I’ve got a very old gas hot water storage unit.

What’s your advice? Let us come and assess its condition. In this era of rocketing energy costs you at least need to know it’s working at peak efficiency while you consider replacement.

I was thinking of a straight replacement? To get the system that best suits your needs you should weigh up the options against the size of your household and how and when its members use hot water. For example, these photos show the before and after of a replacement job we did recently. We pulled out an old 135-litre storage unit and fitted a Rinnai Infinity 16 continuous gas heater. As well as being more compact, the new heater takes advantage of the latest technology to deliver the exact amount of hot water needed while using a fraction of the gas the old system guzzled up.

Tell me more? The original storage system was designed for a large family and was old and inefficient. The new heater better suits the peak needs of a smaller household, which now isn’t paying a lot of money to keep a storage tank full of hot water. It has a 6 Star energy rating and can be combined with low-flow shower heads for even more savings.

I guess you’re getting busy with winter hot water callouts? Oh yes. Hot water always seems to fail when the family least expects it. When it happens in winter it’s a crisis.

Tell us about a couple of jobs you’ve done recently? Sure. Both were older gas storage systems that failed suddenly. In the first one we got called out after-hours to isolate the hot water service and provide a quote to replace it with a continuous-flow system. The work involved a gas line upgrade and the installation of a weatherproof power point.

I guess this would have taken a couple of days to sort out? Not at all. Our gas-fitter had the new system installed and running by the following afternoon, and that included arranging for one of our electricians to provide the power point. The other job took a little longer as part of the roof had to be lifted to install a new supply line. We have all the technical services in-house at Sharpe to handle these situations.

So I’ve got options if my hot water completely fails? Our technicians can advise on a range of replacement options. Just one example is this supply and fitting of a changeover continuous-flow gas system from $1200. But remember, regular professional servicing can add years to the life of your current unit. We service, repair or replace all types of hot water.