This was one of the things which we had to decide on.
Which water heater to use.
Firstly, there is the storage water heater being heated by electricity.
Next, there is the gas heater being heated by gas.
Then, the instant heater also heated by electricity.
Finally there is this Bennington water heater which is something like a high powered instant heater which can be used to heat 2 bathrooms with 1 device.
I have had the benefit of using the first 3 water heaters so I did have quite a strong opinion on which to install.
For the storage water heater, the cost is SGD250 or so.
Using this, the hot water pressure is high for showering.
One installed device will provide hot water to 2 bathrooms.
Using electricity to heat the water is more expensive than gas.
Need to heat up the whole tank before using, may waste energy as you may not use all the hot water.
Need to wait to heat up the whole tank before using.
For the gas heater, the cost is SGD200 or so.
One installed device will provide hot water to 2 bathrooms.
Using gas to heat the water is relatively cheaper than electricity.
The heating device is placed near the kitchen, so when turned on, the hot water will flow from the kitchen through the pipes to the bathroom. This can take around 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Need to drill holes to lay new pipes for cold water to flow to the gas heater and pipes for the hot water to flow from the heater to the toilet to connect with existing internal pipes.
The instant heater cost ranges between SGD80-200 per unit.
Needs to install 1 heater per bathroom.
Using electricity costs more than gas to heat things up.
The instant heater is placed right beside the shower. Hot water is available instantly.
The water pressure is somewhat lower after flowing through the heater.
The Bennington water heater costs around SGD300
One installed device can provide hot water to 2 bathrooms.
Uses electricity so costs a bit more than gas.
The heater is placed in one bathroom so that bathroom will have hot water quite quickly.
The second bathroom will have to wait for the water to flow through the pipes to reach the second bathroom.
I've used the first 3 heaters before and I decided to install the instant water heater.
Here are my considerations.
1) Why not the storage heater?
I've used a storage heater when I was younger. It is very irritating to wait for the whole tank of water to heat up. Imagine coming back from work or a run and having to wait for the water to heat up before you are able to bathe. Not to mention we shower quickly and maybe use less than half the heated water. Meaning you heated more water than necessary and wasted the power in heating it up.
2) Why not the gas heater?
It is more expensive to use electricity to heat up water.
However, my wife and I don't shower for very long. Also if we use a gas heater, we would let the water run until the hot water reached the bathroom resulting in a wastage of water instead.
3) Why not the Bennington?
Essentially we don't need to spend SGD299 to provide hot water to 2 bathrooms. We only use 1 bathroom. Also, we have to wait for heated water to flow into the main bathroom before we are able to use it resulting in wasted water. So why spend SGD299 when I can get an instant water heater for around SGD100?
Ok we did contemplate having hot water for both bathrooms. We don't shower at the same time so we take turns to bathe. But maybe someone would stay over at our place and it would be useful to have heated water in both bathrooms. After much consideration, we were buying "insurance" for no real benefit. So I assume that I might need to have heated water for my 2nd bathroom. When would I need the heated water? Well typically if someone comes to my place to stay over. How often does someone come to my place in a year... Maybe once a month? Out of that, how many will stay over? Probably none. Furthermore, if they stayed over, they could just use the bathroom with heated water. No real issues. So why would I need to provide hot water to both bathrooms? Anyway, if I needed to in future, I could just install another instant water heater in my other bathroom.
Of course this decision is just for myself. Other people have other requirements. Example folks with kids may need to have both bathrooms heated so that more people could shower at the same time. Or some people may like higher pressure water and thus decide to install a storage heater. So to each their own.
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