It allows the transport of containers containing liquefied petroleum gas, up to 15 kilograms of unit capacity, in vehicles for private use and a maximum of two containers, when transported in an upright position when they are filled and action is taken designed to prevent their fall. prohibited the parking of vehicles containers containing liquefied petroleum gas, whatever its size and charge, in underground parking lots. "

And there was me panicking every time I went for gas and spotted a Guardia vehicle. Unwittingly, I have been complying with the law, unless the law has changed since 1999.
I've got an inferiority complex, but it's not a very good one!

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby El Cid » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:54 am

masterob wrote:
Our system is identical to that described above by annfoto and it certainly gives us a very decent high pressure shower. I think I'm correct in saying that the instant heat gas boilers need a certain level of water pressure before they will work properly.
True but there is also a limit to how fast they can heat up the water passing through - hence my point about the shower pressure - it obviously also depends on how hot you want it and the time of year. You can get the same effect with electric showers.

Sid

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby katy » Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:23 am

Agree Sid. We had just one bathroom on gas. To run a bath took ages and even then could run cold and no way could you run a power shower. We did have a gas hob and the butano seemed to last for at least 6 months, maybe more

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby annfoto » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:18 pm

True but if you are not getting enough pressure then your boiler isn't big enough.
We have a little cassita which we use when friends are visiting. It has a little gas boiler and the shower in there could only be described as adequate in summer and pathetic in winter. :lolno:
We have a much larger boiler in our main house and the shower is a power shower, I certainly couldn't stand more pressure. If you turn the shower on in cold only then turn the temperature up and the pressure drops then the boiler isn't big enough :think:
That boiler gets through a gas bottle every 2 weeks in the coldest part of winter and at least 6 weeks in summer.
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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby Free at Last » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:26 pm

When we bought our house we had a gas boiler for heating water, mounted on a exterior wall in the patio. We found that the pilot light tended to go out (could have been an old boiler) and also it wasn't very pleasant if the gas ran out and the water went cold mid-shower.

We changed it for an electric one which we use with a timer to heat the water for a couple of hours in the early morning and a couple more in the evening. That provides plenty of hot water for our two-person household, if we have visitors staying we tend to leave it on all day. It's very economical.

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby country boy » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:55 pm

Now you see..... all the above comments are valid and are in my experience very representative of the options, but here's another: I brought down from the UK an indirect cylinder and lpg combi boiler. This was what I knew and I thought would be the answer in converting our 150 year old finca. It was, with the initial option of using the Immersion heater for hot water only it was perfect. The best refinement has been, the original set up still functional, but now with a home-made solar panel doing heating into the Indirect core...fantabbydozzy. We have spent not a single centimo since the beginning of May and we have so much hot water we can't use it all. The lesson I think is, be versatile and use a combination of things, the sun is so hot down here for 6 months of the year...use it!

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby aquaman » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:59 pm

Thanks everyone. The reason we thought of gas for heating the hot water was because we are thinking of using a complete solar system and thought the gas would release more solar power for other things, am in the process of buying a campo house, although it has had mains electricity in the past we think it will be expensive to get reconnected as the new meter will have to be on the road which is at least 200 meters from the house.

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby Chunky Monky » Fri Jul 06, 2012 12:26 am

country boy wrote: but now with a home-made solar panel doing heating into the Indirect core...

Hi CB, I am interested in these solar panel systems. Have you mentioned it on here before? Can I look it up?

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Re: GAS HEATERS FOR HEATING WATER

Postby country boy » Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:07 am

I made a wooden frame with a Marine Ply back to accommodate a galvanised steel sheet which was 1x2 metres from our local steel stockholders. Wired to the sheet I made a zig zag of 15mm copper tube using back to back elbows at each return, keeping the join distance to a minimum. Cold water enters at the bottom and exits at the top. There is a bleed screw at the top to vent air on set up. Water is circulated via an ordinary central heating circulating pump through an Indirect HW cylinder. The cylinder is a mains pressure type so the domestic hot water that emanates from it is mains pressure also.
The plate with the tube attached was painted matt black and mounted in the box atop a one inch layer of tightly packed free-press newspapers. (Readily available at your local Garage :D ). I routed a groove in the wooden frame into which I slid a piece of Polycarbonate sheeting, the double layer variety.
The whole rig is mounted on a couple of legs at the appropriate angle and in my case anchored down to a tyre filled with concrete so it can't blow over.

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