WHICH GAS GEYSER SHOULD I BUY?
Simply put, there are three types of gas geysers available in South Africa – Standard/ Manual Gas Geysers, Constant Temperature Gas Geysers and Forced Fan Gas Geysers.
UNDERSTANDING GAS CONSUMPTION
Gas consumption is calculated by opening a hot tap being opened as wide as it can possibly go, & the geyser being run like this for one full hour.
Standard/ Manual Geysers do not have electronic control systems, so all of their gas burners all come on at the same time. This means that their gas consumption is the same whether one tap or more are operating.
Forced Fan geysers do have electronic control systems & are able to modulate their gas consumption according to demand for hot water.
STANDARD/ MANUAL GAS GEYSERS – *BATTERY OPERATED*
Brands of Standard/ Manual Gas Geysers on the South African market include Ariston, Atlas, Bosch. Ariston & Bosch are European manufactured. Atlas & any other brand of Manual geyser in SA are Chinese manufactured.
Advantages of Standard/ Manual Gas Geysers:
- Affordable pricing.
- Battery ignited & operated.
- Simple to operate and maintain. These gas geysers offer ‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’ temperature
controls, and a water inlet control. Most Standard Gas Geysers carry a one year warranty, provided they are installed by a qualified and registered gas installer (see our ‘Installations’ page on how to find a qualified gas installer in your area). Ariston & Bosch Standard/ Manual Gas Geysers offer a 2 year warranty, with the same conditions on installation.
Disadvantages of Standard Gas Geysers:
- Standard gas geysers are not able to effectively supply sufficient hot water to multiple hot taps operating simultaneously. In homes two or more bathrooms, you will ideally need one medium capacity Standard gas geyser (10l/12l/16l) per bathroom or 1x Forced Fan Gas Geyser.
- Standard/ Manual gas geysers cannot be programmed for an exact water temperature. They are factory-set to heat cold incoming water by another 35C-40C. On very cold winter days when incoming water can be as low as 2C, the geyser may struggle to reach good temperatures.
- These geysers cannot successfully supply water to upstairs bathrooms.
- Standard gas geysers are very sensitive to fluctuating water pressure, which will cause the geyser to keep switching off. This is problem can be overcome by installing a pressure pump between the water source and the geyser.
- Standard Gas Geysers must be fitted with a flue pipe , regardless of whether the geyser is installed indoors or outdoors.
- These geysers also need a weather cover to protect them from strong prevailing winds & rain.
GAS EFFICIENCY
Larger sizes of standard gas geysers will use more gas than than the smaller sizes of standard gas geysers. Generally speaking, the kitchen hot tap is used more frequently than any other in the home & for this reason it is sometimes more gas & cost effective to install a separate 6l or 8l geyser for the kitchen.
CONSTANT TEMPERATURE GAS GEYSERS
Constant Temperature Gas Geysers are Standard /Manual gas geysers (battery ignited) which come with a keypad on the geyser which allow it to be programmed for the water temperature needed at the taps.They are also able to maintain a stable water temperature when running 2 hot taps.
FORCED FAN GAS GEYSERS – PRIME AI-SERIES
Advantages of Advanced Gas Geysers:
- Forced Fan gas geysers are extremely gas efficient
- Exact water temperature can be pre-programmed.
- Forced Fan gas geysers can operate under low water pressure conditions of 1 bar.
- Paloma & Rinnai geysers can supply water up to 20 away from the geyser.
- Forced Fan Gas Geysers are the only geysers which can successfully supply hot water to upstairs bathrooms.
- Automatic stabilisation of fluctuating water pressure.
- Forced Fan gas geyser electronic systems ensure sufficient water pressure and temperature for multiple hot water taps operating simultaneously.
- Fully weatherproof & do not use flue pipes
- Forced Fan Gas Geysers can be connected directly to an existing solar water system as a back-up during cloudy weather/ winter.
- Paloma & Rinnai :10 year warranty providing the geyser has been installed by a qualified and registered gas installer (see our page on ‘Installations’ for how to find a gas qualified installer in your area). Note: 10 year warranty covers the heat exchanger. There is a 3 year warranty on all internal pipes and a 1 year warranty on electronics. Atlas &Typhoon : 1 year warranty.
Disadvantages of Forced Fan Gas Geysers:
- Forced Fan gas geysers cost between two to three times that of a Standard gas geyser.
- Forced Fan gas geysers must have electricity to ignite and to operate their electronic controls. Lack of electricity during power failures can be overcome by using a UPS/ Inverter/ Generator at these times.
- Forced Fan gas geysers can be run on generator power, however protection against power surges must be installed as this can damage the geyser’s electronic operating systems.