Rinnai Avenger 25 Gas Heater, Used??

danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 21:15
Last edited 09/05/2023 - 21:16

So I wanted to save some money and looked up used gas heaters - primarily the Rinnai Avenger 25. It retails for around $1700.

I've noticed on facebook marketplace, some people are selling them from $400 - $600 for some good condition variants (or so it seems). As a genuine seller of any item, it's unlikely i'd have more than two that i'd be selling simultaneously.

However my only gripe is I've noticed most of these sellers seem to have multiple heaters when I delve deeper into other products they are selling. Many (if not all) do not have receipts and i'm just curious… where are they getting these heaters from? I doubt business' / schools have offloaded so many for there to be so many used ones in circulation.

Am I being pedantic or is there a reason I should be cautious? Something just doesn't feel right about it.

Home & Garden Gas Heater Rinnai

Comments

  • deme on 09/05/2023 - 21:41
    +2

    Just get an aircon, better for you, your wallet and the planet

    • danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 22:34
      +1

      I have air con. I’ve always had gas heaters until I’ve now bought my own place. It’s a different kind of heat from the gas heater I prefer, and is cheaper to operate

      • mskeggs on 10/05/2023 - 07:52

        Check your sums. Gas has gone up and aircon has improved efficiency so that per unit of heat delivered a modern RC aircon is easily half the cost to run as gas.

      • knasty on 10/05/2023 - 07:52

        I'd urge you to review this and other similar articles regarding the comparative cost of gas vs reverse cycle heating.

        https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/air-conditioners-vs-gas-…

        I have both mains gas and reverse cycle air cons. Solar power + time of use billing makes reverse cycle heating way cheaper and more convenient for us vs gas heating.

        I'm a Rinnai fan too, but for continuous flow hot water heating rather than room heating.

      • darshu on 10/05/2023 - 08:07

        Yes, the feel you get from a gas heater is different from a reverse-cycle aircon. But the reverse-cycle aircon is cheaper to operate and good for air quality in your room or your house (unless you go for a gas heater with a flute).

      • deme on 10/05/2023 - 10:24

        gas heater I prefer, and is cheaper to operate

        Not sure this has been the case for a long time.

  • randomusername2017 on 09/05/2023 - 21:43
    +3

    is there a reason I should be cautious

    a used gas heater with unknown history.. can't see why…

  • AustriaBargain on 09/05/2023 - 21:54
    +1

    You'd want to get it inspected anyway, may as well get your gas line in the rooms inspected while you're at it. If you don't have permanent ceiling and floor level vents outside of the house then you should lecture everyone you live with about leaving doors and windows open, probably should buy a carbon monoxide detector too.

    • danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 22:36

      I just built a brand new house so don’t think the gas lines need inspecting, but yeah would definitely get the heater inspected if I bought one, just trying to suss out why people have 2+ to sell

      • AustriaBargain on 09/05/2023 - 22:39

        Gas isn't as cheap as it used to be. And split systems are getting more popular, saw on the news the other night saying that an energy efficient country should ban gas heaters and train more people to install split systems.

        • danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 22:42

          I just built a new house with ducted A/C so I’m not in a position now to install a split system.

          I made sure I upgraded it to the most energy efficient Actron unit, probably the biggest upgrade on my house, and still having it on for an hour cost me around $5

          • AustriaBargain on 09/05/2023 - 23:13

            @danny1213: You maybe should have considered getting split systems installed in each room/section of the house. From what I've seen that's how a lot of people do it these days, you see batteries of the outdoor units all over the place.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/05/2023 - 22:02

    Buy it new - cheap out on other stuff

    • danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 22:37

      Fair enough - you’re not the first to suggest this to me!

  • kizzaaa on 09/05/2023 - 22:03
    +1

    I bought a Bromic Supaheat II (Natural Gas version) new for about $500 and have been very happy with it.

    It has an equivalent heat output of 4.6 kW versus the 6.2 kW of the Rinnai Avenger 25, so not as powerful, but still a bargain for what it does. I was in your position last year and had concerns about buying second hand. Would definitely consider the Bromic.

    https://www.appliancecentral.com.au/comp732-1-bromic-18mj-in…

    • danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 22:35

      My parents always had a Rinnai so I’m just accustomed to them, and I love it when I go over. Not sure if I can venture out to another brand lol

  • Bonsaichop on 09/05/2023 - 22:22
    +3

    Probably just buying them up in the summer and offloading in the winter when the demand goes up.

    FWIW the Avenger 25 is a pretty powerful unit, almost too powerful unless you have a huge room to heat (from what I can remember it's recommended to have a 67sqm room). The problem is not only the heat, but the force of the blower pushing the hot air out is quite strong and is almost uncomfortable if it is blowing in your direction. There is no way to control the blower force.

    We have an Avenger 25 Plus which has electric boost and it's too powerful on economy with no electric boost for warming a kitchen, dining room and lounge room which would be around 50sqm. We also have a Dynamo 15 which I find is a lot better suited and still has the timer feature which is awesome (preheat the house before you wake up).

    Both units we have were bought used, I think we paid around $400 for the Avenger 25 plus a few years ago and $50 (a bit of a steal) for the Dynamo 15 last summer. It's good to plan these things in advance if you can.

    • danny1213 on 09/05/2023 - 22:40

      Yeah I’ve used both, and for the room I’m heating (dining, lounge, kitchen, hallway) I think the avenger is more suited. It wouldn’t be blowing directly into anything that would cause discomfort, but I personally like sitting in front of them for a bit haha

      Pretty good prices you got there.

      I was looking them up in summer too, but it was low priority since I needed to pretty much buy furniture for the whole house, cheapest was around 1400 on TGGC (now 1500)

    • AustriaBargain on 09/05/2023 - 23:14

      Or they moved to a property that doesn't have a gas line.

  • mmd on 09/05/2023 - 23:43
    +2

    U can find the avenger 25 for $300 in summer. I bought a few and sold them during winter

    • danny1213 on 10/05/2023 - 05:21

      Interesting… good to know!

  • SuperMick on 10/05/2023 - 07:43

    I may be wrong, but I always understood that if you are selling a gas heater, you have to have it inspected and a current certificate of inspection, to give to the buyer.

    • JimB on 10/05/2023 - 09:58

      Maybe as a commercial enterprise but not if you're selling it privately.

  • mskeggs on 10/05/2023 - 07:59

    A lot of people are getting rid of unglued gas heaters because of emerging health issues, and the cost to operate them is now higher than RC aircon.
    A bit like the blokes who sell second hand lawnmowers, there seems to be a few people around who collect them from hard rubbish, the council re-use shed or buy them cheap in summer then give the a clean and “service” and sell at a mark up come winter.
    So I wouldn’t be too concerned beyond normal caution when buying secondhand.
    The reason for me would be the higher cost to operate if you can run a smaller zone of your AC.

  • Danstar on 10/05/2023 - 08:52

    I've got split systems in every room and ducted gas heating. It's cheaper if I run all 4 split systems then the gas.

    I only use the gas in the morning to quickly heat up the house; then I switch to the split system where needed

  • elgrande on 10/05/2023 - 10:01
    +1

    Probably stock from vic flooding the market.

  • JimB on 10/05/2023 - 10:02
    +2

    I like gas heating having said that, I wouldn't be installing any unflued gas heaters in my own home.

  • JIMB0 on 10/05/2023 - 12:19
    +1

    You've got to be kidding. An un-flued gas heater in this day and age, in a brand new house to top it off. There's a reason these were banned from sale in Victoria.

    • danny1213 on 10/05/2023 - 13:50

      Interesting opinion, I guess I don’t know much about it. Just liked the feel of it at my parents house and have used them since I was a kid. I’ll look more into it based on everyone’s comments

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