HomeGeyser installation

Geyser Installation
in Krugersdorp

Geyser installation in Krugersdorp, whether a burst geyser is being replaced or a new one is going in. Mogale City's by-law says who may do the work and to which standard, so each valve, the drip tray and the drains are named on the quote first.

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Brass pressure-reducing valves, ball valves and dial gauges on a hot-water supply line fixed to a white wall

When a geyser needs replacing, not repairing

Most geyser faults are a part. These are the ones where a new geyser, or a new installation, is the honest answer.

  • Water coming from the cylinder itself. A tank that has split or rusted through cannot be repaired, only replaced.
  • The third element in a short time. A corroded cylinder can keep taking elements with it, and a new geyser starts to cost less than the next repair.
  • Rust-coloured water from the hot taps only. Often corrosion inside the cylinder or at its fittings, worth checking before the tank gives way.
  • No drip tray, no vacuum breakers, valves missing. An installation that falls short of the standard, which a replacement is the time to put right.
  • More people in the house, or the geyser in the wrong place. A bigger tank or a move: new supports, new pipe runs, and a hatch big enough for the new size.
  • A switch to gas or solar. A different kind of heater with its own rules: the gas section below, or the solar geysers page.

In Mogale City, the by-law names who may replace your geyser

Mogale City's Water Services By-laws reserve geyser replacement for a qualified plumber, and they bind the person doing the hiring as well as the person doing the work.

Most plumbing rules are written for the plumber. One clause in Mogale City's Water Services By-laws, published in the provincial gazette in 2013, is written for the homeowner too. Clause 40.1 says nobody who is not a qualified plumber may replace a fixed water heater or its protective devices. Clause 40.2 then says no person may require or engage anyone who is not a qualified plumber to do that work.

The by-law defines a qualified plumber by the Department of Labour's plumbing trade test, and the certificate that comes with passing it. That is the document to ask to see. In return, clause 39.4 spares a qualified plumber who replaces a geyser the step of getting the municipality's written approval first, so a straight replacement done properly needs no paperwork from Mogale City before it starts. The only way around the rule is an owner working on their own home with the municipality's permission, and even then the municipality can ask for a qualified plumber to inspect the result.

The by-law also sets the standard. Clause 42.1 then ties every electric geyser in Mogale City to SANS 10254, the national standard covering how electric geysers are installed, replaced and repaired. A new geyser is held to it, which makes the replacement the moment an older installation's missing parts get put right.

Those parts are the ones SANS 10252-1, the national standard for water installations, lists for a geyser running at mains pressure: a pressure control valve where the supply needs one, an expansion control valve with nothing fitted between it and the geyser, vacuum breakers on both sides, a temperature and pressure valve near the top of the tank, metal discharge pipes that are never joined to each other, and a safety tray under any geyser in a roof space. Each has a job on the day something fails, which is why each is its own line on the quote.

Before the old geyser comes out, ask to see the plumber's trade test certificate, and ask for every valve, the tray and the drains to be named on the quote. In Mogale City both are the by-law's terms, not extras.

Section through a roof space: a geyser standing in a safety tray on a timber platform, with an expansion control valve on the cold feed, vacuum breakers on short upstands rising above the top of the geyser on the cold and hot sides, a temperature and pressure valve near the top of the tank, separate drain pipes falling to the outside from the valve, the T&P valve and the tray, and a ceiling hatch below large enough to take the geyser out vacuum breakers on upstands above the top of the geyser expansion control valve: no other valve between it and the geyser T&P valve near the top, on its own metal drain safety tray, drained to the outside ceiling hatch: at least 600 mm, and big enough to take the geyser out hot, to the taps cold in
The parts of a mains-pressure installation, drawn in place. Not a drawing of any house.

Gas geyser installation: the gas side has its own law

A gas geyser is two installations in one: a water side, like any geyser, and a gas side that national regulations reserve for a registered gas practitioner.

Gas falls under national law, not the municipality. Regulation 17 of the Pressure Equipment Regulations, made in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, allows only an authorised person to fit or take out a gas appliance. The official guidance on those regulations names the SAQCC Gas registration scheme as the way that competence is recognised. When the installation is finished, the authorised person issues a certificate of conformity.

The same regulation gives you, as the user, a duty of your own: before the system is used, an authorised person has to inspect it and test it for leaks. So a gas geyser job has two halves. The water connection is plumbing. The gas connection is done and signed off by a practitioner whose name you can look up on the SAQCC Gas register, where the registration should cover the gas you use.

Where the geyser may go depends on its type, and the list in this section explains each one. The rule people most often trip over is the bathroom: SANS 10087-1, the standard for gas installations in homes (2008 edition), calls permanent ventilation of the utmost importance where a geyser without a balanced flue is fitted in one, because bathrooms are small and usually kept closed.

The gas bottles have rules too. That 2008 edition also caps the gas a house may keep indoors at 19 kg. Outside, a cylinder needs 1 m of clearance from doors, windows and airbricks lower than its valve, 2 m from drains, pits and manholes, and usually 3 m from the boundary line. The installer's name, registration number and the date go on a label on or near the installation.

For a gas geyser, ask for the practitioner's SAQCC Gas registration before the work starts and the certificate of conformity when it ends. Without both, the job is not finished.

Gas geyser types, and where each may go

  • Flueless (type A). Indoors, for short draws only. It may not supply a shower, a bath or a washing machine.
  • Flued, using room air (type B). Indoors, with a flue to the outside and a flue sensor as its safety device.
  • Room-sealed (type C). Indoors, taking its air from outside through a twin-duct flue.
  • Outdoor (type D). Outside only, and labelled to say so.
  • A conventional gas geyser in a bathroom. Flued to the outside, with ventilation that cannot be closed.

How a geyser installation is priced

No package prices, because the old installation decides what has to be added. This is what goes into the quote.

Always part of it

  • A look at the old installation: valves, tray, drains, platform and hatch
  • The size and position of the new geyser agreed with you
  • A written quote naming the geyser, each valve, the tray and the labour
  • Filled, flushed, heated and checked for leaks before anyone leaves

What moves the number

  • The size of the new geyser, and whether it lies flat or stands upright
  • Which valves and parts are sound enough to keep, and which are missing
  • Access: the hatch, the roof space and the platform
  • Moving the geyser, which brings new pipe runs and supports
  • The electrical connection, if it needs an electrician

Worth asking before you sign

  • The plumber's trade test certificate
  • Whether a plumbing certificate of compliance is issued, and by whom
  • The manufacturer's guarantee and its conditions, in writing
  • What happens to the old geyser

From the old geyser out to the new one hot

Four steps, and nothing is ordered until the quote is agreed.

  1. Tell us about the old one

    Its size if you know it, where it sits and what happened. If it is leaking, switch it off at the isolator and close its cold supply valve first.

  2. A look in the roof

    The installation, the platform and the hatch are checked, because they decide what can be kept and what size will fit.

  3. One written quote

    The geyser, its valves, the tray and the labour on separate lines, with any move or upsize priced on its own.

  4. Fitted, flushed, tested

    The new geyser goes in, the pipes are flushed and filled, and it is heated and checked for leaks with you there.

Geyser installation questions

Cost first, then the rules that decide who may do the work.

What does a geyser installation cost in Krugersdorp?

Three things set most of it: the size of the geyser, how much of the old installation can stay, and how easy the roof is to work in. A like-for-like swap with sound valves costs least; a bigger tank, a move, or a full set of missing parts costs more. It comes as one written quote, with the geyser, each valve and the labour on separate lines.

How do I know a plumber is allowed to replace my geyser?

In Mogale City the water by-law ties it to the plumbing trade test: a qualified plumber is one who has passed it and holds the certificate, so ask to see that. Many plumbers are also registered with the Plumbing Industry Registration Board, whose website checks a registration number in a few seconds.

Do I need permission from the municipality to replace a geyser?

Not when a qualified plumber does it. Clause 39.4 of Mogale City's Water Services By-laws lifts the written-approval step for a qualified plumber replacing a fixed water heater or its protective devices. A job that goes further, such as new plumbing elsewhere in the house, can be different, so say so when you book.

What size geyser does our household need?

It follows how many people shower and when, more than the size of the house. A geyser that runs cold every evening is too small for the household; one far bigger than needed keeps water hot that nobody uses. The roof sets a limit too: the hatch has to be big enough to get the geyser out, and the standard puts its smallest size at 600 mm.

Can the new geyser go somewhere else in the roof?

Yes, priced as its own line. A move means new pipe runs, a new platform and tray, and a look at how far the hot water has to travel. SANS 10252-1 limits the unheated pipe between a geyser and a tap to a length that holds 4 litres, because every litre in that pipe runs cold down the drain before the hot arrives.

Do I have to go solar when I replace my geyser?

No rule found says so for a replacement. The building regulation that asks for at least half of the hot water to come from something other than an electric element applies to new buildings and extensions that need plans. Solar is still worth pricing next to a straight swap, and the solar geysers page explains the options.

Can a gas geyser go inside the house?

Some can, with conditions. A room-sealed or flued model can go indoors with its flue to the outside; a flueless one may never feed a shower or bath; an outdoor model stays outside. The list in the gas section above shows which type is which.

Who signs off a gas geyser installation?

A gas practitioner registered through SAQCC Gas, who issues a certificate of conformity once the installation is done. The regulations call for a certificate again when the property changes hands, so keep it with the house papers.

Before, or instead of, a new geyser

A part may be all it needs, and a replacement is a good moment to price solar.

Ask for a geyser quote

Your name, a number and the suburb are enough to start. Add the size of the old geyser if you know it, and we phone you back to arrange a look in the roof.

We use these details only to answer this request. See the privacy notice.

Where we come out

We come to the house: there is no counter or yard to visit. Krugersdorp and the suburbs around it are the core of the area, with the outlying parts of Mogale City by arrangement.

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Krugersdorp and close by

  • Krugersdorp North
  • Krugersdorp West
  • Monument
  • Noordheuwel
  • Kenmare
  • Rant-en-Dal
  • Silverfields
  • Mindalore
  • Wentworth Park
  • Dan Pienaarville

Further out in Mogale City

  • Muldersdrift
  • Featherbrooke
  • Cradlestone
  • Kagiso
  • Azaadville
  • Magaliesburg