Heating water in ireland vs in australia

spalpeen

I always wondered why the water heating systems in Ireland and Australia are different (I lived in aus for a while). In Aus, there is constant hot water without an apparent crazy energy bill, whereas in Ireland we have the immersion.

Brianna Parkins mentions this in the Irish times the other day:

The closest I have come so far is being told I’m “stirring up trouble” by telling people that immersions and electric showers aren’t the only choices. “We have large water tanks that are heated in a way that actually saves power and/or money and the water is pressurised at the mains and your bills are lower but the water is always hot and never runs out,” I try to explain.

(https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/people/2023/09/02/brianna-parkins-the-people-of-ireland-will-not-let-me-be-in-bad-form/)

Can any plumbers or home heating experts explain why the systems are different?

10-10-20

I dunno, the world is 180-degrees to the norm over there, so anything's possible. ;) But that article is waffle.

They may use hot water cylinders with integrated heat-pumps such as these:

https://www.rvr.ie/collections/cylinder-for-heat-pump/products/rapax-100-v2

Have a look at the sales brochure for that unit, it shows a best COP (coefficient of performance) of 3.41. So 3.41kW of heating power for 1kW of electrical input (RAPAX 300 V2).

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058312027/heating-water-in-ireland-vs-in-australia

Paper clearly doesn’t refuse ink!

Many houses have stored ‘always on’ hot water in Ireland. There is a cost associated with having it always on, both in Ireland and Australia, but if the system is correctly installed and controlled it’s not huge.

Energy costs in Ireland are probably a little higher than Australia.

spalpeen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121065189#Comment_121065189

that article may be waffle but she has a point that bills are lower despite the constant hot water. With that system would it be an air to water heat pump or some kind of gas heating?

spalpeen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121065585#Comment_121065585

never heard that phrase before, i like it.

if the cost is not huge im surprised its not embraced more. people here will spend a lot of money on cars, new range rovers, teslas etc, and yet seemingly will deny themselves the 'luxury' of hot water for a bit of extra money?

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121067098#Comment_121067098

That's an air-to-water heat pump alright. But I'm not sure of what the majority of Australia use for heating water.

I did look up the gas unit cost in Oz, it's appearing as around 15c$ to 17c$ per unit, which is around 8 to 10c EUR, which isn't that far off ours at around 12c EUR... so I dunno.

https://www.kleenheat.com.au/natural-gas/plans-and-pricing/natural-gas-standard-prices-fees

Alun

Our friends in Germany get their hot water from 3 22kW (yes that's right, 22kW!) instant water heaters, no hot water storage at all. Mind you they, like many houses in Germany, have a 3-phase supply as standard. They charge their Tesla at 22KW too :)