When you’re in the market for a new hot water system in Australia, there’s a lot to choose from. There’s the technology type – including electric, gas, solar, instantaneous, heat pump – as well as size, capacity, and ticket & running costs.
But something else you’ll notice is that when it comes to hot water system brands … there’s a lot out there.
Some brands will be instantly recognisable, others will have reputations for reliability, some will be cheaper, and the quality of the after-sale service will also vary. Luckily, there are plenty of brand and product comparison services and surveys out there these days, and the best of them are based on hundreds of actual buyers who report back with their brand satisfaction.
The science behind brand choice
As for the science behind brand choice, research has found that the most popular brands are chosen based on three main criteria:
- Relevance: If the brand seems relevant, or in other words, it instantly seems to tick every mental box of what the consumer is looking for, it jumps to the front of the queue.
- Coherence: When brands keep cropping up consistently over years and in a reliably positive fashion, a consumer is likely to feel familiar with it and take the leap.
- Participation: Similarly, having used the brand before, top brands are regarded as safe and trustworthy – even if they may cost a little more than similar competitors.
How 6 hot water system brands stand out from the crowd
In the world of hot water systems, there are a lot of brands to choose from. In many cases, your local plumber will recommend a precise system that works for your needs, preferences, usage and budget, while in others you will be left with a greater scope of potential choices.
It’s well worth taking a closer look at some of the best-known hot water system brands in Australia and trying to understand why their brands seem to stand out so prominently:
1. Rheem Hot Water
“Install a Rheem … install a Rheem…” It’s one of the most memorable ads in Australian history. The jingle may remind you of the 70s, 80s and 90s, but Rheem has been on the Aussie market since 1939 – and that’s what we call standing the test of time!
Read our Rheem hot water systems review.
2. Rinnai Hot Water
Rinnai may be a Japanese multinational, but Rinnai Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary, helping it to stand out as a premium household name in Australian hot water for half a century in our market and counting. In fact, there are no fewer than three Rinnai manufacturing plants in the country: two in Victoria and one in South Australia.
Read our Rinnai hot water systems review.
3. Bosch Hot Water
Bosch is a pre-eminent choice because – like Mercedes and BMW – people associate it with reliable German precision engineering. The brand has also been in the Australian market since 1907 with a wholly-owned local subsidiary, with the headquarters based in Victoria.
Checkout our Bosch hot water systems review.
4. Aquamax Hot Water
If consumers dig into the Aquamax hot water brand, they’ll discover that it’s actually owned by a true and instantly-recognisable market leader – Rheem. It’s also a fully Australian brand that was established in 1988 in Melbourne that has more recently pledged to only offer hot water systems with the highest energy ratings.
5. Thermann Hot Water
Since its founding just 8 years ago, Thermann wasted no time in establishing itself as the fastest-growing brand in hot water not only in Australia but also in New Zealand. The branding exercise has been clever because the company freely admits that it simply took the best and most popular and reliable hot water brands and endeavoured to make them better.
Learn more with our Thermann hot water systems review.
6. Dux Hot Water
Although actually owned by a Japanese company called Noritz, the products were initially marketed in Australia under an Australian brand making Australian-made products – and that’s the Dux we know so well today. From the outset, however, the Japanese emphasis on quality was reinforced for the Australian market, including reinforcing the brand’s Quality Endorsed Company certification.
See our Dux hot water systems review for more.
7. Vulcan Hot Water
The Vulcan range of gas and electric hot water systems is manufactured here in Sydney. Like Aquamax, Vulcan is another Rheem-owned brand – so it’s able to rely on the association with proven performance, quality and reliability and package it up as a more affordable alternative.
8. Stiebel Eltron Hot Water
Stiebel Eltron is a German-based company that has been manufacturing heating and hot water systems for over 90 years. They are known for their highly efficient solar and heat pump hot water systems, but also off German engineered gas and electric powered units.
Which hot water system brand wins the day?
A market with so many types of hot water systems and brands thriving within it may make deciding upon one quite difficult, but the good news is that intense market competition normally results in products with a lot of choices. Do you prefer an instantly-recognised brand, one that is more affordable, or one renowned for immense quality? The choice really is yours. Good luck with your decision-making!
