Hi sifu, i like the convenience of having a centralized heater and lower risk of being electrocuted. Is it really safer compared with instant water heater?

What do i need to take note/check regularly for these water heaters?

Thank you

Same

storage heaters safer - just turn it off before you take your showers.

This post has been edited by idoblu: May 6 2018, 10:01 AM

If you want safer to operate storage heater, ON the heater before bath. Once water hot, turn OFF the heater. Take the bath.

Instant heater can’t.

Storage heater safer. I always do like above forumer said. And water from storage heater much more hot. The instant heater cant compare with that.

Switching off the power is 100% safest. But you must remember to switch it off. To lower the risk due to human error, you can add on a 10mA RCCB. With 10mA RCCB, both storage and instant are equally safe. Off course switching off power confirm no risk of electrocution.

Storage heater is always safer, just make sure the heater is installed higher and far from human contact & water.

just sharing my experienced regarding storage heater ...
heater

thanks ...

Hi, seems like most of the ppl here prefer storage heater. There was an accident last year on explosion of storage heater even when it's off. What do you think about it? How do we prevent similar accident from happening?

Another solution is for gas type instant heater. I am in the middle of planning my renovation and came across this solution. From my limited reading it seems the risk is no higher than a gas stove or electric instant heater. Some of the advantage - can be installed outdoor and running cost is lower than electric. However the down side is that this is not a popular solution and only one brand available.

Personally i am very tempted to give this solution a chance; simply because i am living with someone who enjoy super duper ultra long hot shower ie about 30 mins, and please dont ask me what is he doing inside there.

For the electric water storage heater there are two safety devices.

One is an electrical RCD(residual current device) & the other a PRV (temperature/pressure relief valve)

There is usually a test button to trip the RCD to see if it is working so press the trip button once a while to make sure the RCD is working

For the PRV you will need to see the hot water storage PRV drain pipe is not blocked and you can sometimes test the valve by manually pressing but hot water or steam will shoots out so be careful.

When the PRV fails the hot water cylinder becomes a cannon and will explode or rocket out its mountings making a big hole in the ceiling or take down a wall. You don't want to be nearby when that happens.

So where do you guys normally install storage heater? My place is a condo, is I want the storage heater to be shared by 2-3 rooms it's better to install it somewhere in the middle? Is it advisable to install above the plaster ceiling or it should be visible for regular check? How often do we need to check the heater to make sure it's not faulty?

Mine is a condo too. I got one heater that is installed at my aircon ledge and it supplies hot water to the whole apartment. This is not common as most condos only have a short copper pipe from mixer to the plaster ceiling above in each bathroom. So you will need to have one heater for each bathroom. But if you got two bathrooms adjacent to each other, you can get away with just one heater supplying to both bathrooms.

You worry too much. Totally unnecessary. If you worry about electrocution, just turn off your heater before showering. If you worry about explosion because of too much pressure, dont turn it on 24x7, just turn it on 10mins before showers and off during showers. No power means no heat. No heat means no pressure will build up. There is already a temperature sensor that will cut off electricity to the heater when it gets too hot. And a pressure release valve to release pressure. Both have to fail before anything bad happens. If you practice to turn off your heater off, then there is a total of 3 fail-safe

If you want a centralized heater like what I am using, then you must be prepare to hack and install copper pipes from heater to all the locations you need hot water. Btw mine is turn on 24x7

This post has been edited by idoblu: May 21 2018, 08:53 AM

Great info, thanks!

May i know roughly how much is your electric bill? how does it work actually? The water will be heated up 24x7? or only when the temperature drop to a certain level then the water will be heated up again?

safest is no heater - true story.

on a serious note - i have use gas type before.
they last practically forever.
down side is run out of gas = no heater.
so need to keep spare gas tank.

This post has been edited by COOLPINK: May 21 2018, 03:26 PM

The condo developer thought it through very well...Daikin heat pump AC is a good energy conserving candidate if they're sold here. Free hot water with AC usage.

This post has been edited by halcyon27: May 23 2018, 09:11 AM

In the UK, Cleese (whose gas regulator is sold here under the Comap brand) have auto switchers such that when one tank finishes it switches to the next but not sure if they make the interface fit for our 14kg cooking gas tanks.

This post has been edited by halcyon27: May 22 2018, 04:42 PM

many years ago i saw the aircon type heat pump water heater. i think the brand was Asics. i think some company was also selling this - i saw at Homedec

btw mine is also heat pump water heater. It has its own compressor and uses the ambient air instead to generate heat. My electric bill around RM100-250 depending on how much aircon I use so I think very little energy usage is from the water heater itself. Another plus - heat pump heaters dont have heating element so no scared of electrocution.

What is the range for storage heater installation fee? >rm500 or < rm 500?