McBeth Plumbing & Gas

16/09/2026

A failed hot water system doesn’t always mean replacing like for like. 👇🏼

I’m at a holiday home where the gas hot water cylinder has failed so before we recommend a replacement, we’re looking at how the property is actually used.

🏡 It’s a holiday home.
🚿 Hot water demand is different from an everyday family home.
🗓️ It can sit unused for periods of time.
💰 So running costs, upfront cost and practicality all need to be considered.

There are several different ways we could provide hot water here and the best option isn’t necessarily just replacing what was there before.

Our job is to look at the property, understand how the customer uses it, explain the options, and help them choose a system that actually makes sense for them.

Don’t just replace your hot water system. Take the opportunity to make sure you’re replacing it with the right one for your needs.

McBeth Plumbing & Gas
Taupō’s Hot Water Specialists

13/09/2026

11/09/2026

A few pics from the week gone by 📸

Cheers team, really appreciate the hard work, effort and care you all put in. 👏

Another solid week done! 💪🏼

10/09/2026

So many people I talk to aren’t interested in reducing their shower flow rate… until I tell them how much money it could save them.

Recently, I helped a family save more than $1000 a year simply by reducing their shower flow rate.

The homeowner wasn’t really keen on the idea at first. She told me she loved their shower because it was “really powerful”.

I get it, we all love a good shower. But you don’t need to be running 35 litres per minute to get one.

With the right shower head, you can still have an amazing shower at around 9 litres per minute. In this situation it reduced the hot water use for the house roughly two thirds, which made a huge difference to the energy bill.

The important thing is to make sure your shower head is designed for a low flow rate before simply installing a restrictor. If you restrict a standard shower head, you can end up with an unsatisfactory shower, this can lead to someone removing the restrictor into the future so I generally recommend a new shower head in a lot of cases.

There are some great low flow shower heads on the market now. Some are designed to aerate the water and create an excellent spray pattern, so you can still enjoy a comfortable shower while using far less water.

In many cases, the shower head can pay for itself surprisingly quickly.

I’m constantly measuring shower flow rates north of 20-25 litres per minute. That’s not just energy being wasted, it’s also our most valuable resource on Earth being unnecessarily washed down the drain.

Sometimes the biggest savings are hiding in the things you don’t even think about.

09/09/2026

82% of Kiwis wait until their hot water system fails before thinking about replacing it. 💦

The problem?

When you’ve got no hot water and water on the floor, you’re often forced to make a quick decision based on what can be installed fastest rather than what’s actually best for your home.

And if your old cylinder has failed and caused water damage, you may also find yourself dealing with insurance companies, damaged flooring, and sometimes even sentimental belongings that can’t be replaced.

Your hot water system is typically a 10–15 year decision, so it pays to understand your options before you’re standing in a puddle with no hot water.

There can also be significant differences in running costs between different hot water systems over their life time.

🔥 Gas
⚡️ Electric
♨️Heat Pump

Know your options before you need to make a decision.

McBeth Plumbing & Gas - Taupō’s Hot Water Specialists.

09/09/2026

❄️ Winter might be behind us, but there’s one hot water lesson worth remembering before the next cold snap.

Over the past couple of months, we’ve seen far too many gas continuous flow water heaters freeze.

Unfortunately, in a lot of these cases the damage was extensive, and the majority of the units couldn’t be saved and needed to be replaced.

The frustrating part? In almost all of these cases, it could have been prevented simply by leaving the power switched on.

Most gas continuous flow water heaters have built in frost protection, but that protection needs power to work.

So if you’ve got one at home, remember this when the temperature drops again:

👉🏼 Leave the power on.

It might be spring now, but living in Taupō, we know the cold weather isn’t gone for good.

A small thing like leaving the power on could save you thousands of dollars in damage and the hassle of replacing your hot water system.

07/09/2026

THE CHEAPEST HOT WATER SYSTEM TO INSTALL COULD COST YOU THOUSANDS MORE TO RUN!!

A lot of people compare hot water systems by the installation price.

And choose the cheapest quote.

But that’s only the UPFRONT COST.

💰 What will it cost you to run?

5 YEARS?
10 YEARS?
15 YEARS?

Here’s an interesting comparison from EECA 👇🏼

ANNUAL ENERGY COST

Typical 4-person household

⚡️ ELECTRIC CYLINDER
$1,176 / year

🔥 NG CONTINUOUS FLOW
$706 / year

🔥 LPG CONTINUOUS FLOW
$1,267 / year

♻️ HOT WATER HEAT PUMP
$333 / year

OVER 10 YEARS

⚡️ Electric cylinder — $11,760

🔥 NG continuous flow — $7,060

🔥 LPG continuous flow — $12,670

♻️ Hot water heat pump — $3,330

AND THAT’S BEFORE:

Monthly gas line charges or LPG cylinder rental costs

BUT…

THIS DOESN’T MEAN A HEAT PUMP IS RIGHT FOR EVERYONE.

Your:
• Budget
• Home
• Hot water usage
• Energy source
• Installation requirements

ALL MATTER.

So when you’re upgrading your hot water system…

Don’t just ask:

❌ “HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO INSTALL?”

Also ask:

✅ “HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME TO OWN?”

Want to see how your current system compares?

CHECK OUT THE HOT WATER CALCULATOR
IN THE COMMENTS 👇🏼

See what your potential savings could look like.

03/09/2026

🏆 August Champ of the Month – Steven! 🏆

This month’s Champ goes to Steven for being Authentic & Accountable 👏

His shift in energy has been awesome to see. He’s been super proactive on jobs, thinking ahead and always looking for the best outcome for the customer.

He’s also currently smashing out a large commercial job and the finish is seriously clean 👌

Well deserved, Steven... keep it up! 🔥

17/08/2026

Stop turning one of your LPG cylinders off 👇🏼

If you’ve got two 45kg LPG cylinders and an automatic changeover regulator, both cylinders should normally be turned ON.

The regulator is designed to manage the changeover between the cylinders automatically.

When the primary cylinder gets low, it can change over to the second cylinder — and the indicator lets you know when it’s time to arrange a refill.

But here’s the part many people don’t realise…

The regulator doesn’t necessarily use one cylinder completely empty before using the other.

As pressures change, it can switch between the cylinders multiple times.

And this is particularly important in New Zealand, where LPG is a propane/butane mix.

Propane vaporises much more readily, while butane becomes increasingly difficult to vaporise as temperatures drop. If you continually force a system to run from a single cylinder, you can end up with a butane-enriched cylinder, which can cause problems with gas appliances and components.

So if you have an automatic changeover regulator, let it do its job.

Both cylinders ON.
Let the regulator manage the changeover.

And remember, as the consumer you dont need to touch the regulator. This is done by the gas supplier/delivery person.

🇳🇿 This information relates specifically to automatic LPG changeover systems used in New Zealand.

Have you been leaving one cylinder turned off? Let me know in the comments.