Rinnai 24 Continuous Water Heater

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networkn

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Topic # 223657 10-Oct-2017 23:22

We just got a letter from Rennai saying our Hot Water mains system is now obsolete and we should have been servicing it every 2 years. They are offering to service it for $169 incl a $30 filter as a special offer down from $199.

We moved in 2006 and haven't even *looked* at it let alone serviced it, as we didn't know.

The letter is saying our unit was installed in 2000, but not sure how since the house was brand new in 2006 when we bought it from the guy who built it.

What is the expected life of the water heater? We have 5 Bedrooms 3 bathrooms and from what I can see online the 24 is only rated to support 2 bathrooms. Though one of ours is never used.

robjg63

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Reply # 1880696 11-Oct-2017 02:51

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Of course it's obsolete - it's over 10 years old.
Everything is obsolete after about 6 months these days. I would guess they change rinnai models every couple of years as well.

We have on of those units and have 2 bathrooms. It's fine with that usage.
The 24 supposedly means 24 litres of hot water per minute. That's about 2 plastic buckets.
Might struggle if you tried running all 3 bathrooms at once.

Our house was built in 2002 and we have never touched the box and never had it 'serviced'. Unless you live in an area with a lot of minerals or dirt in the water I can't really think what would need servicing.

I recall there was another thread on gz a couple of years back where some people reckoned 10-15 years was a normal sort of lifespan for these sort of water heaters, but the rinnai is one of the best quality units, so fingers x'd.

Put the $200 away for the replacement fund for sometime in the (hopefully) distant future.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

richms

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Reply # 1880748 11-Oct-2017 08:28

robjg63: Of course it's obsolete - it's over 10 years old.
Everything is obsolete after about 6 months these days. I would guess they change rinnai models every couple of years as well.

We have on of those units and have 2 bathrooms. It's fine with that usage.
The 24 supposedly means 24 litres of hot water per minute. That's about 2 plastic buckets.
Might struggle if you tried running all 3 bathrooms at once.

Our house was built in 2002 and we have never touched the box and never had it 'serviced'. Unless you live in an area with a lot of minerals or dirt in the water I can't really think what would need servicing.

I recall there was another thread on gz a couple of years back where some people reckoned 10-15 years was a normal sort of lifespan for these sort of water heaters, but the rinnai is one of the best quality units, so fingers x'd.

Put the $200 away for the replacement fund for sometime in the (hopefully) distant future.

Wonder if there is some possible thing that they dont want to do a recall on because that would be them paying for it, so are trying to sneak it thru as a service item so customers pay?

Richard rich.ms

PhantomNVD

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Reply # 1880750 11-Oct-2017 08:43

I had a Paloma (cheap) 20L/m at my last home in Glenbrook Beach for over 10 years. The only issue I had in that whole time was in the first 6 months when the motherboard somehow got toasted and 2 (cold shower!) days later was replaced in warranty for free. We did have a water filter in place for the whole house as the area had really high mineral levels anyway.

We chose a Rinnai Gas Hot water system for our new Golden Home build without a second thought and absolutely love t!

Davy

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Reply # 1881729 11-Oct-2017 09:12

Our Rinnai has been running almost daily for 10 years and we've never touched it. I'd almost forgotten it was there!

Makoura

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Reply # 1881732 11-Oct-2017 09:21

Hi, our house was built in 2000 and Rinnai installed then. We also have gas fireplace which it was recommended we service. Guy came around cleaned fireplace of any buildup and then walked to back of house and basically said they don't know of any faults with the hot water systems until it dies and he hadn't seen one die. Cost was $100 for call out and service. Was I guess good for piece of mind.

Disrespective

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Reply # 1881778 11-Oct-2017 10:04

What is the model number on the unit? The warranty period would be well out of date for most parts (3 years I think), and the heat exchanger parts are usually 10 years. They may not hold stock of legacy primary parts after these periods so if the unit fails it may not be repairable. I would think getting the unit serviced is probably a good idea but arguably not the end of the world.

rosco62

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Reply # 1881786 11-Oct-2017 10:10

I installed a Donna I system last year in our house. I asked around before I chose it and one of my friends commented that he had had his for more than 20 years and it was still going good. he asked his plumber about servicing it at one time and the plumber was surprised and said that it didn't require any servicing, solid as a rock apparently.

rosco62

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Reply # 1881788 11-Oct-2017 10:11

Rinnai system, stupid auto correct