Reply To: On demand electric hot water for kitchen use

[Christian Hoerning]

Hi Sally,

Here are my thoughts:

Continuous flow electric hot water heating for a remote kitchen sink is one of the few applications which I would recommend. I don’t know much about the sizing and would leave this to the supplier to work out but basically unlike for showers and baths you don’t require a high flow rate in the kitchen so there should be a system small enough in terms of power rating to work within the capacity of the existing electric wiring.

Also, I wouldn’t be too concerned about running costs either. First of all, this really is only an issue for the household if they have separate meters for controlled and uncontrolled electricity supply with different prices for each. If it is only one meter the pricing would be the same as with a ripple-controlled cylinder. Furthermore you avoid standing losses from the cylinder in the kitchen which should at least offset any additional running cost if you had to pay a higher price for uncontrolled electric water heating in the kitchen.

It is true that uncontrolled electric water heating poses a higher strain on the electricity supply system as it adds to peak load. However, if we are only talking 20 litres or so per day to wash the dishes etc. I wouldn’t worry about this. Many dishwashers heat their own hot water anyway which basically is uncontrolled electric water heating, so this wouldn’t change.

So if it was my house I would definitely consider continuous flow electric water heating for a remote kitchen sink and simply compare the upfront costs of a) connecting to the main cylinder, b) replacing the small kitchen cylinder and c) the continuous flow system. I wouldn’t worry about anything else really.

Cheers, Christian

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