Every summer, many citizens try to solve the problem of the lack of hot water, which for almost a month is turned off for prevention. For rural residents and owners of country cottages this problem is even better known: after the heating season ends, it is necessary to look for a way of heating water for household and household needs for the whole summer. It's no wonder that many people start to wonder how to choose a water heater, and we will consider one of the popular types - cumulative.
Features of storage water heaters
Water heaters are flow and storage. The operation of the flow heater is based on the fact that the water, passing through the hot tan, heats up to the desired temperature( read about it here).Such devices are compact and convenient, but if you need a lot of hot water to get it, they need more power( up to 8 kW), which can not withstand any wiring.
The device of this unit is quite simple: a tank is installed in the tank where cold water is poured, which heats the water to the desired temperature( from 35 ° to 85 °), after which it automatically turns off. When the water cools down in the storage tank for half a degree, the tan is switched on again and brings it to the set temperature. To make the water cool more slowly, a layer of thermal insulation is laid between the storage tank and the external walls( most often, of hard foam).
Average power of such devices is about 2 kW( in the range of 0.9 - 6 kW).Therefore, the main thing is to correctly calculate the capacity and volume of the tank that suits you. For example, if you need to heat 50 liters as quickly as possible, a 2 kW boiler is suitable, but if the heating rate is not important, you can purchase a device with the same capacity of 1.2 kW.
Types of
The storage( capacitive) water heaters are gas and electric.
Electric water heaters have a simple device: they consist of an internal tank, a heating element( TEN), a magnesium anode( to prevent corrosion on the inner tank), thermal insulation, an outer casing, a thermostat( in order to set the required temperature)valve( bleeds overpressure).
These devices differ not only from the volume( from 5 l to 550 l), the power of the tan, but also the thermal insulation material( polyurethane, polyurethane foam, mineral wool), the type of the tank coating( stainless steel, enamel, glass porcelain), location( vertical or horizontal,above or below the sink).
Gas-fired water heaters in Russia are less popular than electric ones, although they are often much more economical and more profitable than them, because gas is cheaper than electricity several times.
Storage-type gas heaters may have an open or closed combustion chamber( with natural or forced draft).The latter are more expensive, but they do not require a traditional chimney and additional airflow to ensure the combustion process.
Storage water heaters: brands and prices
The price of storage water heaters depends on the manufacturer, the quality of the steel or enamel from which the tank is made, of some design features. For example, an Italian 100L unit from Isea costs only $ 175, and a German of the same size from Stiebel Eltron - more than $ 500.Although their basic device is the same, but the German boilers have a slightly larger volume, since they occupy a large place of thermal insulation. As a result of this design, the water only cools down by 5 ° per day, which leads to considerable energy savings.
Heaters with an enamelled tank are cheaper than those with a stainless steel tank( 30% to 100%), but they also last a lot longer.
Tips for choosing water heaters
In order to choose the right amount of water heater, you need to consider how many people in the family, whatthe number of points will be serviced by the appliance and individual needs for hot water. For example, per person for a bath requires an average of 150 liters of water, for a shower - about 70 liters, for a wash basin - 10 liters, for a kitchen sink - 25 liters.
When installing electric water heaters, do not forget to take care of safety: be sure to make ground, for appliances with a capacity of more than 2 kW, install a good wiring with automatic shutdown, do not place boilers near the radiators, and attach suspension models to load-bearing walls with powerful hooks.
The storage water heater is really a simple, convenient and economical solution for obtaining hot water. The main thing is his right choice.
