Are water gas heaters in OZ now ALL continuous flow?

 

Our old (1992) Bosch instantaneous LPG water heater failed during a recent interruption to our mains water supply, so after our new plumber today fixed all the valve and tap problems he gave up on the old heater..

He was not familiar with the Bosch, he averrred. But he still managed to get the piezo-electric spark to appear, only there was NO gas at all flowing through the unit!

He suggested a specialist firm 60 km away, so I emailed them for advice.

I also perused 26 pages of water heater products offered by a local outlet of the mainstream Reece plumbing group: it's mind-boggling! MOST were electric units of course, although some had solar options, but ALL were CONTINUOUS FLOW units. Some had a solar storage option...

Are my fellow Aussies collectively out of what remains of their Corona-affected minds? WHO needs continuous flow appliances these days? 

Most people on LPG need a simple 16 L instant-on heater that only uses gas when it is being needed somewhere in the house, in the kitchen, or the shower, for instance, and shuts off when the tap is closed!

And of course the local pricing is insane: I looked at a list of German gas water heater suppliers and the best where around say $150 euros - for this you get a stainless-steel clad appliance, at that!

Here in Oz you'd pay around $A1500 for a Bosch system...

I check again when I've recovered a bit from the shock...

On the bright side: a young (29) spud from the succinctly named Hot Water Maintenance Service firm 60 km away appeared around 3 p.m. today (I only called them yesty!) and fixed up the old Bosch in an hour or less! He did a thoroughly competent job, cleaning out old crud that had blocked a crucial diaphragm which blocked water flow enough to tell the heater no to try lighting the flames...

He only charged just under $A200 for the service, and I consider it money well spent. Thanks Luke! 

Incidentally, Luke told me even so-called continuous flow appliances only use gas while they are being used... So I better temper my tirade against the mindless Aussies...

Otherwise in the water-to-the-house department, I started out with NO leaks in the supply side after my brilliant repairs, but the connection to the house was not completed because I didn't want to mess with it - and partly because I had run out of fluxing powder. Only much later did I read modern silver solders, in particular one 15 p.c. silver one I'd imported from England, are SELF-FLUXING, so I could have completed the job myself (illegally, of course).

To cut a long aside short: my new plumber was old-school, he did not believe in suggestions from lay persons, used a rusty spanner to beat delicate plastic fittings into submission, used a BSP fitting to connect a metric 40 mm valve, and so on and so on. He did get a water flow to the house, and put a new fitting on a 19 mm garden water connection, so we were grateful for that. 

But although he was a gas fitter, he gave up on the Bosch after a while, although he managed to get a pilot flame to appear... 

So, for just a shade over $A200, we had a working kitchen (minus hot water) - and Bianca was able to do untold loads of washing with her old LG machine. (And I was able to drink purified water again from my twin-cartridge Aquapure system).

The upshot, though, is that when I had NO leaks after MY repairs, we now have THREE damp spots under the valves my new plumber worked on - so if I find time in the future I'll probably re-do the entire line plumbing job myself again.... Although I must say my Bougainvillea certainly appreciates the slight leak LOL

POSTSCRIPT

A few weeks ago the Bosch carked it altogether, and a specialist drove down from Taree. He brought a modern Bosch water heater that switched on its flames only when water was being withdrawn through it. Very sensible idea.

After the plumber left, having charged a mere $A1700 or so for the heater and his services, I read the label on the heater more closely: Must NOT be installed in a bathroom, it stated blithely!

Since our bathroom has a very high roof, and is flued with a 100mm galvanised pipe to an exhaust fitting more than a metre above the roof, and since a self-declared Bosch expert had installed the new appliance, I thought we could safely ignore the warning LOL