Whole house electric tankless water heater UK

Whole house electric tankless water heaters from Flexiheat UK an alternative or replacement for tank-type water heaters

A whole house electric tankless water heater has become highly desirable in the UK due to its ability to provide unlimited domestic hot water instantly, without any waiting time or the need for water storage. Instantaneous water heaters have a compact design and can be easily installed in tight spaces, such as a kitchen cupboard or something similar.

While the statements above are correct, it is important to recognise some limitations, such as the limit on the number of outlets that can be used simultaneously, the need for close proximity to hot water outlets, and the need for a three-phase electric supply to power a whole home’s energy-efficient tankless water heater.

Key Point

1. You require a 3 phase power supply to have a viable whole house electric tankless water heater in the UK

Energy efficient water heating

With rising energy prices, many homeowners in the UK are looking for ways to cut energy costs and make their homes more energy efficient. One way to do this is by installing an electric tankless water heater, also known as an instantaneous water heater or demand-type water heater, is one way to do this. Tankless water heaters provide domestic hot water instantly, as needed, eliminating the need to constantly heat and reheat a tank of water like traditional tank-type water heaters. This can lead to significant energy savings, making whole house electric tankless water heaters an attractive option for eco-conscious homeowners.

How do tankless water heaters work?

Tankless water heaters work differently than traditional water heaters that use a storage tank. When you turn on a hot water tap, cold water travels into the tankless unit. Inside the unit, an electric element heats the water instantaneously before sending it to the tap or shower. The unit directly heats the water without storing it, ensuring you never run out of hot water. Even when hot water isn’t in use, traditional water heaters with storage tanks must constantly reheat and maintain water temperature, resulting in energy waste.

Benefits of whole house electric tankless water heaters

There are several key benefits that make whole house electric tankless water heaters a smart choice in UK homes:

Energy efficient hot water

Instantaneous water heaters only heat water when needed, rather than maintaining a whole tank of water at temperature constantly. This results in major energy savings compared to traditional water heaters. Homeowners can save 20% to 60% on water heating costs.

Continuous domestic hot water

Instantaneous water heaters provide an unlimited supply of hot water on demand. You’ll never run out of hot water for showers, washing dishes, doing laundry, and more. The water heater activates when hot water is needed and shuts off when not in use.

Space Savings

Instantaneous water heaters are compact and mount on a wall, freeing up floor space that standard storage hot water cylinders water heaters use. This makes them a great choice for smaller homes or properties, such as flats, etc.

Long Lasting

Tankless heaters last up to 20 years, twice as long as traditional storage hot water cylinders. The lack of a water storage tank increases their lifespan.

Environmentally Friendly

The energy efficiency of tankless heaters means lower carbon emissions. Less electricity is required for water heating.

Safety

With no hot water storage tank that standard water heaters have, there is less risk of leaks or rusting. Tankless water heaters are safer, provide more reliable hot water, and are easier to install.

Factors to consider when choosing an entire house tankless unit

If you’re considering switching to a whole house tankless water heater, there are a few important factors to take into account:

Power Rating: The correct power rating ensures that your tankless unit can handle your household’s hot water demand. Look for a power rating of 18–27 kW for a whole house appliance or even 36kW depending on your demands.

Flow Rate: The water flow rate, measured in litres per minute (LPM), must meet your household’s peak hot water needs. The electric water heater appliance’s power ratings directly influence the heated water flow rate’s capacity or output.

Energy Source: Electric tankless heaters often make the most sense for UK homes. Make sure your electric system can handle the power demands.

Size: Choose the appropriate size tankless heater for your home’s water heating demands, number of bathrooms, etc. An undersized unit won’t meet your hot water needs.

Location: Pick an appropriate indoor location with adequate space and accessibility.

Efficiency Rating: Look for a high energy efficiency rating to maximise savings.

Product range

Our electric tankless hot water heaters have four power ratings, or output ranges, in “one” tankless water heater unit. Except for the 27kW and 36kW electric instantaneous water heaters, which feature a single power setting.

For example, our 9kW to 15kW electric instant water heater allows consumers to pick power ratings of 9kW, 11kW, 12kW, or 15kW in one model, while our 17kW to 24kW instant water heater may be adjusted to 17kW, 18kW, 21kW, or 24kW output.

The cold water mains temperature at the deepest winter times is typically 10 degrees Celsius, thus an average temperature rise of 30 degrees Celsius is necessary to provide hot water for usage in the winter months. The data below shows the performance at a temperature rise or Δt = 30

Please note that this range of compact instantaneous water heaters requires a minimum flow of 2.5 litres per minute to start heating the water. If the flow rate is lower than this point, they will not operate.

Our 9kW to 27kW instantaneous water heaters feature a LCD display showing the tankless water heaters set temperature

The digital display on 9kw to 27kW , showing the hot water temperature set on the water heater

and our 36kW tankless water heater has a traditional temperature dial and look like this

36 kW Electric instant water heater

Benefits of Going Tankless for Whole House Water Heating

Switching to a whole house electric tankless water heater provides a range of benefits:

• Save significantly on energy costs by only heating water on demand
• Enjoy hot water with an unlimited supply of continuous hot water for all your needs
• Free up extra space by eliminating a storage electric water heater
• Reduce your home’s environmental impact with an energy efficient system
• Enjoy convenience, reliability, and safety with an electric on demand hot water tankless unit
• Get a long-lasting water heater that will serve your property for many years

By going tankless for your whole house, you can gain energy savings, unlimited hot water, extra space, and peace of mind knowing you have an eco-friendly, highly efficient water heating solution meeting your household’s needs.

Installing Your New Tankless Water Heater

Once you select the right electric tankless water heater model for your home, hire a qualified plumber for installation. Proper installation is key to maximising efficiency and providing hot water performance. Key steps include:

• Select an appropriate indoor location that allows access to the instant hot water heater; they are a very compact design, so this shouldn’t be an issue.
• Make any necessary electrical upgrades to handle the instant hot water heater requirements.
• Electricity supply: ensure you have properly sized electric cables and breakers.
• Connect the water supply pipes with components such as isolating valves and a filter on the cold water feed to the water heater.
• Insulate water pipes to limit heat loss to sinks or the shower.
• With a tankless water heater tailored to your specific home set-up, you’ll get the right choice with superior function without wasting energy and benefiting from energy savings for years to come.

Going tankless is the smart choice

With rising energy prices, whole house electric tankless water heaters make increasing sense for eco-friendly UK homeowners looking to save on costs. By only heating water on demand, tankless heaters provide endless hot water while being much more energy efficient than traditional storage tank heaters. Choosing the right size unit with professional installation provides a long-lasting, highly effective hot water solution. Going tankless can make your home more sustainable while cutting your energy bills. It’s the smart choice to enjoy reliable heated water whenever you need it.

So if you require a price, check stock or to purchase one of electric water heaters for entire home hot water needs Please contact us on 01202 822221 or use the email contact form .

Condensing water heaters

Condensing water heaters have become the norm since Part L of the UK building regulations came into force in June 2022.

The more stringent water heater requirements of the Part L building regulations apply to both newly built and existing non-domestic building stock.

This basically eliminates the option to swap out existing non-condensing water heaters with the same type of water heater. Any replacement hot water heaters must utilise condensing technology within the domestic hot water heater to produce savings on both a monetary and emission level i.e., carbon emissions, as a condensing water heater will deliver cutting edge efficiencies.

A low emission level hot water system helps the UK achieve our drive to a lower carbon economy and ErP compliant condensing water heaters help this.

However, in the rare event that the Building Control authority determines that replacing a non condensing gas fired water heater water is not suitable or feasible in non domestic buildings, a minimum seasonal efficiency of 80% for natural gas or 79% for LPG may be utilised.

But there are very few circumstances in which you can’t use a condensing water heater, to be fair, so these exceptions would literally be “once in a blue moon,” as they say, if at all.

The energy efficiency benefits of condensing water heaters now mean that the residential hot water systems market has also rapidly moved to this type of water heater’s installation, as they deliver cutting edge efficiencies and produce savings on your water heating bills.

As of yet, there are no regulatory requirements to use a gas fired condensing water heater in a domestic property, but the economic benefits of using less gas to produce domestic hot water for a home or flat through higher efficiency alone have driven the domestic market this way.

However, the commercial hot water regulations or the commercial water heaters market often lead with regards to regulations, and the domestic market then follows, so we can envisage that condensing water heaters will soon be mandatory in this sector before long.

Energy efficient water heating

Condensing gas fired water heaters have a hot water efficiency level of up to 105%. Which is essentially an extra 12 to 15% more performance than an older gas fired non condensing water heater.

A second heat exchanger in a condensing water heater preheats the incoming cold water by using waste heat from the exhaust gases. This process lowers the exhaust gas temperature, boosts energy efficiency, and increases the hot water flow rates of the water heaters.

A cooler exhaust allows for additional possibilities for flueing materials, such as polypropylene plastic flues. Condensing gas fired water heaters need to dispose of the acidic condensation water through a drain and possibly a pH neutralizer because water vapour condenses inside the appliance when the exhaust gas cools, and this is acidic in nature.

Gas fired water heaters

We have a large, high efficiency gas fired condensing water heater range that are direct fired water heaters for small or high hot water demand that can be required in commercial or industrial hot water heating applications such as hotels, leisure centres, and hospitals.

Wall hung water heaters

SFC or SFK Condensing water heaters range – in natural gas or LPG

Our wall hung condensing water heaters range consists of three models a 28kW, 34 kW or 50 kW output water heaters.

These water heaters benefit from various flueing options: horizontal or vertical flue systems, room sealed or conventional flued with various flue terminal options for easy installation.

The two smallest water heaters come with the option of a pump for a domestic hot water recirculation system (designated the SFK model) or without a pump (our SFC version) for straight through water heating, which are the most common appliances we sell. The larger 50kW model comes with a pump as standard, which is capable of being turned off for straight through direct water heating.

With a large 28mm single-pipe coil heat exchanger made of stainless steel, the SFC or SFK condensing water heater range benefits from very low pressure drops, less chance of blockage, increased thermal efficiency and easier cleaning and delivers high volumes of temperature accurate hot water. Other safety features such as protection to IPX5D rating are standard.

There is no water storage within these units, so there is no heat loss compared to a storage water heating system.

This is the basic rule: the higher the kW output, the higher the DHW flow rate performance

When heating cold water to a certain temperature, this is known as the temperature rise or Delta T (shown as Δt in the charts below). The normal bathing or showering water temperature is 38°C to 40°C, depending on personal preference.

For winter performance

We recommend sizing the water heater on a Delta T of 30 degrees C, shown as “Δt 30” for the majority of the UK, in Scotland, we recommend using “Δt 35”.

During the summer period

You can use “Δt 20” as the temperature rise.

SFK or SFC 28kW Gas fired condensing tankless water heater

Download the SFC 28kW Gas condensing water heater with no pump manual

Or with pump for hot water recirculation systems

Download the SFK 28kW Condensing water heater with pump manual 

SFK or SFC 34kW Gas fired condensing tankless water heater

Download the SFC 34kW Gas condensing water heater manual with no pump manual

Or with pump for hot water recirculation systems

Download the SFK  34kW Condensing water heater with pump manual 

SFK 50kW Gas fired condensing tankless water heater

Download the SFK  50kW Condensing water heater with pump manual 

Please be aware that the highest temperature that the water temperature can be set to is 60 degrees Celsius on the standard water heaters ; on request, we can, however, build a higher temperature unit that can reach up to 85 degrees Celsius. These water heaters are frequently used for the pasteurisation process in the dairy and farming industries, as well as in other applications that call for high-temperature washdowns and water for process applications.

For high demand hot water heating that commercial applications can require, these high efficiency commercial water heaters can be used in cascade for example- we go into more depth on the of this type installation here – Commercial gas water heaters

These on demand high efficiency gas water heaters have various essential safety features, and can be used to top up heat-pump water heaters, which can struggle to achieve the desired water temperatures.

Control options

You can set the water temperature on the control panel of the water heater; however, should you wish the facility to change the water temperature, then we have a remote controller that you can site in your kitchen to boost the water temperature to 50 °C for dishwashing, which is the recommended temperature for removing grease from cooking utensils and dishes.

Easy remote controller – Wired – for our condensing water heaters from Flexiheat UK

Storage options

We also supply three condensing storage tank water heaters options – which are available as either LPG or natural gas fired water heater and are all ErP compliant water heaters.

We do a 50kW water heater option with a 330-liter storage cylinder

Gas water heaters with storage systems for high volumes at intermittent times demand. These ErP compliant condensing water heaters are energy efficient and cost effective to run.

A 34kW water heater option with a 150 Litre stainless steel storage cylinder

or a 28kW water heater option with a 150 Litre stainless steel storage cylinder

SFKA 28 or 34 KW Output models – Natural gas or LPG powered

We go into more depth on these storage condensing water heaters that are often used in commercial buildings here – Condensing gas hot water tanks or cylinders

Where are condensing water heaters used?

Everywhere, from residential and smaller business settings such as homes, cafes, hair salons, bed and breakfasts establishments to industrial and large commercial applications such as sports complexes, hospitals, colleges, or schools, we have a complete range of high-efficiency water heaters for every warm water heating requirement.

Contact us

Should you require anymore assistance, information, check stock or get a price / cost on our effective (both in a monetary and emission level) condensing water heaters range please contact our customer services sales team on 01202 822221 or use our email contact above on the web page.