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220 Volt tankless water heater

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joemindwarp
  6/27/2016 18:04 EST

Can I get a recommendation for a 220 volt tankless water heater?
It will be supplying two bathrooms in Maldonado.
Also a recommended supplier / install

carlitos
  6/27/2016 18:20 EST

I am curious to read any recommendation as I've been installing and using water tankless water heather in Brazil for sometime and so far I found out that they are not a good option in Uruguay due to not enough power provided by UTE to users. Can I ask what is your "potencia contratada" currently on your last UTE bill?

roninscz
  6/28/2016 07:34 EST

I have had good experience with James electric water heaters. Make sure to get the copper tank.
When I had a hot tub, it was necessary for me to increase the "potencia contrada" to 9.2 (not sure what that signifies) and I think I had something like a 6 rating before. If your contract with UTE is in your name, you can go to UTE and have that done fairly easily.

roninscz
  6/28/2016 07:35 EST

I have had good experience with James electric water heaters. Make sure to get the copper tank.
When I had a hot tub, it was necessary for me to increase the "potencia contrada" to 9.2 (not sure what that signifies) and I think I had something like a 6 rating before. If your contract with UTE is in your name, you can go to UTE and have that done fairly easily.

Morell
  6/28/2016 08:09 EST

The potencia contratada is the size of the service into your home.
The higher it is, the more you pay each month as a fixed charge.

pistolpete
  6/28/2016 09:35 EST

Thanks Morell. Do you know specifically what the size of the service means? Does it have anything to do with a tiered rate system or is it directly related to the characteristics or the incoming voltage/amperage? This is a new one on me that of course does not exist where I live.
Thank you
Pete

Morell
  6/28/2016 10:16 EST

Perhaps Carlitos has better info but as far as I know, the service into your house is in Kw and the larger the more expensive per month.
Ours is 8.8 Kw which is what it was when we bought the house. We have a swimming pool, dishwasher, washing machine and three hot water tanks - a main one that is on for a few hours, a small one only on one hour a day and one out in the BBQ which is almost never used.
We could reduce it a little but then might have occasional blackouts if everything happened to come on at once.
Our fixed charge for this size is 463 pesos every month and our usage is on top of this plus other fixed charges for street lights 181 pesos and another for having electricity at all 306.5 pesos.
So even if we used none, we would have a bill of 951 pesos ( just over $30 US ) each month.

For those who might not know, there is a system where you have two different meters and pay a different rate for power in the evenings $7.352 pesos a kWh compared to the lower rate the rest of the time $2.944 pesos. It is called Residencial Doble Horario and there is an expense to set it up initially if the house does not have it already.
It pays to try and do everything you can during the off peak times, that is why people use timers for hot water tanks , pool pumps etc. and wash dishes, clothes etc. during the day or overnight.
Our monthly bill is around $1500 pesos ( approx. $50 US ) but we heat with wood and do not have a clothes drier, dehumidifier etc.

Wanderlustspirit
  6/28/2016 10:36 EST

Great information Morrell. That's interesting you are charged for "street lamps" here. Your electric bills are much cheaper than ours so we will need to look into the residential double Horacio which we had heard about previously. Did you just get the timers at a barraca or ferreteria?

Roninscz - we were told an electrician would need to go to UTE to do paperwork to get the power into our home increased & we were quoted a U.S. $150 fee I believe, which seemed high to us. So you did your own paperwork?

Morell
  6/28/2016 12:24 EST

There are two different issues here. One is to increase the size of the service and the other is to switch from one meter to two so they can charge you the two different rates. Maybe worth doing them both at the same time.
You can find timers quite easily - even at Tienda Inglesa
http://www.tinglesa.com.uy/producto.php?idarticulo=12917&buscada=timer

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 17:33 EST

I've rented out my house since buying it 6 years ago. My tenants are leaving 1 August and I know the primary water heater is on its last legs. I don't know the current pressure but was looking for an alternative to the tank. When I was just in Colombia the 5 bedroom apartment shared 1 tankless unit and I always had a long HOT shower

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 17:53 EST

Morell, you heat your house with woo, do you have a wood heater and a fireplace?
I am interested as my house has electric sub floor expensive heat I hope I never have to use. I have a large living room fireplace I want to improve on, is there a way I can heat the upstairs bedroom(s) with this?
I am considering a wood heater in the common space between the 3 upstairs bedrooms

Morell
  6/28/2016 18:02 EST

We have a Magna insert in the fireplace with a fan. It has one outlet in our living room and a pipe that goes through the chimney to the upstairs and heats one of the bedrooms. I think the largest model has two outlets.
Magna will come to your house and suggest the best option, They will do all the installation work and they also offer a yearly cleaning service.
We have been happy with them.

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 18:08 EST

Thank you Morell,
that is exactly what I want.
Is there a Magna in Maldonado?
I will be there next month and will be calling them.

Morell
  6/28/2016 18:11 EST

Yes, check their website.

http://magna.com.uy/?id_menu=349&secc=home

Morell
  6/28/2016 18:18 EST

Another option if you have the space is

https://estufaceramicamayolica.com.uy/

We have friends who have something like this and find it quite economical to use.
Several of the houses we looked at had them and the owners were very happy with them.

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 18:35 EST

Morell,
this Magna, is perfect. I will be in Montevideo for 2 weeks before moving back to Maldonado. Hopefully the exchange rate will cooperate and possibly get VAT back, if not no problem.
91,000 Uruguay pesos = +/- $3000 USD?

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 19:46 EST

I contacted them and hope to have an estimate this week
Thank you Morell

Morell
  6/28/2016 20:43 EST

De nada.

Our fireplace was not big enough for the largest model so we have the middle one.
Yes they are quite expensive but I know at least five other people who have them and I have not heard of any complaints.
As mentioned though, there are other options here.

Wanderlustspirit
  6/28/2016 22:34 EST

Joemindwarp - 2 other companies you should also consider contacting are Nuke & Inotal. Both on contractor row in Punta Del Este. More options from these 2 (size, power, etc.) companies than Magna. We spoke to all 3 companies.

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 23:15 EST

I appreciate all the advice, I guess USD $4000 after install.
Also grateful for the Punta options as well.

joemindwarp
  6/28/2016 23:20 EST

Is there a Magna distributor in Maldonado or does the MVD sub-contract to Maldonado?
Can you recommend one Co. above the others? Never expected a good option for heat in my house. Wood heat is ideal.

joemindwarp
  6/29/2016 16:28 EST

Morell,
Can you give me an estimate on after installation cost?
Magna is in the process of going to the house for an estimate and I would like a general idea of what to expect.
Thank you,
Joseph

Morell
  6/29/2016 16:57 EST

I cannot really recall but it was in the $1000 to $1200 US I think and it depends on the height of your chimney as they install a liner and then they have to put an intake and outlet on each side of the stove plus do the wiring for the fan and chip out a lot of the bricks inside the fireplace to fit the insert.
Then they run pipes upstairs for the outlet/s up there.
They come back at a later date to install the metal around the front of the stove once it has been made.
They also cleaned the chimney prior to the installation and did a good job of cleaning up and taking away all the debris.
We did look at other stoves but at the time none had fans or a way of heating our upstairs plus we have a traditional looking house and many of the stoves were very modern looking and would have looked a little out of place in our house. There were not many inserts either and we did not want to remove our fireplace in order to put a freestanding stove.
We bought the Sophia and I think it came to about $4000 US all in but the peso was 21 to the dollar so that made quite a difference!

joemindwarp
  6/29/2016 17:51 EST

Sounds like this could be just what I need,
how long did the install take and how much time between original estimate to install time?
There is a Magna very close to my house and I am looking forward to having a warm house for the winter.
Joseph

Wanderlustspirit
  6/29/2016 18:46 EST

Magna is only in MVD. They may come out but I get the sense they don't like to come here b/c of the distance so if you have any issues, Inotal or Nuke is a better option.

I liked both Nuke & Inotal. Inotal has better customer service. Lorre, at the Punta Ballena store, is fantastic. We are having some issues with our Nuke insert delivering the heat we need. We bought the Roble 110 & with install & accessories + IVA, it was $3400. We have tried 2 things to improve the heat output so we are going to have to try a 3rd option. Given all these challenges, I might go back to Inotal's insert & recommend that one because of the ongoing problem-solving with the insert. Just realize that all fireplaces are different.

We spent a lot of time researching the inserts & stoves for the bedroom area. If you provide your email, I can take a pic or scan all the models & details for each with prices if you'd like this. It includes Magna, Nuke & Inotal & was done in the past 2 months so fairly current information.

EdNewYorkCity
  6/30/2016 02:24 EST

Magna has a store in Maldonado
It is located in Av. Acuña de Figueroa in front of the High School
which is between 3 de Febrero and Juan A. Ledesma
Maldonado (center)

roninscz
  6/30/2016 14:53 EST

Wanderlustspirit:
As I am the home owner, I had to go to UTE myself to authorize the upgrade and get the paperwork. I then gave that to the electrician to do the work.

letsmove
  6/30/2016 15:09 EST

I can vouch from Magna. They will install 500 kms away from Montevideo. They only ask you pay them $3000 UY peso for the gas and technicians food and hotel.

joemindwarp
  7/2/2016 17:41 EST

ESTUFAS MAGNA - Maldonado ESTUFAS MAGNA - MALDONADO
Tel : (598) 4223 6877
Lun. a Vie. 10:00 a 18:00 hsThis may be a recently opened chain

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