Continuous Flow Hot Water Systems
What are they & how do they work?
Continuous Flow Gas Hot Water Systems are a hot water heater or system that only heats up the water as you use it. It stores no back up hot water. There is no storage facility with these hot water systems. Once you turn on the tap it activates a switch inside the system which in turn fires up the gas burner. From within the hot water system the now hot water travels as normal to the tap that has now been turned on.
When you have finished using the hot water at the tap the hot water system stops heating the water and the system just shuts down. You can turn the hot water tap straight back on again and the process will repeat time and time again.
Never Runs Out:
As long as your gas bill is paid and the gas is connected the system will provide you with never ending hot water.
When buying a Continuous Flow Hot Water Heater they will mention that they come in different temperature settings. The Australian Hot Water regulations require that the hot water temperature at a hand basin, shower and bath must be tempered to 50 degrees at the tap. When buying a hot water heater you will notice that in the product options you may see what is called “preset” or “non preset”. Preset means that the temperature is set to 50 degrees.
Rinnai and Rheem Continuous Flow hot water heaters allow you to increase the “preset” systems 5 degrees allowing you to have a true 50 degree temperature at the tap. Remembering that there is going to be heat lost as the hot water travels through a cold outside pipe perhaps. Being able to increase the temperature a little is a great feature.
Buying a Continuous Flow Hot Water Systems requires just a little understanding regarding your options. Continuous Flow Gas Hot Water Systems come in both Natural Gas and LPG gas types. This is critical when choosing as the two gas types have different gas pressures and if you order the wrong gas type the system will not work correctly, perform as it should and can be dangerous. It also is costly to change over to the other gas type if you make the wrong selection.
Natural Gas: If you have a gas meter within your property you have Natural gas. (Unless you are in a new estate that now provides underground LPG piping to each home. Generally there will be big gas bottles at the entrance to the estate if this is the case)
LPG: If you have a gas bottle that is next to your house or shop leaning against one of your walls and stands about 1.5 metres tall then you have LPG installed at your home or business.