Water heaters in the bathroom: types, how to choose and hide?

The water heater eliminates the inconvenience associated with interruptions of hot water in apartment buildings, especially on the upper floors, where it does not always happen. If you live on the 25th floor, you will often be faced with a lack of hot water from below your neighbors. At the cottage, where often there is no central heating and hot water, the heater will arrange both.

The purpose of the water heater is to bring the water to a temperature comfortable for taking a shower or washing dishes. In some cases, it is also used for hand washing clothes. The water heater in the bathroom looks like a unit in the form of a cylinder or a hanging drawer connected to electric and water supply systems. In the first case, this is a water boiler in the form of a boiler, in the second - a column or a compact heater.

Types of water heaters.

• Gas water heater (boiler) - heats water much faster than its electrical counterparts. Gas costs are many times less than electricity - gas as an energy carrier is more “caloric” in comparison with heat generation on nichrome spirals of heating elements. Maintenance of this installation is also inexpensive.But the low cost of operation is not obscured by the costs of installing a chimney, registering and coordinating the entire system with the local fire and gas inspection departments.

• Wood boiler - a device that does not need to be connected to the gas supply system. Solid fuel boilers and furnaces are significantly cheaper than their gas counterparts, as they are simpler and often devoid of a complex electronic control system and sensors. The disadvantage is the need for firewood or combustible household waste.

• Electric heating boiler deprived of costly procedures associated with the arrangement and ventilation of a gas boiler. All that is required here is a high-power and reliable line coming from the electrical panel in the house or apartment, and the availability of a ready-made connection to the water supply. The disadvantage is frequent maintenance (at least once every six months), which requires cleaning the heating elements and water passages from scale formed in heated water (precipitation of minerals dissolved in water).

• Modern portable electric heaters - faucet (in the form of a nozzle) shower models, including heaters in the form of small tanks. One of them needs a water pressure (at least 0.5 atmosphere), others can work without pressure: water flows from the expansion tank or the pressure is so weak that water barely fills the entire heating coil.

Instantaneous water heaters include all varieties of water heating devices that require a constant source of water passing through the coil (circuit). These include tank and nozzle heaters, that is, full-fledged suspended boilers. They are divided into pressure and non-pressure. Without connecting to the water supply, they will not work. Their advantage is access to hot water for a maximum of half a minute. The disadvantage is that not every wiring, especially the old one, will draw out their power of 3-10 kilowatts.

Capacitive (storage) water heaters are barrel-type devices. The main condition for their work is the fullness of the inner barrel to the upper level. A float-type level gauge with a sensor responsible for turning on the heater is responsible for this. As soon as water starts to leave the barrel, the level drops, and the sensor immediately turns off the heating. To prevent the water from overheating, the thermostat turns off the heating when the set temperature is reached. The pressure for such a heater is not always required. Its advantage is profitability: the device is no more powerful than a washing machine or an electric kettle (up to 2 kW).

The gas boiler is connected to the gas pipeline on which the meter is installed. Electricity is only required for gas models that have electromechanical or electronic control.. In this case, a separate line with a socket or terminal block should be connected near the gas pipeline. The supply of cold and the outlet of heated water is made through separate choke pipelines, to which the water loop coil is connected.

The input of such a circuit is connected to the home or apartment piping from the city water system or from the cottage pump. From the exit, the heated water enters the bath shower and the kitchen faucets.

An electric flow-through boiler will need not just a separate outlet, but a grounded Euro outlet with a cable, the wire cross section of which is designed for at least several kilowatts. The water connection is similar to that used in a gas boiler. The tank connection heater has the same connection diagram. In the boiler, the inlet for cold water and the outlet for hot water are located in a similar way, regardless of whether it is pressure or not. If there is a separate circuit and a heating unit for heating, then the number of choke tubes doubles.

Portable water electric heaters have the only difference from flow boilers: in the case of nozzles on the crane, they are not always installed permanently. It is possible to transfer them to the bathroom or to the kitchen, and even use in hotel conditions, where there is no or no hot water supply at all. Some models are equipped with adapters for a shower spray and a tap drain pipe.

A wall-mounted column or boiler of a capacitive type is suspended on a brick or concrete wall. The strength of the wall must be sufficient to withstand the load in this place up to 100 kg. If an aerated concrete wall is nevertheless used, then it is suitable for instantaneous water heaters, provided that instead of anchors, studs with large (from a few centimeters in diameter) washers that are passed through through holes are used. Hanging a massive boiler on an aerated concrete wall is a risky move.

For large boilers, the best option would be a steel riser. It is assembled from pipes, corners and / or profiles, while the thickness of the steel supports must be sufficient to support the weight of the filled boiler or boiler. For maximum security, the entire structure is located in the corner. A small-capacity cylinder-type water heater (up to 30 l) can be hung on any wall. Depending on the wall material, the above recommendations are taken into account.

Flowing type tank heaters with a small tank (from one to several liters) are suspended in any place without particularly reinforced fastening, or are installed in a cabinet. Their mass, even when filled, is up to several kilograms.

Pressure water heaters of all configurations can even be installed on the floor - water pressure will deliver water to any height in the room, and the pump in the well will raise it to the required level. In the case of a water supply, a pressure heater does not work, only when you live on one of the last floors, and periodically the water from the tap goes in a thin stream.

Suitable heaters are selected according to a number of parameters.

• Moisture protection class. It is marked in IP-xx format. The first figure determines the level of protection against penetration of objects and particles (in decreasing order of size), the second - from moisture (from leakage to stream) getting into the electrics (and electronics, if present).
• Tank material - enameled steel or stainless steel. You can find out only in the instructions for the product, or by disassembling it, which will cause a violation of the warranty seal inside the case.
• Tank shape - flattened, cylindrical or in the form of a parallelepiped.
• Tank volume or throughput. The specific displacement is able to determine how many people can comfortably use the heater. For capacitive heaters, the displacement varies from 15 to 100 liters. For flowing - liters of water per minute: from 3 to 10.
• Heater type - open (immersed in water) or closed (isolated). The first must be periodically cleaned of scale.
• Operation mode - for kitchen, bathroom and heating. The last option is a combined boiler, divided into two independent units in one housing.
• Installation Features - floor or hanging.
• Management - electromechanical (without remote control) or electronic (from the remote control or from the button panel on the front side of the product).
• Dimensions - compact are mainly flow heaters.

If the heater is small in size and from a few kilograms, you can place it in a hanging cabinet. A heavier model requires a floor cabinet that does not need a wall suspension.Such an installation will hide the heater or boiler from the eyes of the guests. Of capacitive heaters, only small ones can be hung - weighing up to 30 kg. Medium and large are recommended not to be suspended, but placed on the floor or a reliable support. In any case, the boiler or heater must be installed correctly, observing all regulations and rules that prevent accidents, which include the following situations.

• Electricity problems. Whether it is a wiring closure, a failure of the heater or the control board - the current should not pass through the water, otherwise it will immediately kill a person taking a shower or bath. For additional protection against electric shock, a protective shutdown device is placed in a line suitable for the bathroom. Having detected a small leakage of current, it will immediately turn off the mains voltage. But reliable grounding comes first.
• Accidental Fall - possibly a person who came up to wash (if the boiler is suspended above the washbasin). No appliances or furniture should be under the heater.
• Possibility of fire due to overheating or short circuit. In the bathroom next to the boiler, combustible objects and materials - plastic containers and other bath accessories, wooden cabinets should not be located. Plastic pipes should be kept as far as possible from the electrical wires. In the bathroom it is recommended to use a non-combustible cable.

If for bathrooms and kitchens, designed mainly in bright colors, boilers and white heaters are suitable, then for a bright interior, users often use a mirror-black solution. A stainless steel boiler is a prime example.

White tile, which has patterns, goes well with a white heater or boiler, the upper and lower ends of which are painted in the color that prevails in the patterns on the tile. But any other gamut is suitable here.

If the heater is hidden in a floor cabinet or the boiler is located in a bath cabinet, the color of the product body does not matter. The box itself or the cabinet in which the product is hidden is selected in tone that sharply contrasts or matches the colors of the bathtub and tile in it.

See how to install a water heater in a bathroom in the next video.