Yup, the expensive part about getting the solar heater is actually the piping works. If you want it to be concealed then have to break the tiles, hack the wall, lay the pipe, replaster and retile back. As mentioned above, this part alone can be 6-8k for a DSL house. If want cheaper then run with exposed hot water piping but it would look ugly.

The solar heater itself is only 3-4k for some brands.

You use a commercial strength water pump is it?

For home use you won't die from the water pressure. The pressure is firm, but of course if you turn on full power at the tap it can be uncomfortable.

I'm not really that knowledgeable about pumps.

Anyway, for pumps Grundfos is a well established brand. Why don't you call one of their distributors like this place: http://www.megaseven.com.my/automatic.php and ask for a quote or recommendation. Note: I'm not affiliated with them.

Of course if you call a distributor for one brand they will always push that brand first. As you said it's part of their profit making to do so.

Certainly Grundfos isn't the only choice. I know a few other brands have entered the Malaysian market in the last few years. But I'm familiar with Grundfos because my parents house use it and I know it's been in Malaysia for many years, so servicing isn't a problem. With other brands if the distribution network isn't strong then service might be an issue.

I know you're seeking user reviews but so far not many people have replied about other brands. Anyway, for my own use in future I'm also getting a Grundfos.

In the end a pump is a fairly simple device. For me the main thing is: does it work reliably and is it quiet? If I need service are there many technicians who can service it?

The TS mentioned Davey. Here is their website: http://www.davey.com.au/products/household.aspx But I don't know much about this brand.
Another brand sold in Malaysia: http://www.ktstrade.com.my/nocchi/index.php

This post has been edited by jchong: Nov 7 2008, 09:49 AM

Normally in a house the ground floor kitchen tap is connected to the mains. All other taps are connected to the tangki (which in turn is connected to the mains).

If you feel that ground floor tap with the mains supply is not powerful enough, you can connect another water pump to it (then you have 2 pumps in the house) or the other solution is connect that tap to the tangki (so you still only have 1 pump).

This means that Panasonic model is a low power version that isn't sufficient for multiple taps being on at the same time. Every brand has several models from low power to high power.