There are many different types of hot water units, such as Electric Storage, Heat Pump, Solar, Gas Continuous Flow, Gas Storage and Heat Exchange.
In this article I will explain how each of the Electric and Solar systems can fail, when they absolutely NEED to be replaced and also when the cost to repair vs the age of the system need to be considered.
I hope you find this guide helpful, but if you have any further questions, contact me today for expert advice on your hot water system as well as any other plumbing issues you may have.
And don't forget, Mount Coolum Plumbing offers a free, absolutely no-obligation, on-site inspection and quote for customers in the Coolum Beach area. So if you live between Twin Waters and Marcus Beach, including Peregian Springs, call today and I will see you soon!
These are the most common type of hot water system in Australia, with Rheem selling the first of these systems back in 1939 and while usually made from enamel lined steel, there is also a range of Stainless Steel tanks available.
Electric Storage systems are a very simple concept, which means they are highly reliable and easily repairable from nearly all issues that can arise. The most common repairable problems being leaking/faulty valves and faulty elements/thermostats.
All of these parts can be easily and economically replaced, so under nearly all circumstances this is the best option, rather than replacing the system.
A common lifespan of these tanks is between 10-25 years, with the brand of tank playing a major role in what end of this range your tank will likely last.
Based on my experience replacing hundreds of hot water systems, Rheem tanks consistently outperform others, with most lasting 15–25 years, and some even exceeding 35 years.
It’s for this reason, that I only supply and install tanks that are manufactured by Rheem, which includes brands such as Everhot and Vulcan.
The way these systems reach the end of their lifespan is when the tank itself corrodes to a point where it leaks from one or multiple areas of the steel tank.
You would most commonly notice this water leaking out from:
When this happens, unfortunately there is no possibility of repairing the tank and a replacement is needed.
If you think your tank definitely needs replacing, I offer Fixed Price hot water system replacements with an online booking service. If you would like to view the different systems I offer, all of the inclusions and the fixed GUARANTEED prices for the complete supply and installation service, click on the button below!
But if you live in any of the areas surrounding Mount Coolum or Peregian Beach and are still unsure if your system is repairable, please call me today on 0493 027 027, (or use any of the other contact methods I have available on this site) and I will happily come to your home for a completely free assessment of your hot water system.
Solar Hot Water Systems where both the tank and collectors are on the roof can be a great, reliable system as long as the tank is of a very high quality.
Some people may have noticed those solar hot water systems that seem to have been sitting on their neighbors roofs for what seems like forever.
These are most likely Solarhart systems, which have been owned by Rheem since 1986.
Like standard storage hot water systems, tank-on-roof solar systems are also a very simple concept with few points of failure.
But while they have the ability to supply totally free hot water about 95%+ of the time, (rainy and overcast conditions affect this) they are also substantially more expensive due to the difficulty of installation as well as the added cost of the solar collectors.
This extra up front expense means that there is a very long period before you actually start receiving ‘free’ hot water and if whole system isn’t of the absolute highest quality, you may never even get to this point.
Like the standard storage system I detailed above, these solar systems have the exact same tank failure symptoms which are not repairable and mean a tank replacement is necessary. But they also have the additional issue of a failure with the Collectors (the ‘panels’).
While high quality collectors are usually very reliable and should last the life of the tank, they can have faults like internal leaks which are irreparable. If this happens you then have the difficult decision of deciding whether you replace the Collectors alone, or depending on the age of the tank, you may decide to replace the whole system.
Just replacing the collectors alone, may be a substantial cost, especially on a high-set house and if your tank is already 15+ years old, then you are in the timeframe where the tank could fail at any point from here on, so replacing the whole system is a consideration.
It’s a very difficult (and expensive) decision to make!
It is for this reason that I would only ever recommend replacing a roof-mount Solar Hot Water system with another roof-mount Solar Hot Water system if:
But under nearly all other circumstances, especially if you already have a Solar Power system with excess supply that you are selling back to the grid, I would recommend decommissioning the existing system and installing a standard Rheem electric system on the ground.
If you would like to know why and how I have come to this opinion, please visit my Hot Water Comparisons page below where I discuss the economics of choosing a hot water systems.NOTE: My recommendation to install a standard electric storage system in place of your roof-mount solar system, assumes that you have access to either an off-peak tariff or you have enough solar power capacity that you can use this to heat your hot water system.
If for some reason, you only have access to power at the full rate, then these considerations change and other systems such as roof-mount Solar become viable.
Solar Split Systems are a newer style of Solar Hot Water system where the storage tank sits on the ground like a standard storage system, but with the addition of Solar Collectors up on the roof.
The advantage of the split system is a ‘possibly’ easier and cheaper installation, as there is no need to crane a very big and heavy tank onto the roof of the house.
But unlike a tank-on-roof solar system, split systems are far more complex and have many more potential points of failure in addition to all of the same points that a standard storage system has.
These systems operate with the use of 4 pieces of equipment that all work together to circulate the hot water.
The roof sensor sits inside the outlet at the top of the solar collector on the roof and constantly senses the temperature of the water in the collectors and send this information to the Controller.
The tank sensor sits inside the tank at a certain position and senses the temperature inside the tank, which is also sent to the controller.
When the temperature difference between the roof sensor and the tank sensor meet the set requirements, the controller then sends power to the pump, which circulates the very hot water in the collectors down into the tank and sends the cooler water inside the tank up into the collectors.
As this is taking place, the temperature of the water in the collectors starts to drop and when the temperature difference between the roof and tank sensors again reaches the set requirements, the controller will stop supplying power to the pump and the water will stop circulating.
When this happens, the water in the collectors immediately starts to heat up from the suns energy and when the requirements between the 2 sensors are met again, the circulation process will repeat.
These systems can save money when things are working well, but when there is a fault with any of the 4 parts of this pump circulation system, then the savings you have managed to make on your hot water bill over the past few years, may easily be used up.
Not only can the parts be expensive, but diagnosing the exact cause of the fault can be difficult and you need a plumber who understands these systems well and can work out which part of the system has failed.
Mount Coolum Plumbing has worked on many of these systems and can diagnose faults with Solar Hot Water pumps, controllers and sensors.
So if you have an issue with your split system Solar Hot Water unit and you live in any of the areas surrounding Pacific Paradise or Yaroomba, please call me today and I will have it back up and running for you quickly.
In many cases, it is definitely worthwhile to replace the faulty parts of the circulation system, but this will need to be considered on a case by case basis, depending on the cost to replace parts vs age and condition of the system
But in the case of a failed tank or collectors, I would almost certainly recommend decommissioning the system and installing a standard Rheem electric system in it’s place.
This is usually a very easy change of system types, as unlike a roof-mount system, the pipework and electrical wiring are already in the correct position.
But changing from a Solar Hot water system to a standard electric system is something that homeowners need to decide on only after having enough information to make an informed decision.
For this reason I have created a chart that takes into consideration many of the factors that are needed to decide which system is most economical over the life of the system.
Please take a look at the Hot Water Comparison page, by clicking the link below.
NOTE: My recommendation to install a standard electric storage system in place of your ground-mount solar split system, assumes that you have access to either a Controlled Load (off-peak) tarrif or you have enough solar power capacity that you can use this to heat your hot water system.
If for some reason, you only have access to power at the full rate, then these considerations change and other systems such as ground-mount Solar become viable.
Heat Pumps are an energy efficient hot water system with the ability to use approximately 1/3 the power of a standard electric hot water unit.
These systems have been available in Australia and the Sunshine Coast for many years now and are very popular in states such as Victoria where an energy efficient hot water system is mandatory in most cases.
The way Heat Pumps work is by using a compressor and refrigerant system (similar to an air conditioner) where they take heat from the surrounding air and transfer this heat to the water in the tank.
The process goes like this:
Technically, it's a good concept that works well and there is no doubt that in the battle of energy usage and power savings on a day to day basis, the Heat Pump system easily wins against the standard electric storage hot water system.
BUT this is only half the story and there are some very real considerations that need to to be addressed in this conversation!
You can read about these considerations here in my Hot Water Comparisons page, where I detail the issue that need to be thought about when deciding on a new or replacement hot water unit
Like all of the other systems on this page, Heat Pumps also have the same point of failure where the steel tank corrodes to a point that water leaks from the tank itself.
In this case, there is no possibility of repair and a replacement is needed.
But unlike the other systems, Heat Pumps have their own unique points of failure where to repair/replace these failed parts may become unviable, not only due to cost but also due to the fact that very few people even have the skills to diagnose issues with all types and brands of Heat Pumps.
These point of failure are:
Similar to both of the Solar Systems, but unlike the electric storage system, Heat Pumps also have difficult cost to repair vs age of system considerations.
It's for this reason along with the information detailed in the Hot Water Comparison page that I recommend replacing a Heat Pump with a standard electric system when it comes time to replace it.
If you live in any of the areas surrounding Marcoola, Mudjimba or Coolum and have a Heat Pump hot water unit that is not economical to repair and would like it either replaced with a new Heat Pump, or with a standard Electric system, please call me today!
NOTE: My recommendation to install a standard electric storage system in place of your Heat Pump, assumes that you have access to either an off-peak tariff or you have enough solar power capacity that you can use this to heat your hot water system.
If for some reason, you only have access to power at the full rate, then these considerations change and other systems, such as Heat Pumps become viable.
Heat Exchange units, (or 'Saxons' as they are generically called due to Saxon being by far the most widely sold brand in Australia) work by heating the water in the tank to a very high temperature.
When a hot water tap is opened, cold water flows through a copper coil inside the tank and is heated as it passes through the very hot water stored in the tank.
This concept is very simple and because the tanks are made 100% from copper, this means they have been an extremely reliable hot water systems that has supplied hundreds of thousands of Australian households with hot water for many decades.
I've seen a number of heat exchange systems over 40 years old and still kicking along supplying hot water to the home! But I did notice a distinct drop in quality for systems manufactured after 2006, where 8-10 years was a very common failure rate.
I'm unsure if this was due to cost cutting by the company, or just a big drop in the quality of the copper they were being supplied with, but something definitely changed as the newer systems were very poor quality.
These systems do have a unique requirement that the tank has to be manually topped up every 3 months or so. This is very easy to do an just requires that the valve handle be pulled up and held there until water started overflowing out of the tank, signifying that it was full.
Because these systems are basically just a big kettle, the water in the tank depletes through steam and evaporation, so will gradually get lower over time.
As this water level depletes, less of the copper coil inside the tank is sitting in the hot water, meaning there is less time for the water inside the coil to be heated as is passes through.
A low water level inside the tank leads to a situation where when the hot water is turned on, it starts off very hot, but quickly starts cooling down. So if you have a Saxon hot water unit and this is happening to you, the first thing to do is to top up the tank.
Just like standard electric storage systems, due to it's simplicity, unknown service life and low cost to repair, Saxons should always be repaired if possible, no matter what the age of the tank is.
Although there are other ways for these systems to fail, such as corrosion of the outer tank, by far the most common cause of the heat exchange failure is when the copper coil inside the tank starts leaking.
When this happens, water will leak continuously from the overflow pipe.
The problem is that the symptom of a failed tank is also the exact same symptom as a faulty valve, so if you have a continuously leaking Saxon hot water unit, you need a plumber who knows how to test the valve and confirm what the issue is.
If it turns out to be a faulty valve, then the repair is very quick, easy and relatively cheap! But if the leak is confirmed to be coming from the internal copper coil, then there is no other option than to replace the system.
Becasue the manufacture of Saxon Heat Exchange units ceased in 2011, they are no longer an option for a system replacement, but there are still many of these units operating reliably throughout the Sunshine Coast and parts are also still available for servicing.
So if you have a leaking Saxon Hot Water unit, call Mount Coolum Plumbing today and I will make sure that if it is simply just a faulty valve, then you won't be left paying for a complete new system.
But if it turns out that you do need a new Hot Water System, then I will go over the options and we will work out the best system for your situation.
0493 027 027