House Water Heating Question

[MeetJohnDoe]

I have a small bungalow house that I rent and the only outlet that has a water heater is the shower. I would like to have at least warm (doesn't have to be hot) water service to the basins in the bathrooms (2) and the kitchen sink. It is not feasible to install the under-sink units in the bathrooms because there is no available electrical connection.

If I were to install an appropriate sized water heater in-between the water tank outlet to the house and the inlet pipe into the house would that provide warm water flowing into the house's water pipes would this work and solve the problem?

[longball53098]

That probably would work but then you have heated water going to every device in the place that uses water. Not very practicle in my eye. And the heater would be energizing every time you open a tap. Also not so good for the electric bill.

[MeetJohnDoe]

That's exactly what I want...warm water at the bathroom faucets and kitchen sink. As the water heater would be at the "front" of the system, there would be some lag time till the warm water reached the tap but not long I suppose. The only wasted hot water/electricity would be for toilet flushes but that's only a few times a day.

I don't have a garden so no electricity would be wasted heating water to water a lawn/garden.

[kamalabob2]

You might contact the technical representatives who speak English from a couple of the major water heater manufacturers. Seems to me that the incoming water pressure would play a role in if the water heater could work. There are many European brand name water heaters manufactured in Thailand including AEG, SIEMENS, ZANKER and STIEBEL ELTRON. Perhaps Panasonic has an English speaking technician that can help you select a heater they manufacture for your application. You might have to e-mail to the technician a "drawing" with distances of your rental showing the existing piping to the sinks so they can make an informed reply.

[torrenova]

I had this in my condo. One water heater, shower type, heating the shower, sink in bathroom and sink in kitchen. Element powered up whenever a tap was opened.

One problem you find is that if the outlet, say the shower, can deliver more water than the inlet to the heater, then it creates a quasi vacuum which means the system has the element on but no water to heat. It then shuts down. Annoying in the shower ! You get around this by using larger diameter hoses for the inlet to the heater and limiting the size of the outlet hoses. You also need to consider your water pressure.

Just a couple of teething problems but definitely the easiest way to heat water at multiple points from the same heater.

[dhrobertson]

No reason why not.

Unit should be installed inside the house as they are not weather proof.

Unit (up to 6kW) will need to wired directly to the load panel (consumer unit) using 3 core 6mm VAF/G cable. Breaker should be 32A ELCB with 30mA trip rating to comply with Thai EiT regulations.

[dotcom]

Solar hot water would be your best solution. It's free too.

Pm me for ideas.

[torrenova]

No reason why not.

Unit should be installed inside the house as they are not weather proof.

Unit (up to 6kW) will need to wired directly to the load panel (consumer unit) using 3 core 6mm VAF/G cable. Breaker should be 32A ELCB with 30mA trip rating to comply with Thai EiT regulations.

Sorry but can I ask for an explanation.

Do you mean that if you install a 6kw heater you have to wire it direct to the fuse box ?

How would I know if a fuse box could handle the load ?

What about the electric meter ?

Thanks

[Crossy]

Do you mean that if you install a 6kw heater you have to wire it direct to the fuse box ?

How would I know if a fuse box could handle the load ?

What about the electric meter ?

Any appliance over about 3kW should have a dedicated circuit with suitably rated cable and breaker.

Your consumer unit (fuse box) should have a total permissable load printed on it somewhere, most domestic units are good for 100A max. To be able to handle this heater your main breaker will need to be at least 63A.

Look at the meter, it will say '5/15' (too small), 15/45 (ok) or 30/100 (also ok).