How to choose a water heater?

Are you used to living in comfortable conditions and do not want to give up a warm bath in the country? Or you are tired of problems with turning off hot water in your apartment, this can be changed and thereby make your life easier and more pleasant.

To begin with, these problems can be solved with the help of fairly simple and not very expensive devices – water heaters. Mainly used electric or gas. Solid fuel is used somewhat less frequently. There are also water heaters connected to a heating boiler, as well as combinations of the above options. All water heaters can be divided into flow and storage (capacitive). Probably the most famous example of an instantaneous water heater is the so-called gas water heater.

Which water heater is optimal for your conditions depends on several factors: is it possible to use gas or electricity, how much water do you need for a comfortable life; is there a place to install a sufficiently large storage water heater or only a compact instantaneous one will fit, is it possible to use the large power required for an instantaneous electric heater? To make the right choice, you need to have an idea of ​​the main types of heaters, their advantages and disadvantages..

Electric instantaneous water heaters

In instantaneous water heaters, water is heated when it passes through the water heater, and electricity is consumed only when hot water is used. The main advantage of these water heaters is their compactness. The downside is that they have a high electrical power (usually about 6-27 kW). It is clear that the performance of such a device is determined by two factors – the temperature of the incoming water and the power of the device itself. Most water heaters of this type are equipped with an automatic start-up system at the start of the drawdown.

There are instantaneous water heaters for both single-phase (their power usually does not exceed 12 kW) and for a three-phase network (the most common models are from 12 to 27 kW). In the event that your area does not have the electrical power required for instantaneous water heaters or you need a large amount of hot water, you should pay close attention to electric storage (capacitive) water heaters.

Electric storage water heaters

As mentioned above, this type of water heater provides the greatest comfort, since you can store almost any amount of hot water that will satisfy the needs of even the most fastidious consumer. But this advantage will have to pay for the large size of the water heater and the long heating period..

Electric storage water heaters are fairly simple and reliable devices, the main elements of which are an internal tank and a heating element – heating element. The volume of the tank for most manufacturers usually ranges from 10 to 200 liters, the power of the heating element is from 1.2 to 2.5 kW. These two parameters plus the temperature of the cold water entering the water heater determine the heating time. For 10-15 liter boilers, it will take about 30-40 minutes, for 200 liter boilers – 5-8 hours. In addition to the tank and heating element, the composition of water heaters, as a rule, includes: a magnesium anode (prevents corrosion of the internal tank), thermal insulation (ensures the preservation of heat of heated water), a thermostat (allows you to set the desired temperature), an outer case (determines the appearance of the boiler), safety valve (to relieve excess pressure).

Most companies produce water heaters of both vertical and horizontal design. The choice of a particular type depends only on the convenience of placing a water heater in your room. If this question is irrelevant, it is more logical to buy a vertical one, because usually, if all other parameters are equal, its price is lower.

A table of the approximate time for heating water in a water heater (by 50 ° C) may be useful to you, depending on its volume (with a heating element power equal to 1.2 kW).

Volume, l – Heating time, min
10 – 25
30 – 90
50 – 160
80 – 240
100 – 270

Gas flowing water heaters (gas water heaters)

All geysers have the same layout. Their main elements are a burner that heats water, and automation that ensures safe operation..

Fortunately, the days are past when, burning their fingers, people lit the gas in old Soviet heaters with matches or rolled paper. To turn on almost any of the new speakers, all you have to do is press a button or turn on a tap of water. There are two options: piezo and electronic ignition. If the model is with piezo ignition, then the device will have to be started manually by pressing a button. In the case of electronic ignition, the column starts automatically when the hot water tap is opened. Besides, water heaters with electric ignition are more economical because there is no igniter with a constantly burning flame.

Be sure to pay attention to the models equipped with a modulation burner. This type of burner ensures that the temperature of the water leaving the column is constant, regardless of the temperature jumps in the entering water..

The most important parameter of the gas water heater is its power; it can be used to judge the amount of hot water that you can get at the outlet. Geysers are usually divided into three groups: low power (17-19 kW), medium power (22-24 kW), high power (28-30 kW).

When choosing a gas water heater, you should be guided by the approximate volumetric flow rate of hot water, depending on its power: Power, kW Consumption when heating to 50oC Consumption when heating to 25oC 19 Up to 5 l / min Up to 11.5 l / min 24 Up to 7 l / min Up to 14 l / min 28 Up to 8 l / min Up to 16 l / min

Before buying a gas water heater, be sure to find out if it is adapted to the gas pressure in Russian networks.

Gas storage water heaters

The advantage of gas storage water heaters is the same as that of their electric counterparts – comfort, which consists in a large supply of water. At the same time, sales of gas storage water heaters in Russia are much lower than electric ones. This is a consequence of their rather high price and traditional difficulties with the installation of gas equipment. But gas water heaters in some cases are much more profitable than electric ones, and their higher price is more than pays off during operation, because the cost of gas is several times less than the cost of electricity. The comfort provided by storage water heaters makes it possible, under certain conditions, to successfully compete with gas water heaters.

It is important to note that many companies produce two types of capacitive gas water heaters: natural draft (with an open combustion chamber) and forced draft (with a closed combustion chamber). Forced draft water heaters have the following advantages: they do not require additional air flow into the room to maintain the combustion process; no need to make an expensive traditional chimney, instead of which a short and inexpensive coaxial one is successfully used. Their main disadvantage is a noticeably higher cost compared to natural draft water heaters (by about 1.5 times).

How to choose a water heater?

As for the instantaneous water heater, it is enough to find out its performance (l / min), which is indicated in the advertising brochure of any company, and measure it with your habits. If you have no idea how many liters of warm water per minute you need, then you can use the “antediluvian”, but very visual way. To do this, you can take a container of a known volume (for example, an 8-liter bucket), turn on the shower with your usual pressure and see how long it takes this bucket to fill. If the container is filled in 1 minute, then it is clear that you will be satisfied with a flow rate of 8 liters per minute. If the water began to flow over the edge after half a minute, then it is obvious that you are used to spending 16 liters per minute. In this way, you can determine the capacity of the water heater that will satisfy your needs. But we must remember that if you have the possibility of simultaneous operation of several points of water intake (shower, sink, etc.), then this must be taken into account.

To select the volume of the DHW cylinder, you can focus on the average one-time consumption of warm water by one person:

Bathroom 150 – 180 l
Shower 50 -90 l
Washbasin 6-17 l
Kitchen sink 20 – 30 l

Using this table, taking into account the number of family members, you can choose the optimal volume of the required water heater.

Usually, the most popular models for use outside the city are 100-200 liters boilers. In a city apartment, few people can afford to install a water heater of such a large volume; in this case, boilers with a volume of 10 to 50 liters are more often bought, which may well remove the problems arising from the annual summer shutdown of hot water supply.