# Gas Water Heater



## celia50 (Nov 4, 2010)

Any advice on make and price ?

Thanks Celia


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

celia50 said:


> Any advice on make and price ?
> 
> Thanks Celia


Find a qualified fitter, ask Repsol, also plenty of recommendations in free press, info sites on Spain, or even ask your neighbours!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

celia50 said:


> Any advice on make and price ?
> 
> Thanks Celia


The gas supplier (repsol/Cepsa) will have to connect it so why not ask them to supply and install, it may well work out cheaper. Ours is a multipoint (serves two bathrooms and and two kitchens) and I think cost about €130 - make is Vaillant - same as we had in UK. Take a look on Electrónica, Coches, Moda, Coleccionismo, Cupones y mucho más para tus compras por Internet | eBay to see what is available and the prices
for example:
calentador de agua de butano en Casa, Jardín y Bricolaje | eBay
but check to see what the delivery charge will be, then once it is delivered add on the connection charge.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Why would the gas supplier have to fit it? - this is simply not true!

Any gas qualified person can do it - for example, out plumber is fully gas certified to carry out gas work whether it be mains gas or bottled.

I am told that the best gas boilers are made by Junkers - about 160 euros.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> Why would the gas supplier have to fit it? - this is simply not true!
> 
> Any gas qualified person can do it - for example, out plumber is fully gas certified to carry out gas work whether it be mains gas or bottled.
> 
> I am told that the best gas boilers are made by Junkers - about 160 euros.


Legally it is the gas supplier who has to inspect the connection before it can be connected. Now if your plumber is certified and authorised by the gas supplier - then fine.


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## celia50 (Nov 4, 2010)

Thank you all for your help,not sure if there is a Junkers agenti in Altea also would prefer a local dealer.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

celia50 said:


> Thank you all for your help,not sure if there is a Junkers agenti in Altea also would prefer a local dealer.


I would definitely try to find someone local to supply and fit it. These heaters are pretty good but not 100% reliable. If you need someone to come and fix it it would be better if it was the same guy who installed it.


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## celia50 (Nov 4, 2010)

jimenato said:


> I would definitely try to find someone local to supply and fit it. These heaters are pretty good but not 100% reliable. If you need someone to come and fix it it would be better if it was the same guy who installed it.


Thanks for your practical advice,I think there is a supplier near Benidorm would definitely call in to check it out.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We have a Junkers and we've had no problems with it at all. The guy who installed it said it will require servicing after two years then every year. It is high end though and cost around €300


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## celia50 (Nov 4, 2010)

*Gas Wter Heater*



thrax said:


> We have a Junkers and we've had no problems with it at all. The guy who installed it said it will require servicing after two years then every year. It is high end though and cost around €300


Thanks thrax for your info,I would like to get the old heater sorted before replacing ii.
Just need Junkers for a bath and some hot water for greasy large pots and pan as the dishwasher take care of the rest 
I am sure of advice at the store eg.size etc...


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

I moved to estepona a few months ago and have found myself in an apartment with a electric boiler. It's really inconvenient as it keeps running out of hot water so if I wash the dishes I have to wait for at least an hour before I can take a shower or do anything else. It's an absolute nightmare and really slows up my day. Has anyone else had this problem?? Are apartments with gas boilers available in Spain? As I am renting I am unable to change what is already there so hoping to move soon. X


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I am sure there would be apartments around with gas boilers - but they would almost certainly use bottled butano gas as natural gas piped to the home is not common in Southern Spain. So you would have the inconvenience of either having to collect a heavy gas bottle from your nearest supplier (they weigh 12.5kg) and lug it into your flat and change the bottle, or wait in to get one delivered (not convenient when you are working). You also have the problem of a gas bottle possibly running out when you are mid shower - not a pleasant experience! Your problem is really that the electric boiler is not big enough, you should check the capacity (it will be in litres) and when you are looking for a new place, make sure the boiler is bigger than the one you currently have.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Lynn R said:


> I am sure there would be apartments around with gas boilers - but they would almost certainly use bottled butano gas as natural gas piped to the home is not common in Southern Spain. So you would have the inconvenience of either having to collect a heavy gas bottle from your nearest supplier (they weigh 12.5kg) and lug it into your flat and change the bottle, or wait in to get one delivered (not convenient when you are working). You also have the problem of a gas bottle possibly running out when you are mid shower - not a pleasant experience! Your problem is really that the electric boiler is not big enough, you should check the capacity (it will be in litres) and when you are looking for a new place, make sure the boiler is bigger than the one you currently have.


Or propose to the landlord to swap the existing electric one for a bigger one. Offering to help cover the upgrade cost might sweeten the deal.

By the way Miss M, glad to see you made the move!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Overandout said:


> Or propose to the landlord to swap the existing electric one for a bigger one. Offering to help cover the upgrade cost might sweeten the deal.
> 
> By the way Miss M, glad to see you made the move!


I thought about suggesting that, but obviously it would depend on whethere there is space to accommodate a bigger one.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

Miss_Marbella said:


> I moved to estepona a few months ago and have found myself in an apartment with a electric boiler. It's really inconvenient as it keeps running out of hot water so if I wash the dishes I have to wait for at least an hour before I can take a shower or do anything else. It's an absolute nightmare and really slows up my day. Has anyone else had this problem?? Are apartments with gas boilers available in Spain? As I am renting I am unable to change what is already there so hoping to move soon. X


It's possible you might find an apartment with a gas heater.Some people have a small utility room off the kitchen where the gas bottle is stored.Downside to this you might not have room to store spare gas bottle.For us it's a gas heater all the way as we like to do all our cooking on gas and also a gas plancha but we are lucky as I built 2 cupboards under my work bench in the garage and carry 6gas bottles and when we get down to the last one telephone call and we get a new supply.I think what put me off electric is when we first came here 23years ago we had electric boiler and found it expensive to run.Glad you made it young lady and hope it's lived up to your expectations.A greeting. Just to say if you do find an apartment with a gas heater make sure there is a contract in place.


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

tarot650 said:


> Miss_Marbella said:
> 
> 
> > I moved to estepona a few months ago and have found myself in an apartment with a electric boiler. It's really inconvenient as it keeps running out of hot water so if I wash the dishes I have to wait for at least an hour before I can take a shower or do anything else. It's an absolute nightmare and really slows up my day. Has anyone else had this problem?? Are apartments with gas boilers available in Spain? As I am renting I am unable to change what is already there so hoping to move soon. X
> ...


Thanks for your replies  tarot I noticed you said to make sure there's a contract in place for an apartment with gas. Why is this? I currently have a contract in place on my apartment as I got it through an agency. However I am looking to avoid using an agency in my next move as they charge such high fees over here and really the service I got for it wasn't worthwhile. 
Is there absolutely no chance of finding an apartment with piped gas here? The sound of all those bottles plus having to touch the boiler myself is very daunting. I honestly had no idea about the boiler systems over here until I arrived as previously always stayed in hotels. Do the gas heaters here have a little blue flame visible like the ones back home? I am going to check every single boiler I see now haha x


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

Lynn R said:


> Overandout said:
> 
> 
> > Or propose to the landlord to swap the existing electric one for a bigger one. Offering to help cover the upgrade cost might sweeten the deal.
> ...


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

Miss_Marbella said:


> Thanks for your replies  tarot I noticed you said to make sure there's a contract in place for an apartment with gas. Why is this? I currently have a contract in place on my apartment as I got it through an agency. However I am looking to avoid using an agency in my next move as they charge such high fees over here and really the service I got for it wasn't worthwhile.
> Is there absolutely no chance of finding an apartment with piped gas here? The sound of all those bottles plus having to touch the boiler myself is very daunting. I honestly had no idea about the boiler systems over here until I arrived as previously always stayed in hotels. Do the gas heaters here have a little blue flame visible like the ones back home? I am going to check every single boiler I see now haha x


Only place I can think of that was going to have piped gas was Coín as I know they were laying the infrastructure.Whether it happened or not I don't know.The boiler we use is a Junkers a well known make here in Spain.The reason I mentioned the contract ,some years ago a Brit. couple had a problem with a gas boiler and damage was caused to the kitchen and you have guessed it the insurance company refused to pay out as they did not have a gas contract.Just small things people don't think about when they come here.A greeting.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Miss_Marbella said:


> Lynn R said:
> 
> 
> > I don't think for a second they would agree to change the boiler. They wouldn't even upgrade my TV package when it turned out there was a cheaper better one available which all the other residents were having installed in their apartments.  So really I haven't been too happy with this apartment. It's beautiful inside and very modern furniture but the actual infrastructure is quite old. I don't think when they renovated it they bothered to update the plumbing and boiler systems I think it was just cosmetic work they did. I was thinking maybe a new build apartment would have a gas boiler? But it's very hard to find one of those furnished in the rental market at the moment. I have been looking everyday. X
> ...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Miss_Marbella said:


> Thanks for your replies  tarot I noticed you said to make sure there's a contract in place for an apartment with gas. Why is this? I currently have a contract in place on my apartment as I got it through an agency. However I am looking to avoid using an agency in my next move as they charge such high fees over here and really the service I got for it wasn't worthwhile.
> Is there absolutely no chance of finding an apartment with piped gas here? The sound of all those bottles plus having to touch the boiler myself is very daunting. I honestly had no idea about the boiler systems over here until I arrived as previously always stayed in hotels. Do the gas heaters here have a little blue flame visible like the ones back home? I am going to check every single boiler I see now haha x


Our gas boiler doesn't have a pilot light but lights instantly off a couple of U2 (Size C) batteries which last about 4-5 years. One of the things that inhibits rental apartments having gas boilers is the gas contract which one is supposed to have before they will supply bombonas plus there is the inconvenience of lugging bombonas about - they are bad enough with a house and the place of use is on the same floor as the entrance (i.e. no stairs)


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I can only speak for the Seville area, but around here there is natural gas (piped gas) available almost everywhere. My mother-in-law has it in her apartment in Seville, and we (in a town 8 km outside of the city) are in the process right now of switching to natural gas from electric. 

As someone else already explained, gas boilers generally no longer have a pilot light. They either use batteries, or they have an automatic pilot. 

By the way, a new build should have solar hot water, because since 2010 new builds have been required to install solar panels for hot water. However, they also must have a back-up system of some type for those days with no sunshine.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

kalohi said:


> I can only speak for the Seville area, but around here there is natural gas (piped gas) available almost everywhere. My mother-in-law has it in her apartment in Seville, and we (in a town 8 km outside of the city) are in the process right now of switching to natural gas from electric.
> 
> As someone else already explained, gas boilers generally no longer have a pilot light. They either use batteries, or they have an automatic pilot.
> 
> By the way, a new build should have solar hot water, because since 2010 new builds have been required to install solar panels for hot water. However, they also must have a back-up system of some type for those days with no sunshine.


It's available (nominally) in my town, but few properties seem to have it installed. When we were looking for a property last year, we saw just one which had natural gas (only used for heating the water) and the installation looked a complete mess, exposed pipework on the outside of the terrace walls and into the kitchen.

I do remember staying in an apartment in Sevilla some years ago now which had proper gas central heating, it was a newish build block, and that was quite a luxury! I think Granada has it too, but both those areas are colder in winter than the coastal areas where Miss Marbella lives, so more properties are likely to have natural gas installed.


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

kalohi said:


> I can only speak for the Seville area, but around here there is natural gas (piped gas) available almost everywhere. My mother-in-law has it in her apartment in Seville, and we (in a town 8 km outside of the city) are in the process right now of switching to natural gas from electric.
> 
> As someone else already explained, gas boilers generally no longer have a pilot light. They either use batteries, or they have an automatic pilot.
> 
> By the way, a new build should have solar hot water, because since 2010 new builds have been required to install solar panels for hot water. However, they also must have a back-up system of some type for those days with no sunshine.


 Thanks for your reply  is the solar system much good? Or will it only give you a constant supply when there is hot weather? I am looking to find something with continuous hot water. Can't really afford to waste any more time sitting around waiting for water to heat. I've been in my apartment almost 5months now but really it's too much of a problem for me. Does anyone know how long those gas bottles lasts for? Do you have to change them every week /month? Etc x


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I don't have solar panels so I can't answer your question from experience, only from what friends have told me.

Solar hot water does not give a constant supply. The solar panels heat the water which is then stored in a tank. There are installations with more solar panels and bigger tanks, and installations with fewer solar panels and smaller tanks. Two panels are what's generally considered necessary for 4 people, and one panel for two people. So with you living alone it's unlikely that you'd completely empty even a smaller tank, but in theory it could happen and you'd be left with no hot water. Then the back-up system would kick in. 

The house we lived in until last summer had a gas boiler that used butane tanks. With 4 of us showering every day, in the winter a gas bottle would last about 2 weeks and in the summer about a month. FYI we are all pretty quick in the shower, about 5-7 minutes.


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