Chile Forum

admin wrote:It has to be outside by law now anywhere in the country. That can be a sort of enclosed but well ventilated shed attached to the house or on a patio of sorts. Don't forget to insulate those pipes. No point in heating more water than you need to.

Highly recommend again buying one with an electric ignition. You will save a bundle in gas pilot light running all the time.

Or you can do it the way I do...go start the pilot when you want hot water and hope you remember to shut it off before you leave to work. Like I dont have anything better to do! Freakin peice-o-crap...it dont even work right, the water is either LAVA HOT or ice cold.

My first landlord and pareja trained me well from the start, first thing always at the top of your mind, if you are not using it, it should be off - califont and lights or unplugged - electronic devices (except for my computer equipment and TV). Matches are cheap compared to leaving the califont lit. A califont you light also forces you to always have a reserve of matches on hand which I'm sure many found useful in the earthquake power outage and recent blackout.

Which gets me thinking, how easy is it to light a califont with electronic auto ignition when there is no power?

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Which gets me thinking, how easy is it to light a califont with electronic auto ignition when there is no power?

I think they come with batteries.

Sounds like a good deal then.

From my prior post
"I specifically chose an old Ursus Trotter design that uses a battery for ignition."
Re: the putting the califont outside, are you sure? So long as the unit has enough make up air and a tight flue, it should be OK.

I need to ask the same question as the original poster, where can I find the codes for califonts? I am living in an apartment and want to change out the electric water tank for a califont. You can not believe how expensive one of those things are to run, 40,000 a month in electric is atrocious. Talking to the doorman and the gasfiters gets me all sorts of conflicting and strange info like "the only califont you can legally use in the building is ursus trotter". Now that is a nice brand but a legal requirement? I know that I have to put it in the apartment as there is no balcony and this is regularly done in this apartment complex. We also have a yearly inspection so it does actually have to be to code and not the typical whatever works methodology that can happen. I understand the safety concerns of having a califont killing people in their sleep and I know that I can make it safe with an air intake and an exhaust, but the question is "what else do I have to worry about so I don't have to rip it out after I have finished it?" any help in finding some sort of code would be helpful, I have no idea where to start searching and what keywords to use in spanish to find it.

Gas installation regulations have tightened up quite a lot in the last few years.
You can check with the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC) for authorized installers.
The regulations are especially strict on exhaust gas venting, and if any sort of caseta is needed to house a calefont, it has to be made of non-combustible material. I built a wall-mounted one with a frame made from of box section steel covered with superboard cement board and it passed the inspection.

Apart from the carbon monoxide risk, the other reason for having it outside is that a lot of the older ones are just plain dangerous; I have seen ones that operate the gas valve even with the pilot unlit, thanks to the repair eforts of irresponsible "maestros".

I believe though that the newer calefonts available use a balanced flue design. These types are suitable for through-wall installations and can be used internally as the unit draws in external air and vents it back out the same way, in fact they are sealed units so the house's interior air is untouched.

We just bought a 14-liter califont from Junkers (Ach Ja Deutsche Qualität!) that ignites thanks to the water pressure (they call that "hydropower"), you don't even need batteries to run it. It was actually cheaper than the battery-powered version of the same heater. The guy at Sodimac explained that they had bought 1,000 units, thus bringing down the price, which I have a good feeling is something he made up on the fly

Anyway, much better than our older pilot-based heater. Faster, warmer water, according to our early tests. We did the shower+washing dishes+washing hands test and water stayed warm, though water pressure dropped at the 3rd or 4th faucet we opened.

Interestingly, one of my contractors based in Montana recently asked me about that type of water heater design - apparently they're starting to get some traction in the US.

I just got back from visiting my friend in Maui. He has a solar water heater he cobbled together from a couple of discarded solar water panels that works better than any electric or gas heater I have ever met. He feeds the output into a regular electric water heater tank for storage. The only flaw in the system is that the water is so hot that there is a danger of scalding if you are not carful about turning the shower on.

Given the amount of sunshine in the northern part of Chile Solar is the only way I would go as it is practically free and no pilot lights to fret over.

otravers wrote:We just bought a 14-liter califont from Junkers (Ach Ja Deutsche Qualität!) that ignites thanks to the water pressure (they call that "hydropower"), you don't even need batteries to run it. It was actually cheaper than the battery-powered version of the same heater. The guy at Sodimac explained that they had bought 1,000 units, thus bringing down the price, which I have a good feeling is something he made up on the fly

Anyway, much better than our older pilot-based heater. Faster, warmer water, according to our early tests. We did the shower+washing dishes+washing hands test and water stayed warm, though water pressure dropped at the 3rd or 4th faucet we opened.

Interestingly, one of my contractors based in Montana recently asked me about that type of water heater design - apparently they're starting to get some traction in the US.

Yes, Bosch have been selling them here for years, the hard water plays havoc with the little "micro turbine" hence the importance of having a water treatment system in line upstream of the califont. I bought the battery type for this very reason, we'll see if I end up regretting it but a D cell twice a year won't break me.

Thanks for the help Fraggle092 the website is good for building codes for electric and gas.

While I was doing some further research I found that there are electric versions for sale in the states and they are supposed to be about 30% more efficient than the tank hot water heater that I have now. It might be easier to use, still more expensive to operate than gas but the installation for the venting systems is going cause some compromises in the apartment that I don't really like ( putting filler blocks in windows for vent tubes and loosing windows, and possibly having the califont in the living room) Does anyone have any experience with electric califonts in Chile? My gf said she could import it without a problems from the states but I don't know if it will work for the electrical here. I found a Stiebel Eltron Tempra 12 model on plumbers supply that lists voltage at 208-240, wattage 9-12 and amp 44-50. I can't link to it but it should be easy to find. I think it will work but I don't know. Can someone confirm one way or another?

To be honest, I haven't ever installed one of the instant HW heaters in the US, as 50Amps takes up 25% of the typical house panel which brings me to the next bit.
In Chile, I paid Litoral (the electric co), extra to have a "heavy duty" (12 Ga) line run in from the pole to my new panel. As I recall the standard feed was something like 16Amps at 220V, I got a 25Amp service, whoo hoo .
If you think the lights dim a bit when you plug in the electric kettle, bring a candle for when you have a shower with that bad boy!