Buying water heaters in India may look like a simple task. You order a water heater geyser, and the company personnel install it in your home. But was this the right buy? Will the geyser you bought solve the problem in a real sense? Let’s find answers to such questions in this water heater geyser buying guide.
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Today in our report, we will discuss basic geyser buying guide concepts that will cover answers to questions like what are the different types of water heaters and factors that you should check when buying a water heater geyser. Let’s start with understanding a water heater first.
What is a Water Heater/ Geyser?
A water heater is a device that raises the temperature of water from an initial low stage to a higher state. It can be an electrical device or basic mechanical equipment that needs some heat source. The fuel or source of heat can be a natural or an engineered source, which further forms the basis of water heater classification.
What are the different types of water heaters / geysers?
There are two types of water heaters / geysers found in the Indian markets:
- Instant Water Heater / Geyser
- Storage water heater / Geyser
Now, based on the source of energy used to heat water, each of the above two geysers comes further in four types:
- Immersion Rod
- Electric Water heater/Geyser
- Gas Water heater/ Geyser
- Solar Water heater/ Geyser
Let’s understand each of the terminologies mentioned above one by one:
Instant Geyser
Instant water heaters/ Geysers are those that immediately heat the water and deliver hot water to the faucet. Water in these heaters gets heated through induction methodology i.e. by coming in direct contact with a hot coil, and gets instantly heated. These geysers come equipped with high-wattage coils that heat the water instantly.
You may need to wait a fraction of the time (equivalent to the time required to run the cold water in the pipe) to get hot water. Maintaining a uniform water flow rate at the faucet is necessary to obtain uniformness in hot water flow. These geysers can be useful in places where the user is not in a position to wait for some time to get hot water.
Storage Geyser
The geysers that come with a storage tank where water is stored and heated for some time before being used are called Storage water heaters/geysers. These geysers come in different capacities of the water storage tank, and user can buy a storage capacity that suits their family need the best. We will discuss the capacity calculations ahead.
Since they need some time to heat the water in the tank, they are less energy-consuming and come with a lower-wattage heating element installed in the tank. The cost-saving comes at the cost of waiting some time to heat the water, and they can be a great suit for large families, or for jobs that need stored water use.
Immersion Rods
Immersion Rods, also popular as bucket heaters, are capillary tube heaters. The capillary tube material is usually stainless steel that gains heat from an embedded but insulated coil and heats the water in which it is immersed.
The alignment between the capillary tube and the heating element is maintained to avoid the capillary tube getting electrified. Immersion rods available in the markets usually come with heating elements ranging between 250 to 2000 watts.
Electric Geysers
All geysers that consume electricity as the source to heat water are Electric geysers. The domestic electric geysers that we use in our home come with embedded heating elements where the electric energy gets converted to heat energy and either delivers hot water instantly ( Instant geysers) or heat stored water in the tank of the geyser (Storage Geyser). Modern electric geysers are well-engineered and indicate various parameters with the help of indicators making them safe and popular in India.
Gas Geysers
Gas Geysers are those water heaters that use the energy of a burning fuel to heat the water. Mostly the fuel used is a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and hence is recommended for use in properly ventilated spaces only.
Solar Geysers
Solar geysers, as the name suggests, use solar energy to heat the water. Heating the water can be time-consuming with these geysers but they are highly efficient and cost-saving. Further, to reduce their dependency on sun rays, modern solar geysers come with installed heaters that can be connected electrically to heat the water.
These geysers find useful applications in places where the volume requirement is large such as hotels, hospitals, or community kitchens. Since they are cost efficient many families prefer to install solar geysers on their roofs and thus the manufacturers have started selling solar geysers with small storage capacity.
How do the water heaters/ geysers work?
The as-available water heater/ geyser design may vary depending on the purchaser’s requirement, i.e., it may come with a storage tank inside or in the form of a tank-less water heater/geyser; popularly known as ” Instant Geyser.” But, the working principle of these water heaters is more or less the same. In all the above water heaters/geysers, cold water comes in contact with the heating source and gets heated.
In some technologies, the cold water enters the water heater/ geyser through an “inlet pipe” and gets heated. In contrast, in other instances, the water heater is submerged in the water container, and thus heat is transferred. The latter method is a common practice in Indian houses where an Immersed rod is dipped to a safe level in a water tub/bucket. When traveling through the pipe, hot water being lighter in weight rises above the cold water and is available at the point of use through the “Outlet Pipe.” The outlet pipe is located at the top of any geyser.
Many brands, to enhance the safety features and make these geysers more user-friendly, are providing their geysers with advanced safety-related features such as LED indicators, Auto-Power cut, temperature adjuster, etc.
Let’s now move to learning about the selection process of water heaters in the geyser buying guide ahead.
Water Heater Geyser Buying Guide
Post understanding the various types of water heaters/Geysers, let us move to understanding some crucial factors that a buyer must consider checking if buying a water heater/ geyser.
How to choose a water heater/geyser?
The following factors must be considered when buying a water heater/geyser. These are:
Type of water heater/geyser
Understanding the type of water heater/ geyser you need, to meet the purpose for which you need a water heater/geyser.
For example: if you are staying in a place where frequent power cuts are common, or the area doesn’t have an electric supply, you should consider a gas geyser or a solar geyser. Further, if the place you want to use a geyser is a confined one, you should never go with gas geysers, this can be dangerous.
There can be other similar constraints like a time constraint, or instant hot water need from the faucet (washroom or Kitchen)for which we recommend using an instant geyser. So choose the type of geyser wisely to match your personnel or family requirements.
Capacity Calculation
The next step is to decide what capacity water heater/ geyser you need. You can make general considerations for calculating the capacity of your family. This will include assumptions based on experience. For example, if 1 person needs 5 liters of hot water (90 degrees centigrade) which is mixed with cold water can engage another 15 liters to get a suitable bathing temperature. You will need a 5 litre capacity, or considering 20% extra, a 6 litre capacity geyser.
Similarly, for two persons who need to bathe back-to-back, an 6-liter to 10-liter capacity can work.
Geyser buying guide: Geyser Capacity Selection Chart
Or,
You can consider referring to a capacity calculation chart recommended by the geyser companies to buy a geyser.
Energy Efficiency
The next step in deciding how to choose a geyser would involve checking the energy efficiency of the geyser. This is critical as a wrongly selecting geyser may cost you dearly in the form of heavy electricity bills 🙂
In this drive, we recommend going with 5-star energy-efficient geysers. There can be special cases when you can bypass this need like choosing another geyser that doesn’t work on electricity or an especially featured geyser that you believe is worth compromising on energy efficiency ratings.
This water heater buying guide has recommended some energy efficient geysers under the types of geysers above. You can prefer choosing one from them or do your own research.
Budget Considerations
By budget consideration, we mean considering the long-term cost too in addition to the buying price of a geyser. Companies usually offer discounts, but we recommend counting on the long-term benefits, including operational and maintenance costs. Make sure you compare the prices between your preferred water heaters/geysers before you book one.
Warranty Considerations
When buying a water heater in India, make sure you are specific about the warranty terms besides the year-long promises by geyser brands. Also, compare warranties between your top choices and select the one that provides the best value.
Make sure you get the warranty papers registered when you buy a geyser in India or if the warranty requires you to register online, make sure you register following the guidelines soon after you buy the water heater/ geyser.
Brand Comparison
By Brand comparison, we insist on to guide on checking the brand reliability before buying a water heater in India. There are instances when you ignore a geyser because of your unfamiliarity with the brand name or, you buy a geyser because you find it glossy and promising. Both cases can have adverse outcomes.
A new company may be a brand that has recently expanded its business and entered the water heaters market. A good example of such a case would be Black and Decker, a 110-year-old US giant, that has been in business in India for more than 30 years but is just a few months old in the home appliance markets of India.
Allow us to help you with some leading geyser brands in India to make the geyser selection process easy. The list includes:
Bajaj
USHA
V Guard
Crompton
Orient
Racold
Havells
AO Smith, and a few others.
Installation and Maintenance
The geyser companies in India usually do Geyser installations and commissioning, and it involves raising an installation request after the geyser purchase following the guidelines. The process usually involves calling customer care, and in most cases, companies take care of that. Be vigilant with whatever is the process and MAKE SURE YOU RAISE THE REQUEST WITHIN GIVEN TIME.
Installation terms may require you to buy some minor accessories or make some modifications at your geyser installation place before you call the service engineer.
If installation is not covered by the geyser brand, we recommend consulting an experienced electrician who has done similar jobs before.
Customer Support
Customer support usually means post-purchase support. We recommend reading reviews on post-purchase support by geyser brands in your preferred list. Make sure you have the best contact details including customer care number, email ID, and other channels for contact and support.
Availability of Spare Parts
Make sure that the geyser brand supports spare parts availability in the market before you buy its geyser. Also, explore the potential challenges in case your geyser faces a repair after the comprehensive warranty period.
Online vs. Offline Purchase
The responsibility for geyser warranty and other post-sales support lies with the brand that you buy the geyser from, but sellers (offline or online must support a replacement period post delivering the product physically. Read the terms of replacement with online sellers or ask an offline seller about it.
Both online and offline platforms are equally good for buying water heaters in India provided you do not land on a fake product-selling platform. Often we go through news of scammy websites selling cheap products, please identify and distance yourself from any such seller.
Allows go through reputed e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Croma, JioMart, and a few others.
Wrapping Up:
The importance of a water heater in our daily life cannot be taken lightly. People have been using these tools, in one or another form, since evolution, and they greatly help in speeding up our routine tasks comfortably, especially in cold climatic conditions. Hence, it will be wise to invest money in a water heater. The advent of technology has made water heater geysers hard to understand, as such geyser purchasing guides can help beginners to learn chemistry of various types of geyser available in the market. The selection of a water heater should be made to match the requirements. Buying water heaters in India is not rocket science, though.
With the measures suggested in this geyser buying guide, we are sure our audience can make smart decisions to choose a geyser that suits their needs the best. Get well acquainted with what you need from a water heater; follow a geyser purchasing guide, and impart the lavish that you have been thinking to your family. Happy Buying!
FAQs
Why a geyser buying guide is necessary?
Geyser purchasing guide gives you insight of everything that one should know before buying a water heater in India. This geyser guide gives you an overview of the various types of geysers for home use, available in India. Once you are done deciding a type, we recommend going through the details of that geyser type before buying one.
Are solar geyser worth it?
Though the solar geyser are the most expensive type of geysers, there are numerous benefits and cost saving factors associated with them in long terms. We recommend calculating the long term cost effectiveness y following a detailed Solar geyser buying guide.
Are Gas geyser safe for Home Use?
Gas geysers should be installed only if you have sufficient space and ventilation in the washroom, or one can make arrangements to install the burning arrangement outside if have suitable provision. Following a Gas geyser buying guide can be a better idea before buying a gas geyser.
What are Tankless Geysers?
Tankless geysers are one that do not have storage tanks in them. They are also known as Instant, explained above in this geyser buying guide.
