@op What is the hate against an inline gas system btw? Mine rates very highly IMHO, and the whole idea of 'infinite' hot water only when needed, surely suits a small hostel ideally, and makes a world of difference especially when considering water pressure?
Instant gas hot water can be relatively expensive if you don't have mains gas. And the bottles need to be changed.
135L sounds far too small. A larger cylinder isn't that much more expensive to own if it has a cylinder wrap around it. There are locally made hot water heat pumps as an alternative to solar.
PhantomNVD: @op What is the hate against an inline gas system btw? Mine rates very highly IMHO, and the whole idea of 'infinite' hot water only when needed, surely suits a small hostel ideally, and makes a world of difference especially when considering water pressure?
No hatred from me for gas systems but there is currently no gas supply to the building and will be expensive to setup. Also the bottles aren't cheap.
Been thinking about this. What might work is running an inline electric heater off your existing HWC via a tempering valve.
If you heat the HWC to max (and use a higher wattage element) and then set the output of the tempering valve to a temperature that the inline heater can then bring up to a suitable shower temp then in effect you will have a large supply of hot that isnt being depleted too fast because its being mixed with the cold via the tempering valve.
DarthKermit: I don't know what your budget is, but I think your best bet is to talk to a good plumber about what your options are.
I will do, just want some ideas from people who have some knowledge or experience first.
Most plumbers in New Zealand won't have knowledge or experience with solar. A heat pump may be more appropriate for you as sometimes you'll have 20 guests and other times only a couple. They do produce noise, about as much as an older dishwasher. Severe overcharging goes on for solar too.
kiwitrc: Been thinking about this. What might work is running an inline electric heater off your existing HWC via a tempering valve.
If you heat the HWC to max (and use a higher wattage element) and then set the output of the tempering valve to a temperature that the inline heater can then bring up to a suitable shower temp then in effect you will have a large supply of hot that isnt being depleted too fast because its being mixed with the cold via the tempering valve.
Clever. I'll have a chat with the plumber about that.
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