Renovation of our house in CDO

[GeoffH]

I thought about reviving the topic on water heaters but that's been quiet for a while and this isn't just about water heaters but also AC brands and renovation.

As some will know I recently sold my house in Aussie so I've got a bit of cash available and I've wanted to do some work on the house in the Phils for a while, it's perfectly livable as it is but I'm a bit over cold showers LOL

The en-suite bathroom off the master bedroom has a layout that doesn't suit us, it has a large and deep bath with sliding glass doors and an older water heater which we removed because it wasn't working.  And it has a small CR with a shower curtain along the far side of the room.  The near side has a free standing cistern at one end and a free standing basin at the other end with only a small cabinet above the basin.

Our plan is to get in a builder and strip it down to a bare room and start from scratch.  We don't want a bath, neither of us use it and we'd like a larger shower with a water heater plus a new cistern (preferably with a bidet) and a sink with a cabinet underneath.  Plus new tiles, new paint and a new exhaust fan.  We're going to replace the outside water tank and pump to improve the water flow to the second floor which at the moment is steady but not what I'd call strong.

While we're doing that we're going to replace the cupboards in the bedroom, change out the old box AC for a split system and repair/replace a few of the down lights that have stopped working. 

And we're getting the roof repaired and repainted which is starting as I'm typing this, scaffolds are going up now because the house is 2 and a half stories (2 full stories and the top story is attic type rooms with sloped roofs.

I was intending to be back in the Phils by the time this all started but... lockdowns and border closures have stopped that.

The builder who is doing our roof repaint suggested a Panasonic and reading a thread earlier some people seem to like AEG.

SWMBO and I want to go for a branded unit but which branded water heater unit?  And also which branded AC unit?

 

I know that a few people are building now (or have recently been building) and I was wondering what water heaters and what AC units you guys decided upon and why?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Edited April 13, 2020 by GeoffH

[Huggybearman]

I can recommend AEG. We installed ours about 5 years ago and it’s still working well. We have an Aerogaz water heater in another bathroom which was already installed when we moved in. It is a bit temperamental. It is ok as long as the water pressure is ok, but cuts out with even the slightest drop in pressure, whereas the AEG doesn’t.

[intrepid]

Three of our baths have Panasonic water heaters.  The model we used are DH-6GM3P.  We have ours connected to both the sinks and showers.  6.0kW with three settings.  Always kept on low which is plenty hot.  Five years now and no issue .

As for aircons we have six units made by Koppel which range from 1hp - 2.5hp.  One compressor failed after about a year and the parts were free but still was required to pay labor of around p10,000.  They were not the cheapest but far from high end.  They work fine but even with servicing the drain pan clogs and or overflows within about six months.  After a look see I think there is an issue with the design.  The drain pan should be a little wider to the back which would help a lot and seems there is plenty of room.  I cannot recommend Koppel air con.  In my workshop I have a Daikin Aircon which I installed myself.  It is much more quiet than the Koppel.  Can hardly hear it running inside and the outdoor unit is very quiet also.  In the future when the Koppels need replacing I will look hard at the Daikins.

[intrepid]

Forgot to mention the water pump.  You said you may be looking to upgrade.  I would go with a bladder tank which can produce higher pressures and volume without as much fluctuation in that pressure.  If you do decide to go with higher pressure remember to make sure your plumbing can handle it.

[hk blues]

8 minutes ago, Huggybearman said:

I can recommend AEG. We installed ours about 5 years ago and it’s still working well. We have an Aerogaz water heater in another bathroom which was already installed when we moved in. It is a bit temperamental. It is ok as long as the water pressure is ok, but cuts out with even the slightest drop in pressure, whereas the AEG doesn’t.

I'll second AEG - here it's under the brand name Stiebel Eltron.  We also had an Aerogaz and, like above, it was temperamental - either too hot or cold, almost no happy medium.  The price difference was about 50% but the AEG/Stiebel Eltron well worth the extra.  

 

[GeoffH]

20 minutes ago, intrepid said:

If you do decide to go with higher pressure remember to make sure your plumbing can handle it.

That is a valid concern... the water pressure varies a lot from point to point.  In the dirty kitchen near the tank it's very high but in the inside kitchen and the down stairs CR is it is just ok and upstairs in our CR it is low.  I can see we will have to be careful about how we do this, thanks.

[RBM]

23 minutes ago, hk blues said:

I'll second AEG - here it's under the brand name Stiebel Eltron.  We also had an Aerogaz and, like above, it was temperamental - either too hot or cold, almost no happy medium.  The price difference was about 50% but the AEG/Stiebel Eltron well worth the extra.  

 

Same here excellent experience with AEG just performed 100%.

[hk blues]

2 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

That is a valid concern... the water pressure varies a lot from point to point.  In the dirty kitchen near the tank it's very high but in the inside kitchen and the down stairs CR is it is just ok and upstairs in our CR it is low.  I can see we will have to be careful about how we do this, thanks.

We don't have a pump - not allowed in our subdivision - and have a mains fed system.  It's perfectly fine 95% of the time and the AEG never stumbles, unlike the Aerogaz which was a problem.  We don't have a shower heater upstairs as the pressure is just too low I suspect. 

[GeoffH]

A lot of recommendations for AEG which is good.  It wasn't one of the brands mentioned by the builder but I will ask SWMBO to enquire about them (and Stiebel Eltron)

[GeoffH]

1 minute ago, hk blues said:

We don't have a pump - not allowed in our subdivision - and have a mains fed system.  It's perfectly fine 95% of the time and the AEG never stumbles, unlike the Aerogaz which was a problem.  We don't have a shower heater upstairs as the pressure is just too low I suspect. 

The bedrooms are all on the second floor, the pump is there because the water pressure is always too low to get any water to the second floor CR at all.  We leave it off most of the time because it is connected to a downstairs water heater as well as the pump and if we leave it on the water downstairs becomes scalding hot (thermostat issue perhaps?).  There is a remote switch in the 2nd floor CR and we just turn it on when we need to wash or flush then turn it off again after (I often forget which is one reason I want to change the system).

I am not aware of restrictions about pumps in the subdivision (that doesn't mean that they don't exist, something else to check).