Anybody who has visited the Philippines probably knows about “on demand” hot water, but perhaps you haven’t thought about it much. In these days when people are trying to conserve energy, and a lot of people are going “green” it would seem to me that “on demand” hot water makes sense in many ways.
I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in the States people don’t use the “on demand” type of system for hot water. In the USA they have what they call “hot water heaters” which are basically big tanks that hold maybe 100 or more gallons of water. The water is heated and stored in the tank. So, whether you are using hot water or not, even if you are out of town for a week, the water is heated and kept hot in the tank. Now, to conserve electricity, people wrap these tanks with fiberglass insulation and do other things to save money and power. But, when I think about it, this is just so inefficient compared to the systems they use here in the Philippines. Also, if you have a big house, it can take some time for the hot water to flow from the tank (usually stored in the garage, basement, etc.) all the way to where your shower is located. And, when you finish the shower, all that water in the hot water pipe is basically going to waste and will turn cool before it is used again. Quite inefficient. Maybe other parts of the world don’t use those kind of water heater systems like they do in the States, but I don’t know for sure. Can anybody let me know what is used in your country?
Now, let’s look at what is used in the Philippines. First. let’s see a photo of a typical hot water “on demand” heater that would be used here in the Philippines.
So, what do you think of this system for heating water for showers and such uses? Is this the same type of system used in your country? Or, will this be new for you when you move to the Philippines? Let me know, I’m interested in learning more!
Same as Pete I had a business in London for over 20 years specializing in fitted bathrooms/showerooms, Instantanious shower heaters are very common here in the UK, personally I never liked them, they may have improved in the last 8 years but the thing is they can’t have the power that I want for the simple reason that they have to heat the water before it reaches the shower head, therefore it has to slow down the flow to be able to actually heat the water. Unless of course they have improved considerably since my time.
I use a combi boiler which heats the water on demand but still gives me the power that I require at the shower head.
As Pete says Mira and Aqualisa were always the tops in my time, the Aqalisa thermastatic controlled pumped shower range (not I.S.Heater) was the one that we installed on most contracts.
Going completely off the subject Bob as I have said before I am visiting the Phils for 7 months from Sept, I will be living alone, if I was taken ill at home what can I do to help myself, is there a 999 or 911 emergency service, somehow I doubt it, if not any suggestions ?
P.S Pete I’m looking forward to reading your advice regarding Skype on your site but I can’t see it on there, is it pending.
Gerry
Please tell us more about this VERY IMPORTANT quality of life improvement system I see there. 🙂
Is the water heated at all times, but just in a smaller container on the wall or do you need to wait for the water to heat?
Is it electric or gas operated?
Cost for each unit and also for installation?
If electric, is it pulling power all the time?
Tks
Mitch
In Australia the heaters are generally of the tank variety. I read today that Australians are the highest per capita users of water in the world.
My wife and I are planning to move to the Philippines in about 6 years time as Australia will have run out of fresh water by then!!
Hi Mitch – No water is heated until you turn it on, so no water is stored. And, you don't have to wait long for the water to be hot! After you turn on the water and the heater, it takes like 1 second until you have hot water! That's quicker than waiting for the hot water to travel through the pipes from the water heater in the garage! The unit runs on electricity, and no electricity is used except when it is actually heating water for you. As soon as you turn off the water, the heater automatically turns itself off! It is pretty amazing, and it shocks me that this technology is not being used in the USA. It would save so much energy! The cost of these units is usually around $100 or so for a heater that can handle one shower. I have seen units that will handle an entire bathroom for about the same price as well. When you buy one of these units at a hardware store, they often offer free installation too! If you have to pay for installation, it would only be P200 to P300 or so.
Hi Laurence – I keep hearing about the terrible drought in Australia too! You might need to move before the 6 years is up! See you soon!
Hi Guys, I thought I would have to comment on this section today, as although Scott knows what I do for a living, most of you guys dont, what do I do ? I sell luxury shower rooms to rich widows ! (stop laughing), the AEG system Bob has photograhed is actually installed in our house in the Philippines, its something I insisted on when we built the house, if Bob will permit it, I will send a photo over, if he wants to publish it.
Heated Electric showers in the UK are as pebbles on the beach, very common, the local B&Q similar to Home Depot in the States, stock lots of different models, heated electric showers are popular because of their conservation and environmental benefits, as Bob has said, they operate from a cold water feed, that means single pipe, their is a high grade heating element inside, which quickly warms the water as it passes through the unit, the grade of the heating element is measured in kw, for example a good one here in UK is about 8.5 KW or 9KW, this is kilo watt hour, its the amount of power measured in watts that is consumed to operate the shower, other showers are generally termed, thermo showers or power showers, these are dual fed, from cold and hot pipes thus mixing the temperature, and are digitally controlled.
I understand that in the Philippines, its very sosyal to have a heated electric shower, our caretaker in the Philippines told me, that you wont need the hot shower unit, as the water is about luke warm anyway, and you will want a cold shower, its so hot, going back to Heated electric showers, as I said, they are about a 50-50 mix of these in the UK, and you can buy one from about USD 150.00 and upwards depending on the quality and power.
Good article Bob, enjoyed it, its good to know whats available in Philippines, but one question, why is it that AEG is seen as the best there, here AEG would not even get a look in ?
Mira, Aqualisa, Mirage, are the top makes, I have never seen an AEG here in UK ?
GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHOWERS! i AM AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER FROM UK AND MY (filipina ) WIFE AND I ARE MOVING TO PHILIPPINES IN OCTOBER,OK INTRODUCTIONS OVER,ONE IMPORTANT POINT,THE PRESSURE OF THE WATER THAT COMES OUT OF THE SHOWER HEAD IS DIRECTLY DEPENDANT ON THE PRESSURE AT THE INLET! THE BEST IDEA IS TO FEED THE SHOWER FROM A TANK ON TOP OF A TOWER(GRAVITY FED) OR FROM A PRESSURE PUMP. THIS WILL GIVE A SUITABLE PRESSURE FOR THE SHOWER! MAINS WATER PRESSURE VARIES A GREAT DEAL OVER THE PHILIPPINES AND COULD BE GOOD OR BAD DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE. MANY THANKS FOR A WONDERFUL WEB SITE,BOB AND FEYMA.
being involved in property mngt., and very familiar with construction/building my guess is gas fired storage tanks variety are more efficient. Electricity is 3 times more expensive in the States than natural gas ,also it takes alot more ele. to heat things with than gas i.e. less efficient. Geo-thermal with assisted heat is the best so far. I have always operated the electric demand type with some reservations….water, me naked and barefoot standing in water…and 250 volts heating the supply….hope it does'nt short out !!!
I live in Bukidnon Province Philippines and I am about to break over & buy one of those wall units from a hardware store. That brand is not available here but I’ve used other brands just fine. The key to staying alive is to run a direct ground to the outside since wiring here has only 2 leads & is not grounded. The units come with a grounded plug but it is useless to plug in so you wire a plug direct for the unit & run an actual ground out the window to a metal water pipe, rod in the ground or other suitable earthing device.
Enjoy it, Jerry!
Hi Pete – I don't know about the AEG being the best. Actually I had never heard of it before! 😉 I just was in the hardware store and this was on display so I snapped a photo! Ha ha…
Hi Gerry – Interesting about the boiler! There is 911 service in Davao. In other places the phone number varies. For instance, in General Santos it is 116 (interestingly, if you turn 911 upside down, it is 116!) It is different in every city, so you will need to check when you get there.
Hi Brian – your comment seems to tie in with Gerry's question about 911! Ha ha…. To me, I don't think that the electricity is a danger. Those things have a circuit breaker that would instantly cut off in such an event.
Hi John Rayner – Interesting information about the gravity feed. I have thought about doing that myself, and probably will when I build my own house in a few years.
Thanks for visiting the LiP blog!
I grew up with a 40 gallon tank heater, and first realized there was something else available when i went to a remote mountain lodge in Canada in 1999. Based on my initial research when trying very hard to convince my roommate/landlord to buy one when the old tank went kapow, the instant heaters are pretty expensive in the US. I'll start talking them up to my mom soon since I'll bet she's about due for a replacement.
p.s. I leave for GenSan in the morning and won't be online for a few weeks. I'll still be nowhere near you, of course, but I'm still grateful for all the information I've gotten from you and your wife. I look forward to catching up when i get back!
you sould also realize the water here is very cold when it comes into the house ie in the 40sF. In the PI the water is already about 70 out of the tap. Have you ever taken a 40 degree shower?
Hi Gerry, the article about SKYPE was actually about Wi-Fi and VOIP, if you check out my living in Philippines Blog, similar to Bob (Actually assisted by Bob) its at http://www.livinginphilippines.info you should see some articles that might interest you.
Sorry Gerry I dont even know my own URL's its http://www.livinginthephilippines.info try that one, I am sure I got it right this time.
Hi Bob,
The tankless water heater are being marketed in the US now. Lowes, Home Depot, Sears etc sell them now. They have them for electric, natural gas and propane. Here in the Tampa Bay area, the gas co. will give you a 250.00 credit if you buy from them. I've seen this in newer construction homes in Florida and most of them come from Europe, AEG, Rinnaini Bosch are the more popular brand names. They have all kinds of configurations, for a single bathroom or for a whole house with the ability to run 2 appliances(dish washer and laundry)
I've been researching this since my 40 gallon gas water heater is about to conk out. The tankless wholes heater are expensive around $1000.00 plus installation around $300.00. So I went to the regular tank with installation comes to 698.00 Good old Sears. I want to be green but not if it costs me upfront of the George Washington kind of Green !
Good article Bob. I live in the States and I installed a tankless system two years ago when my tank water heater bit the big one. It even has a remote control!!
When I build my house in Samar, I will be installing one of these puppies there too. I need my hot water showers. I can give up lots of things that I have in the States but hot showers is not one of them.
I'll even go a step further on how inefficient and wasteful the household system is in the states–centralized a/c system. The system is on 24/7, even when everybody is at work or at school. What are we trying to cool, the furnitures? I prefer the window units myself here in the Phippines. There are some night that are cool enough, that you can jus tleave the windows open, and save energy.
I'm not particular about the on-demand water heater system. I still like taking the cold shower, with the exception at night, when the water is sometimes a little cooler than normal. If I need to heat the water, I just boil some water and pour it in the pail full of water. The temperature just need to be a little warmer than usual on cooler nights. Other than this little inconvenience, life is still good in the Philippines. Till next time….
Julius- to me the words “pail” and “shower” do not belong in the same sentence !! lol
julius,
i sincerely believe you are missing the forest for the trees, air-conditioning-wise.
the MOST ECONOMICAL aircon system is a small unit running constantly, with a capacity which is just a bit larger than instantaneous the heat gain of your space. That is not terribly difficult to calculate, but it's not feasible to discuss at length here. basically, the concept is that if your space is held at 75 F and the outdoor temp is 86, there's a 11 degree "voltage" existing. The heat "resistance" of your home's insulation will determine how many BTU's leak in, per hour.
if you really want to save money in the phils on aircon, paint your roof and exterior walls, white. second – insulate!
Alan,
We don't have forests in the Philippines; we have jungles, which historically keep a higher humidity than a forest. One more thing, insulation is still consider a novelty idea for most homes here, which affect the cost. Now we do have tempered windows. if it's constructed correctly will help reduce energy cost. For ceiling insulation, the most effective and perhaps economical in the long run is poured concrete. The temperature inside one of these all solid construction could be unberable during the day if the a/c unit is not on, but once the unit is turned on keeps the cool temperature inside much longer than having just a standard galvanized iron roofs, minus the insulation inside.
Now I have talked to few homeowners, who have installed installed fiberglass insulation between the aluminum roof and ceilings. They told me it only made a slight different in temperature, because the metal roofing radiates heat inside the attic. Whether having insulation under metal roofs is worth the trouble and money is open for debate.
There's no quick solution to insulating the wall of the building and homes in this country. You have to put wooden structures and concrete superstructure to sandwich the insulation. You have to problems there: condensation (balmy weather, typical of the tropics) and insect (ants, termites, holing up inside your insualtion). So you're caught between a rock and hard place. For the typical Filipino pocketbook, this could equal to lots and lot of money, which they won't be able to afford. Just take a look at the homes in Guam (An American territory). Their houses are still built of concrete. Yes they have insulation between the roof and ceiling, but they still have window units in each room. Goes to show what works in temperate climate doesn't necessarily works in the tropics.
I still stongly beleive theat centralized units is a waste of energy in the states, especially in the cooler months, where it's running between 72 to 75 degrees outside. This is a very comfortable temperature. You don't need to have your thermostat to automatically turn out the a/c unit once it goes above 75 degrees, especially when no one is home. I think we've gotten too spoiled in the states, and have gotten too fat because we don't sweat enough. How do you explained the people who lived in the 60's and below. Most of their homes didn't have centralized a/c units, yet they've managed to get by. I'm always thinking green, you see. Gotta protect the ozone layer, and uneccessary use of ozone depletion mechanism, unless it's a matter of life and death, is futile. Thanks for the comment. Till next time….
I'm sorry guys, it's the ParrotHead in me talking. Till next time….
Hi Elisa – I hope you enjoy your trip!
Hi Don – Those 40 degree showers are killers!
Hi Allen – I understand the tough choice. For that price, does it heat the water for the entire house then?
Hi Gary – Wow! Remote control hot water! Whew! You are living the life of luxury there!
Hi Julius – oh… not me. I gotta have my hot shower! I guess I am spoiled.
LOL!!!
With the peso getting so strong we may not be able to retire to the pi anyway. There will only be a need for a cold shower than! haha
Hey, has anyone thought about solar-powered water heater? I think it's out there in the market. And Filipinoes are good at jerry-rigging the system. Any opinions out there?
ok, julius, in reply to your comment about solar powered showers, I will be publishing details of a cheap/"do-it-yourself" solar powered shower amongst other "green" devices for my arrival in philippines in october, I will give BOB details of my web site, I have some ideas that may be beneficial to us all and may start a business doing this and other electrical projects for ex-pats and people on a moderate income/pension like myself. Can't wait to get there!!
Great, John. I'm looking forward to it. Still Thinking Green. Thanks. Till next time…
Hi Don – I feel your pain! The dollar has taken a beating! Basically, it's worth about 20% less than it was a year and a half ago. It's a huge drop, and one that we feel every day! Luckily, I make enough money that it hasn't really put us into pain, but the prospect is there. If the dollar keeps falling, it could put us in a world of hurt!
Hi Julius – the house that I lived in previous to this one had solar heated hot water. It was wonderful! The only time that we had any complaint was when we would have 3 or 4 overcast days in a row, then we didn't have hot water. But, that is rare. I highly recommend solar heated water if it is feasible in your area.
Hi John – I'll look forward to your report!
I don't mean to scare you but when I first went to the philippines in 1993 the peso was 25 to the dollar. There has been a lot of inflation in those years. My wife was only making 110 dollars as a school teacher in the pi. (110 in us dollars.) Now they make about 260 us. I'm sure a lot will depend on the political situation the the pi and also the us over the next few years. I my life I have seen the dollar go up and down quite a bit. You have only been the the pi durring the good years exchange wise. I was there one trip where I go 57 to one! The folks moving from Euros should have the time of their life as their money is quite high right now.
Hi Don – I know you are right, and I believe you. I have even written about this over the past year. The dollar seems to be in free fall. The thing is that it doesn't seem to make sense, because economically, the Philippines is pretty screwed up. The worse things get, the better the Peso comes out! I don't understand it!
Hi Bob and Don–I don't get overly optimistic when the Philippine peso goes down. There is no logical economic trend to it. If anything it's politically motivated. Afterall, a national election was just over and it went somewhat peacefully than the last election. This gave the lawmakers a little more confidence to influence the monetary exhange rate. Personally, I still don't trust it. Sounds like a hype to me. The only sign that I'll look for that the economy is getting better is when you start seeing more American and European investments pouring into this country. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening anytime soon–or if it'll ever happen. Till next time….
Hi Julius – I totally agree with what you say. However, the weak dollar still spends the same, regardless of the reason!
🙂
I am a Canadian who has a philippine wife, we live in Canada, but our second home is in the philippines (Baguio). Two year ago we installed a propane on demand hot water heater in our house in Baguio. This heater is a lot cheaper to run than electric. One propane tank last more than two months.
Re: On Demand hot water heater
We have installed in our home a on demand hot water heater or what they call here, tankless water heater. Ours is very small, the size is smaller than 8.1/2 x 11 bond paper. We bought it online from a florida USA company. We saved a lot of money installing this device. Ours is installed directly to the water pipes so the entire house gets hot water, if we want to. It was also cheap. We paid $258.00 for our unit.
Hi Ralph – it sounds like that is quite efficient for you! sounds good!
Hi Brenda – congratulations on making a good choice on your water heating needs! It sounds like it was inexpensive and also efficient for you!
Hi Bob,
My name is Brian Pollard and i am from Melbourne, Australia and may i say you have an Excellent Blog.and it is very Informative!
I like you, I am getting married to a Filipino Girl as well and starting a Computer Business in Zamboanga City.
I like the topics that you both cover as they are what we need from the west to inform us of all and that you and your lovely wife
Feyma, you both have covered a lot.
The Hot Water Storage here is Australia is a Means of waisting Precious water that we can not waist,as you know we here in Australia
are in year 10 of a drought and we Aussies do tend to waist a lot of Resources.
The Hot water heater storage Tanks her range from … 60 liters to over 450 liters storage tanks and it is HOT all the time and as soon as you turn the Tap on … you have Instant hot water on tap…..
as apposed to Hot water on demand that you have there.
Our Hot Water Storage tanks here are Copper Lined or fibre Glass and also are our main water supply pipes in and around the house, This is most common in new hoes only.
The only time that Hot Water on demand is used is in what you would call Condo but much smaller for the older person.
I can remember when we had chip heaters for all showers and baths…But I am showing my age now hehehe
Bob, I am moving to Zamboanga City in the August, 2007, to get married to a Filipino Born girl , and Yes I have taken your advice and applied for a 13[a] Visa…. and I would like to keep in touch with you, because you sound like a Great partnership….
Thank You for your Excellent Blog :cool::cool:and hope to keep in touch….
Brian Pollard
Springvale. Melbourne. Australia..
Hi Brian – Thanks for dropping by again! It's nice to hear from you. I am a little curious about how you applied for a 13a visa? Did you already apply? Because under my understanding, I don't believe you qualify for one until after you are married to a Philippine citizen. I'd enjoy hearing more about that.
Good luck with your pending move! I hope we can meet up and get to know each other better!
Hi Bob,
Thank you for your reply, and Yes i have applied here in Australia and got all the paperwork for application for the 13[a] visa, BUT I have to lodge it in the Philippines Still to be applied for when I get Married in August, Yes and I understand it may take a while, Sorry for Misleading you But you did say apply here for it first, So I did this and found out that I had to be married first. silly me. hehehe
Did you like the feedback on Hot Water Heaters that are in service here?
I suppose I will notice a Big difference in my showering habits.
Once again Bob, you have an Excellent Blog and keep up the Good work!
I would like one day to catch up with you when I am living there in the Philippines.
Cheers for now,
Brian Pollard
Hi Brian – Ha ha… we just had a misunderstanding. When I said about applying in your country, I meant that for people who were already married! I guess I was not clear on that. Ha ha.. well, it will all work out for you, I'm sure of that.
Yes, the info on the hot water systems in Australia was quite interesting. Thanks for sharing that.
Take care!
What interests me is the power connection this water heater requires. My mother in law lives in a small village in Bohol. I believe her electricity connection is only 20 Amps (so approx 4.5 kW).
We were thinking about a solar boiler on top of the roof. Much more energy efficient, but is this available in the Philippines?
Hi Peter – Indeed, solar water heating panels are available here. They are not cheap though…. probably several thousand dollars for one of those units, compared to $100 for one of these.
Hello, We just bought a house in Pangasinan and I was surfing to see if electric showers are available in the Philippines, if not I was going to take a Triton shower with us, they work in the same was as this one, and are cheap as 4000peso and last for many years. Just have to clear it with Triton to see if they work in the Philippines. Electric showers have been going many many years in the UK and are not just cheap but economic in every way. My father installed all ours years ago and and I certainly think if the Filipinos have chance to use one, they would invest in one. Great to see they are used in Philippines and look forward to having one installed when we get there. Nice site Bob
Hi Graham – don't worry, you won't have to miss out on that nice hot shower when you come here! ha ha… Thanks also for your nice comments! Yes, the site is nice, but a big part of that is from people like you who participate in the discussion!
hi// bob! how many watts this tank less water heater? and how much it is cost in phil. market? i want to try this one…
Hello Again Bob.
Just realised your in Davoa, we stayed at the Marco Polo there and did a few days touring the place, great Malls and beach there. My 21 yr old got quite some attention there back then.
Do you eat that Durian stuff ? smells bad but tastes great, we seen a Durian farm there going to the mountain.
Lovely place and great people. Hope those AEG showers will be available in Pangasinan. Cheers Graham
Hi Bob, seems a bit late to leave a comment as the article is over one month old. Anyway I was checking up on instant showers on the net and came across your website. You seem to have a blog everywhere Bob. Anyway I am constructing a building here (check my website) and I intend to install instant showers in all bathrooms. We have two in our house for the last 12 years and still going strong. The only thing about them is, the stronger you need the flow of water the cooler it gets (obviously). But I would definitely recommend them for anyone who is about to install a shower. Thanks for the Blogs Bob, great sites, well done.
Hi Jack – Thanks for your comment! You are right, I have a lot of blogs, and it seems I always have a new one in the pipeline! I enjoy it though, and find it rewarding.
I just checked your website for your resort! Very nice! Maybe I'll surprise you and show up one of these days! By the way, I am of Irish ancestry!
Good luck with your hot water needs in the new building! I hope it works out well for you!
The centralized water heater is no good for davao – until early this year we had ecntralized water heating – like USA.
We had BOTH Solar panels and electric tanks whatever – if the solar panels did not have enough heat it switched to electricity and anywhere in the house when you turn hot water the hot water will come out like in US.
UNFORTUNATELY unlike the US – davao FREQUENTLY has water interruptions – when there are wtaer interruptions you must switch off the main switch of the water heating tank whatever it is called or it might over heat and burn your house down.
You might think that it's impossible as how could someone possibly use lik1 100 gallons of water, LOL!
Aside from the family – we have like 20 help – not that they use anyhot water seem sthey only like cold water – YIKES. If your kids study in Ateneo you have probebly seen our house after Ateneo is Robillo compound and next is our house.
Early this year we took away the centralized heating and in each bathroom installed a water heater. This works much better as we only use electricity to heat water when someone takes a shower unlike before whether anyone wa stakinga shower or not electricity was being consumed 24 hours a day to heat the water.
And if your electricity is $200 ours is over $1000. My sister and brother who are studying in Santa Clara, CA. Do not even consume $100 worth of electricity a month, LOL LOL!
Also when there is water interruption we don't have to go rush and turn off main switch now as the heaters only work when someone turns on hot water taps in bathroom.
And in the guest bathroom we pretty much just turn off the heater unless we have a guest, which saves electricity too.
So I really like this individual water heating thinggie than the centralized one.
Thing is the wtaer on this individual thinggie never gets as hot as the water from the centralized heating thing, or is this my imagination?
Hi , in the Netherlands , we have what you call earthgas. It comes in our house trough pipelines from the gascompany.
Then IN THE HOUSE we have a mix boiler.
When you open a tap , gas start heating the water , it takes only
a few seconds before it is hot.
Same with the shower.You can change how hot the water will be when it's come out.
And allso in wintertime when it is freezing cold outside, there is a what you call a thermostate , you put it on 20 or more degrees celcius , and when it,s getting colder in your room , it's start heating up by the hot water running troughs pipes in all the rooms.
We pay about Euro 150 [ $ 215 ] a month for the gas.
The mix-boiler cost about euro 2000 [ 2800 ] with a garanty of
10 years , but my last one lasted for allmost 18 years.
Or you can rent one for about euro 35 [ $ 50 ] a month and that's
included all the cleanings [ once a year ] and if necessary repairs.
Hi Anton – Very interesting. That sounds just like what we call "natural gas" in the USA, and we have pipes into the house in most areas, just like what you have there. Unfortunately, as I am sure you are aware, nothing like that here in the Philippines. Of course, we have LPG tanks, which I believe are roughly the same thing.
Hi Bob,
I am having a house built in Cavite and i am having second thought of having solar heater. What is the best water heater to get? I am worried of having the electric heater knowing the cost of electric in Philippines is hiking up too much. But not sure if the solar heater would be ideal as most of the times the shower/bath is being used during night time. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks
Hi Yen – I currently have an electric on demand water heater, and I used to have solar hot water in another home, so I feel I can answer your question with some degree of information.
On the electric, I would not be worried about the cost of electricity, as they don’t use much electricity. They are cheap for up front purchase. They offer good heat any time of day or night.
For the solar, they are quite expensive up front. I admit that they are quite nice to have. However, I had solar in Davao City, where it is sunny just about every day. We probably don’t have rainy dais more than a dozen days per year. Now, up in Cavite, they have rainy season (we don’t have that in Davao), and if you go more than a couple days without sun, then expect that you will run out of hot water. On the few occaisions when we went a couple days without much sun, I experienced this type of problem. As for overnight, that is not a problem, you should have plenty of hot water to last you through the night, the solar system will have a storage tank for hot water that should take care of the overnight and even into the 2nd day, but in my experience it will not last much longer than that.
Good luck with your decision.
Thanks Bob. Your reply really helps me alot towards decision.
Just one more question though. Do you have idea of how much the solar heater would cost? Including materials and installation. I was thinking of 40gallons and im quite concern of the different price i was quoted. 22,000 – 160,000.
Thanks again
No, I am sorry, my experience with solar was about 10 years ago, and I do not keep up with it now. Just ask around.