Where can you get the best hot water cylinder price in Auckland?
Buying a new hot water cylinder is probably not something you do very often – you might replace a cylinder only a few times in your life, depending on your living circumstances. So how would you know what they’re supposed to cost? If you’re considering buying a house that needs the hot water cylinder replaced, what should you budget in for that?
Do an internet search on “hot water cylinders NZ price” and you’ll be faced with at least 124,000,000 (yes millions!) of search results. You’ll be hit with a long list of paid advertisers, all claiming to have the lowest prices. So where should you look?
Should you get a hot water cylinder price from your local hardware store? Do you ask your plumber? Or can you go direct to a manufacturer?
Even these options can be tricky.
Buying a hot water cylinder from a hardware store
You might look online at your local hardware or DIY shop – here in Auckland, you’d likely start with the big three (Bunnings Warehouse, Mitre 10, PlaceMakers). They’re all great in their own right, offering slightly different advantages, depending on what you’re looking for. We have nothing bad to say about any of these retailers – we use them ourselves and know they offer great selection and service.
But it’s not where we suggest you go shopping for a hot water cylinder. We’ll get to that in a second….
Looking at the online selection of the big hardware stores, you’ll quickly discover that there are two main brands to choose from – Rheem and Rinnai. What’s the difference? Not a lot, in our opinion. They’re both great brands with reliable products.
Rheem was started in the United States in the 1920s. Rinnai began in 1920 in Japan. Both companies have expanded globally, focusing on plumbing, heating and appliances. At Cylinder Direct, we supply and install both brands.
Back to that online research… the price at your local hardware store or DIY shop will range from about $600 for a small (15L), underbench low pressure system cylinder to around $2500 for a much larger (300L) mains pressure system cylinder. The difference is hot water cylinder price and size is quite significant.
Which bring us to the first reason why we don’t recommend you source your hot water cylinder from your hardware store. At Cylinder Direct, we can advise you on the best cylinder to buy for your usage, lifestyle, stage of life, and budget. For example, we’d most likely recommend a different product for two retirees living in a townhouse than we would for a family with three teenagers who leave Auckland every weekend to head up to the bach.
Buying your hot water cylinder from one of the hardware stores is only part of the project. You still need someone to install it. In New Zealand, this must be done by a registered gasfitter who is authorised by the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board to do this work). Most gasfitters will prefer to supply the hot water cylinder to you themselves, so they can be sure it hasn’t been damaged in transport.
Buying your hot water cylinder from your plumber
Asking your plumber for advice on which hot water cylinder to purchase is actually not a bad idea. They can go through all the variables with you and determine what cylinder you need, looking at the size of your household, your lifestyle and water use, whether or not you’re on mains pressure water, etc.
We generally don’t recommend purchasing your hot water cylinder from your plumber, however, because they’re essentially a middle man in the process. They’ll need to purchase the cylinder on your behalf (and may add a mark-up). And they may not be qualified gasfitters – a legal requirement for anyone installing a hot water cylinder (which is why you can’t do it yourself, unless you’re a registered gasfitter authorised by the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board to do this work).
The team at Cylinder Direct are registered gasfitters, and we don’t need any middle men. We supply and install ourselves, so there is not additional cost for distribution or subcontracting.
Buying your hot water cylinder direct from the manufacturer
Once you’ve done a bit of research, you might wonder if you can get a better deal by purchasing directly from Rheem or Rinnai. Good thinking, but they don’t actually sell direct to consumers.
You can have a look at the websites for Rheem and Rinnai to get an idea of the options and sizes, but at present, there are no prices listed. You can’t currently purchase from them online, as their websites will direct you to a stockist in your area. But again, many of these listed stockists are retailers. You’ll still need to find a registered gasfitter and pay for installation. Many of the stockists will tell you they install, but in reality, they’re subcontracting this work out to plumbing and gasfitting companies.
Buying your hot water cylinder from Cylinder Direct for the best price
The thing that makes Cylinder Direct unique – and the best place to buy a hot water cylinder at a great price – is the fact that we supply and install ourselves. We don’t subcontract out this work.
So when you contact Cylinder Direct for information about what hot water cylinder is right for your household, you’ll get expert advice from us directly. Our licensed plumbers and registered gasfitters have been providing residential and commercial plumbing and gasfitting services for years.
The person you talk to on the phone, the professional who comes out to do your site visit, the person who installs your hot water cylinder – they’re all from Cylinder Direct.
This direct service means there are no additional layers where suppliers or tradespeople will add extra cost to your project.
