The Right Size Tank
100, 150 or 200 litres chosen for how your household actually uses hot water, not just matching whatever was up there before.
Home / Geyser Installation
New geyser or a replacement, installed to standard with the drip tray, vacuum breakers and safety valve that actually protect your ceiling, and a Certificate of Compliance in your hand when we leave. Honest advice on what size you need, and whether you need a new one at all.
Tell us what you have and what has gone wrong, and we will come back with an honest, upfront price.
A geyser is not just a tank on two brackets. These are the parts that keep it safe and keep your ceiling intact, and they are all in the price we quote.
100, 150 or 200 litres chosen for how your household actually uses hot water, not just matching whatever was up there before.
A tray under the geyser, plumbed to an overflow that discharges where you can see it outside. This is what turns a burst geyser into a puddle instead of a collapsed ceiling.
Fitted on the hot and cold sides so the tank cannot siphon empty and burn out the element when the supply drops.
Temperature and pressure safety valve with its own discharge to outside, plus a pressure control valve matched to the incoming municipal pressure.
An isolator so the geyser can be shut off on its own, and insulation on the first stretch of hot pipe where most standing heat is lost.
Issued for the work. Your insurer wants it for a claim, and the City of Cape Town wants a water installation certificate when the property is sold.
Not every geyser problem needs a new geyser, and we would rather fit a R900 element than sell you a tank you did not need. The dividing line is simple. Elements, thermostats and safety valves are consumable parts and they are worth replacing on any geyser that still has years in it. Once the tank itself has rusted through and is leaking, nothing can be done, because you cannot repair a pressure vessel. If your geyser is closer to fifteen years old than five, spending on parts usually means spending again within a year.
Two things shorten geyser life around Durbanville specifically. The first is water pressure. Parts of the area sit above the 400 kPa that SANS 10252 allows at a fixture, and a tank that lives under constant excess pressure fails earlier, which is why the pressure control valve is not an optional extra. The second is borehole and well-point water, common here since the Day Zero years. Dissolved minerals bake onto the element as scale, so the element works harder and longer for the same hot water and burns out sooner. If you are on borehole water, that is worth planning for rather than being surprised by.
If your geyser has already burst, deal with the insurance side before authorising anything permanent. Switch it off at the DB board, close the isolating valve, photograph the tank and the damage, and log the claim. Our guide on what to do when a geyser bursts covers the order to do things in. And if the geyser is fine but the running cost is the problem, read the winter electricity bill guide before spending on a replacement, because the answer is often a thermostat setting rather than new hardware.
Straight replacements, upgrades and new installations, plus the honest conversation about whether you need one at all.
As a rule of thumb, an element, thermostat or safety valve on a geyser under about eight years old is worth repairing, and those are cheap parts. Once the tank itself is leaking, replacement is the only answer, because the tank cannot be repaired. Between those two, age decides it. Most geysers last somewhere around 10 to 15 years, so putting a new element into a 14 year old tank often means paying twice within a year. We will tell you which situation you are in before you spend anything.
For most Durbanville homes, 100 litres suits one or two people, 150 litres is the standard family size and covers three to four, and 200 litres suits a larger household or a home with two bathrooms in regular use. Going bigger than you need is not free, because a larger tank has more standing loss and costs more to keep hot every day of the year. If you are constantly running out of hot water, it is worth checking the thermostat setting and pipe insulation before assuming you need a bigger tank.
You should, and you should insist on it. A geyser replacement is a water installation change, and a registered plumber issues a Certificate of Compliance for the work. Your insurer will want it if you are claiming for the old geyser, and the City of Cape Town requires a water installation certificate when a property changes hands. Keep it with your house documents.
A compliant installation is more than the tank on the brackets. It needs a drip tray plumbed to a visible outside overflow, vacuum breakers on the hot and cold sides, a temperature and pressure safety valve with its own discharge to outside, an isolating valve so the geyser can be shut off on its own, and a pressure control valve suited to the incoming pressure. SANS 10254 covers this. Missing pieces are the usual reason a ceiling gets destroyed when a geyser eventually fails.
Usually yes for a burst geyser, since it is a standard insured event on most household policies, though excesses and betterment terms vary. The order matters: report the claim before authorising a replacement, because an insurer can query work done before they assessed it. If you need it sorted immediately, get photographs of the failed geyser and the damage first. Our guide on what to do when a geyser bursts walks through the steps.
A straightforward like-for-like replacement in an accessible roof space is normally a few hours, and you will have hot water again the same day once the new tank has heated. It takes longer if the geyser is being moved, if the existing installation is missing safety components that have to be brought up to standard, or if access through the ceiling is tight, which is common in the older single storey homes around Durbanville CBD and Kenridge.
The things that come up again and again in local reviews, and the things we care most about getting right.
You get the price before we start, so there is no surprise call-out fee on the invoice.
Quick call-outs across Durbanville and the northern suburbs during business hours.
Based in Durbanville and quick to reach right across the northern suburbs.
We treat your home with care and clean up before we leave.
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Need a geyser replaced? Fill in the form and we will get back to you with a free, no-obligation quote.