Making sure that you have a home plumbing system that works efficiently, safely and is durable against wear as well as weather conditions is important. One way to ensure you have a steady supply of hot water to your home is with a hot water cylinder that both heats, stores and recycles said liquid.
However, shopping for a new unit for your home can be difficult because there are so many different options out there. If you don’t have any experience of technical knowledge about hot water cylinders, you might find yourself totally lost on where to start your search.
Let’s take a look at some tips you can use to make sure you only end up with the best possible hot water cylinder for you home.
Environmental suitability
First and foremost, you need to invest in a unit that’s suitable for the climate conditions where you live. There are 4 main types of hot water cylinder system you can have installed in your home:
- Electric;
- Heat pump;
- Solar &
- Gas
Which type of unit will be most appropriate for your home depends on a range of different factors such as what system already exists on the property and how much space is available. Other factors include how many people live on the premises and will be accessing the system, how routinely the system is used, what appliances will it mainly be used for as well as that the family’s budget is.
Efficiency
Because a large portion of utility costs can be discovered in heating bills, its always a good idea to try and get more bank for you buck. Investing in a hot water cylinder with a good energy star rating means that you’ll get a highly efficient solution that wastes as little energy as possible.
Just like any other fixture in your home, its important to find the most energy efficient unit you can afford so that your utility bills are reduced. This is the same principle you would use when shopping for other goods like washing machines and refrigerators.
Returns policy
Its also important the provider you source your hot water cylinder from has a comprehensive and easy to understand returns policy that gives you an adequate warranty. Nothing is ever guaranteed and when making such a significant investment it’s definitely worth getting extra piece of mind at this stage of the transaction.
Going with a provider that does not have an adequate returns policy means that you are setting yourself up for disaster later down the road if and when something goes wrong.
Extra fees and charges
With any large installation like this, there are bound to be hidden fees and charges with some providers that you’ll want to be careful to identify and avoid if necessary. Not all additional charges are bad if you can justify them – so its important that you make sure everything is made clear and there is no confusion about the final price.
It’s always a good idea to try and shop for the best possible deal so that you can then leverage this with other providers. You may even be able to get a lower price than normal if you know how to haggle correctly.
To summarize, securing the right hot water cylinder for your home comes down to using your common sense and being clever as a consumer. Doing your research into what options are out there and how they perform in circumstances similar to yours will give you invaluable information when you go to the negotiating table.