Six criteria for choosing a gas instantaneous water heater

Recommendation points

• The fourth criterion is the type of ignition
• The fifth criterion is temperature setting
• The sixth criterion is protection

Instantaneous gas water heaters are a very popular choice for homes and apartments that have a gas supply. Our advice site decided to help you make the right choice of this necessary, modern, useful household appliance by talking about six main criteria to which you should pay attention.

There are no problems with replacing gas equipment for the home now. Modern gas water heaters are seriously different from the old ones. They are compact, economical, with advanced security systems, and work automatically. It’s like modern condensing boilers compared to Soviet AGV.

The choice of models of gas water heaters is great and it must be done correctly, having studied all the features of this equipment.

The first selection criterion is a gas water heater with an open or closed combustion chamber.

Columns with an open chamber are cheaper in cost, simpler in design, but more stringent requirements are imposed on the rooms in which they are installed. There should be no ventilation problems! Water heaters in which the combustion chamber is open (to atmospheric columns) need a chimney of a specific section with an accelerating section – a vertical pipe coming from the device. In this case, the length of the booster section must be at least 3-4 diameters of the chimney pipe. That is, you cannot hang a column with an open combustion chamber anywhere.

Water heaters with a closed combustion chamber have their own fan, which supplies air. The chimney for such columns is coaxial, as for boilers. Therefore, if the room has problems with ventilation, it is impossible to equip an ordinary chimney, then choose a device with a closed combustion chamber. It can be hung almost anywhere, and the coaxial chimney is easy to take outside..

The second criterion is thermal power

The performance of the gas column is very important. If you simultaneously turn on the faucet in the kitchen to wash the dishes, the washbasin in the bathroom, and someone is taking a shower at the same time, the water consumption will be 14 liters per minute! And the water should be everywhere at the optimum temperature. If the capacity of the water heater is low, then it is possible that a person will be under a cold shower, if at this time someone opens the tap in the kitchen.

In order to heat a liter of water per minute at + 25 ° C, you need 1.7 kW. That is, a 22 kW model will heat 13 liters of water per minute. Estimate how many tap points you have, how often situations occur when hot water is needed both in the bathroom and in the kitchen. And according to this criterion, choose the rated power of the gas column, that is, its performance.

The third criterion is gas pressure

We are talking about the minimum and maximum indicator that you can find out from your gas supply organization. If the pressure is less than 13 mbar, the column will operate at a lower capacity than stated. At pressures above 25 mbar, the heat exchanger may overheat. Choose a model that will work smoothly when pressure changes, find out its critical indicators.

The fourth criterion is the type of ignition

There are three options:

1. Mechanical piezo ignition. The downside is that in this case, the igniter is constantly on in the column. Gas consumption for it is small, but it is, an uneconomical option;
2. Rechargeable batteries. Convenient, but you need to remember to change them;
3. Electric. The water heater will have to be connected to the network, if there is no power supply, then the gas will not ignite.

The choice is also yours, as it is more convenient for you. Many people prefer exactly the speakers with batteries, so as not to worry about the presence of an outlet nearby and not waste extra gas.

The fifth criterion is temperature setting

In modern models with electronic control, it is possible to set the exact water temperature, not to manually adjust the gas supply, as it was before. A convenient option to provide comfort to all family members. The set water temperature will be shown on the front panel of the column.

The sixth criterion is protection

Without exception, all modern gas water heaters have overheating protection and a gas control system. But there are models that have four levels of protection – control over air draft, the presence of a flame in the burner, overheating of the heat exchanger, and water circulation. The more levels of protection, the safer the device will be in operation.

Important! There are special models of instantaneous water heaters for using propane-butane gas in cylinders. They are adapted to the respective gas pressure and have a different nozzle diameter.

Among the most popular manufacturers of gas water heaters are Bosch, Zanussi, Oasis, Neva, Ariston, Electrolux. Pay attention to the warranty period and do not forget that gas water heaters need preventive maintenance every year, which the portal has already written about.