Most of us have central water heater. However, you may have no hot water during maintenance or repairs. Instead of boiling water on the stove and washing from a cup, you may quickly install an instantaneous water heater.
Since this is a temporary solution, we won’t be cutting any tubes or drilling any holes. Once central hot water is back online, you will just remove the temporary water heater without any permanent damage to your bathroom.
The first and obvious thing is to purchase a instantaneous water heater.
They are also called nonstorage or or tankless or pass-through in some territories. Actually, get any heater you like: the device is very primitive in nature, so even major brand names purchase OEM units in China and just put their labels on.
An instantaneous water heater consists of the main body with a power switch, the cold water intake tube, the hot water output tube with a hose and a shower attached.
It is very important to use the bundled shower. Your normal shower has too many wide holes, while the bundled have very few of them and only in the center. Instantaneous water heater is a small device, it could never supply enough hot water for an ordinary shower. However, the bundled shower sprays just enough water for a comfortable warm shower. Most negative instantaneous water heater experiences are from people, who attached a normal shower instead of specific one.
The back side of the device has an opening for wire attachment. The device doesn’t come with any wire, so you should purchase some yourself. You should prefer single cord over multicore cable. Even though multicore cables are generally thinner for the same surface area, their ends require soldering or other procedures before they could be installed. Multicore cables also don’t hold shape, while single core cables could be bent for an easier fit. With a single core wire, you may just peel it and you’re ready to go. The water heater power suggest that you need at least 2.5 cubic cm single core copper cable, consisting of three separate wires: line, neutral and ground.
One end you screw inside the water heater,and the other end should be fitted with an electric plug. The plug must have a grounding point. Your country may have different plugs, but most of them are installed with a screwdriver, no soldering required.
But how long should the cable be? Well, that depends on where do you have the appropriate socket. The power socket should be able to withstand at least 16 Amps for a 3.5 kWt water heater. However, you probably already have such a socket – the one you’ve got your washing machine attached to. To make sure that it fits the specifications, check that it has a separate line, connected to a separate automatic circuit breaker and has proper grounding. Another important thing is protective cutout device, which is the most important device to minimize risk of an electric shock.
The next thing is to out the heater somewhere.
There are two requirements: it should be above your head and aligned perfectlyin both horizontal and vertical planes. So let’s attach some fitting wire to the device and look where can we put it. Just tie the fitting wire around a shelf or a hook.
The only thing left is the water supply. Unscrew your shower and connect its hose to the intake port of the water heater.
You’re done! Plug in the water heater and use the shower!
Some more instructions on correct instantaneous water heater usage. You have to know that there’s is a heating coil inside the device, similar to that in an electrical teapot. And this coil should always be under water when in use. If any part if the coil emerges, it will overheat and burn out. To avoid that, always have the water heater adjusted vertically and horizontal and never turn it on without water inside.
To use a water heater, first switch to shower. By the way, if you always forger to turn the water back and the shower goes zooming around the bathroom, mark the DANGEROUS position of the selector with color finger polish. This should make it more obvious.
Now turn on the water and wait till the water comes from the shower. Only then turn on the device. The water should turn from cold to warm in about 30 seconds.
When you’re done, first turn the device off and wait, while the warm water changes to cold. Now turn off the water.
Of course, if you turn the water off the device will turn off by itself, and if you turn the water on it will turn back on, but that’s a safety device, not intended for prolonged use.
It is also a good idea to turn off the device while you don’t need it, like when you are applying shower gel. That will save power and prolong the water heater life-span.
However, even if the device burns out, you may always replace it with another one, as we didn’t drill any device-specific holes or did any other permanent damage to your bathroom.