Hot water cylinders

Repair or replace

If the cylinder is leaking from the body, it is a replacement. Water is coming through the steel and there is no fixing that. If the water is lukewarm, or it runs out faster than it used to, or the pressure relief valve is dripping, that is often a repair and a good deal cheaper.

Ring and describe what it is doing. We can usually tell you over the phone which one you are looking at, and it costs you nothing to ask.

Signs a cylinder is near the end

Rusty or discoloured hot water. A patch of damp or a tide mark on the floor of the cupboard. Water that used to last two showers and now lasts one. Noise, particularly a rumble as it heats, which is sediment sitting on the bottom. And age. Most electric cylinders in Hawke's Bay houses are on borrowed time past twenty years.

None of those mean it fails tomorrow. They mean it is worth planning the replacement rather than waiting for it to let go into the floor while you are at work.

How long it takes

Most straight swaps, the same size cylinder in the same place, are a one-day job. If the cupboard has to change, or you are moving from low pressure to mains pressure, or the pipework needs reworking, it takes longer and we will say so up front.

Low pressure or mains pressure

Older Hawke's Bay houses are usually low pressure, with a header tank in the ceiling or a vent pipe out the roof. Mains pressure gives you better flow, particularly if two people want hot water at once, and it is what most people want when they replace.

It is not always a simple swap. The incoming supply, the existing pipework and the tapware all have to suit mains pressure, and on some houses the cost of getting there is more than the cylinder. We will tell you which situation you are in before you commit to anything.

Choosing a replacement

Size is about how many people are in the house and when they shower. Mains pressure gives you better flow but needs the pipework to suit. Electric, gas or solar changes the running cost rather than the hot water itself.

We are not going to sell you the biggest cylinder in the catalogue. We will tell you what actually suits the house.

Wetbacks and solar

If your fire runs a wetback, or you have solar panels feeding the cylinder, the replacement has to be set up to take that input safely. Not every cylinder on the shelf will. This is a good reason to have the plumber who understands the whole system doing the job rather than whoever can get one in cheapest.

Where the cylinder lives

Cupboard, roof space, under the house or outside. Access decides a lot of the cost, and so does what is underneath it. A cylinder in a roof space above a lined ceiling needs a working safe tray and a drain from it, and plenty of older installs do not have one. We will point that out.

No hot water at all

Check the switchboard first, because a tripped breaker is a common and free explanation. If the cylinder has a separate switch, check that too. If both are fine, ring us.

What we do not do

Gas. We do not hold a gasfitting licence, so if you have gas hot water, whether that is a cylinder or a continuous flow unit, you need a registered gasfitter. We would rather tell you that on the phone than turn up and waste your morning.