Water heater installation in Batumi: capacity, location and pipework

Water heater, gas boiler or instantaneous heater

Water heater installation in Batumi starts with one question: where does the apartment get its hot water now? If there is gas, it is usually heated by a combi boiler. A water heater goes in when there is no gas, when the boiler is far from the shower and the water runs cold for half a minute, or when two showers are used at the same time.

An indirect cylinder is heated by water from the boiler running through a coil, and for this the boiler needs a cylinder connection: a built-in three-way valve or a kit for one. Heat-only boilers usually have it; many combi boilers don't, because they heat the water themselves as it flows through. So before buying a cylinder we check the manual of the boiler already on the wall, and plan the system together with the apartment heating.

Capacity: sized by showers, not square metres

Water in the tank is heated to 55–60 °C, but people shower at around 40 °C. The hot water is mixed with cold, so an 80-litre tank gives one and a half to two times as much shower water, closer to twice as much in summer, when the cold water is warmer. As a guide: 50 litres is enough for one person or a studio with a shower, 80 litres for a couple or a family of three, and 100 litres or more is needed if the apartment has a bath or two bathrooms on one water heater.

We also allow for recovery time: a full tank takes more than two hours to heat up again, so for a rental apartment we would rather go for 80 litres than 50.

Where to hang the water heater

An 80-litre tank full of water weighs about 100 kg: 80 kg of water plus the unit itself. It hangs on two brackets, so on concrete and brick we fix it with anchors, and on aerated concrete block with anchors made for aerated concrete. A plasterboard partition without built-in backing won't hold it, so we put a backing of metal profile or timber into the frame before the boarding goes on. When we replace a tank, we don't reuse the old anchors, flexible hoses or relief valve: they cost little and are the first things to leak.

The closer the water heater is to the shower, the less cold water runs off before the hot arrives. Good places are above a toilet installation frame, in a recess under the bathroom ceiling, or in a storage room next to the wet area. Under a vertical water heater we leave room to take out the flange with the heating element and anode, and we provide an access hatch to the valves and the relief valve.

Pipework: what sits between the water heater and the pipes

• isolation valves on the cold and hot water, so the water heater can be removed without shutting off the whole apartment;
• a pressure relief valve on the cold water inlet, with no valves between it and the tank;
• the relief valve discharge piped to the drain through a tundish or trap, not a tube onto the floor;
• a drain valve for emptying the tank before servicing;
• dielectric unions on the tank connections;
• a pressure reducing valve if the incoming pressure is above the relief valve's setting.

The relief valve has a non-return valve built in, so as the water heats up it can't flow back out of the tank into the pipe. Between 15 and 60 °C water expands by about 1.6%, which in an 80-litre tank is 1.3 litres, and that is what the valve discharges. If the drips are a nuisance, we fit a potable water expansion vessel before the water heater to take up this volume.

Its own circuit, an RCD and surge protection

We connect the water heater on a separate circuit from the consumer unit, with its own circuit breaker and through a 30 mA RCD: water and the heating element share one casing here. The socket is splash-proof and outside the splash zone, or we wire the water heater directly through a double-pole switch if its manual requires that. The casing is always earthed.

If the apartment's power supply is close to its limit, we shift heating to the night with a timer. We plan the space for the new breaker together with the consumer unit assembly, and a voltage protection relay keeps the water heater's electronics safe from fluctuations in the supply; it is covered on the page about surge protection.

Anode, limescale and servicing

An enamelled tank has a magnesium anode. It corrodes instead of the tank walls, and once there is nothing left of it, corrosion moves on to the tank itself. How fast this happens depends on the water, so we check the anode for the first time a year after installation, and after that according to its condition. At the same time we remove limescale from the heating element: a thick layer can be heard as noise while the water heats.

Many manufacturers' tank warranty terms require regular anode checks, so we record the date of every service in the handover file. If your apartment is on our maintenance service, the water heater is part of the schedule, and we check the anode and limescale once a year. When there is a lot of limescale, it is worth looking at water filters and softening at the inlet.

How much water heater installation costs in Batumi

An 80-litre electric water heater with installation costs from 920 to 1,380 ₾. The price includes the water heater itself, fixing, connection to the water pipes and wiring. On its own, a 50–100 litre water heater costs 770–1,220 ₾, and installing one you have bought yourself costs 125–180 ₾.

An 8–11 kW instantaneous electric water heater costs 325–395 ₾ as equipment, but it almost always needs a new circuit from the consumer unit. Connecting an indirect hot water cylinder to a boiler comes to 390–420 ₾ for labour, and the cylinder itself isn't included. It costs more when backing in a partition, a pressure reducing valve or an expansion vessel is needed. The final cost is set after we inspect the location and once the estimate is agreed.