We are entering the winter period, and nothing takes the cold away such as a hot shower, or a bath, and we thought would be a great time to cover some interesting points on geysers.
Most geysers are inside a roof, or more recently you may also find them outside, and often people ask that if a geyser should be installed whether they can do it themselves or if they should a professional, and then there also seems to be some questions on whether you should call a Plumber or Electrician for the installation of such a geyser.
Geyser installations should not be done by yourself, it should be done by a professional, if not and anything happens you may find that your warranty may be voiced, insurance may refuse claims or you may not be able to get a clearance certificate from an Electrician. You need to call both a Plumber and an Electrician as well to do the installation, as the plumber will do the initial installation and the electrician would have to earth the geyser.
There are a variety of Geyser sizes as well that you can choose from, 50 - 100 - 150 and 200 litres and as a rule of thumb the average household that has a dishwasher, washing machine, takes an average bath and have days that they would do all of these would require a 100 litre geyser, smaller may lead to the occasional "wait a while before you bath" moments and larger may be an overkill, and naturally these come at different price points as well.
As it is winter a common question on geysers also seems to be related to geyser blankets, these are thermal covering that goes around the geyser and literally wraps your geyser, the logic being that this blanket maintains the heat of the water in geyser longer, and indeed a geyser blanket can considerably reduce geyser energy consumption, even by as much as half, so definitely an investment to look at.
Geysers do not last forever, and we all heard the term that the geyser "burst" and led to considerable damage, and subsequent repairs and insurance claims as a result. The reality is that it is very rare for a geyser to burst, instead they tend to break rather loudly if there was a pressure built up due to temperature not being controlled properly due to thermostat being faulty, pressure vessel may fail, metal fatigue and often poor installations.
When geysers do "burst" or get damaged and there is damage to the roof, you will most likely find that there is no leakage/drip tray fitted, which is compulsory by the way as it is required by law, it is very important for you to ensure you have a drip tray installed as it could save you considerable damage in future.
We tend to install our geyser and then forget about it until it breaks, the reality is that geysers needs to be service on regular intervals, shorter periods where water is of poor quality, the recommended period under normal circumstances would be every 4 years, with recent water quality however it is better to service more regularly, the service should include the checking of magnesium sacrificial anode element and thermostat, removal of lime scale and sludge and leak checking of the entire system.
We can hear you wondering what an Anode Self Sacrificing is, sounds like a hero of some kind in a technology movie, yet this is a part of your geyser that is made of magnesium or aluminium that is wound around a steel core wire, and it acts as a type of a magnet for corrosion, and thus protecting the other metal parts in your geyser, it lasts for about 5 years, water quality dependent, and thus needs to be replaced at these intervals, which will ensure your geyser gets a decent lifespan.
Most geysers in South Africa are high pressure geysers (400 to 600 kPa), fitted with a pressure balancing valve ensuring that your hot and cold water supply to your taps are at the same pressure , you do however get low pressure geysers as well, so double check when buying that bargain on the corner that you are buying correctly.
Tip: If ever your geyser gets broken, first get the serial number (found on the geyser) and manufacturer details and call them to enquire about the warranty, this simple check can save you hundreds if not thousands of Rands and most well-known brands in South Africa are rather good in supporting these warranties.
Gas and Solar geysers are becoming more popular and we will cover this in a future post