Chromagen 300L Solar Boost

Absolute crap – If you want to save money with a solar hot water system don't get a Chromagen. Lack of parts mean I have to replace the whole system after less than 10 years. the wiring to the booster burnt out, burning through the plastic cover, luck nothing flammable was stored on top of the heater. Show details

Not much trouble in 12 years – Had this brand since 2007 and the only major problem was a leak in the roof unit. Replaced quickly and the safety valve leaks a little , but it's 12 years old. Quite happy I purchased this unit. Jeff Show details

Good warranty experience – Tank started leaking 1 mth before the 5 yr warranty expired. I sent photos to chromagen and they diagnosed rhe leak to be from the sacrificial socket. Agreed for them to come out and replace it as well as the anode which is due to be replaced after 5yrs. Service tech had one look and said tank needed to be replaced. Three days later tank was… Read more

replaced under warranty. Had to pay callout fee and labour $284 which I was happy to as the callout fee( $154 ) would have had to be paid anyway to replace the anode ($107), so i was ahead anyway and with a new tank. Would expect a tank to last at least 10yrs but could not fault their service response in this instance.

Not bad for a cheaper system – We've had the system with one panel and the ground tank for 9 years. We moved into this home in 2011 so it has already been in for 5. Anyway.... We changed the annode at 5 years. Still was fine. Our water isn't terrible After 5 years one of the Chromagen sensors corroded on the roof (salty air here on the coast) After 8 years the… Read more ·  2

Bianco Pump (Not Chromagen ) stopped working

After 9 years the pressure relief valve needed to be replaced. Also about 8 years the lid crumbled from the sun hitting it . 7 dollars for a new one from Chromagen. The element and thermostat also needed replacing?

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The controller is still going which is branded as Chromagen, and the tank (on the ground) has a small amount of white rust on the lid. Yes it looks basic but the tank is still fine and so is the panel.

Solar panel broke just after warranty – Just after 3 years from installing the unit, water start leaking from solar panel and rumbling sound start coming at night . No help from chromegan . Need to turn off the unit when not in use Show details

Don’t buy Chromagen – Our system works randomly. Sometimes it produces hot water and sometimes doesn’t. Power Of/On can fix a problem and then it comes back soon. Plumbers are hopeless to fix such things, it’s just how Chromagen works. Buy something else

Chromagen solar boost garbage – The frost valves are rubbish. My unit has gone through 3 frost valves in 2.5 years. Whenever it's turned on on a hot day the whole system makes so many rattling and shaking noises on the roof you'd think it's about to explode and take off! Don't go anywhere near this crappy excuse for a water system! Buy a rheem Show details

Save your money – My chromagen solar boosted hot water unit has been nothing but trouble in the 4 years I have had it. Unfortunately it is a company that is used by cheap builders to get the environmental rating they apparently pride themselves on. At my expense, new Rheem unit is being installed tomorrow. Chromagen couldn’t get a plumber out for a week though.… Read more

Honestly, do not use chromagen. It just isn’t worth the run around and money. Be sure to ask your builder who they are getting to supply the unit.

Chromagen - DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT – We installed this unit in 2015 and never had continuous hot water since - water temperature changes with the weather, literally! We go from extreme hot water to extreme cold water. I have had 4 different plumbers out and no one can fix. Rang Chromagen the other day and no help at all - gave number to ring and nobody one has has rung me back. It was the biggest regret with our house build. Shameful people. Show details

Do not put this product on your home – My system is 6 years old. I have replaced the valves twice already. 2 days ago I noticed water running into the down pipe and my water meter turning. I can just imagine what my water bill. Calls Chromagen and they tell me this is normal. If its under 10 degrees it flushes the system. So will it flush all night long. Where is the 6 star rating if we are flushing all this water. Totally hopeless Installed with Henley 2014 Show details

Chromagen 300L Solar Boost, a system and company to avoid!! – 7 year warranty certificate, installed into the new house on 23.10.2010, delivered to the house apparently in March 2010 and according to their record installed, asked for the installation certificate to be presented and you guessed it - nothing. Strange really that the house builder gone bankrupt in that time and nothing has been done for… Read more

over 8 month, nearly lost all because of this and now my tank is leaking, plumber inspected and confirmed that it needs to be replaced, Behavior of Chromagen is like an elephant in a porcelain shop.

Claim denied was their response due to being out of warranty, It is fair to say that the hand over after completion of the build of the house was done in 02.2011 and that is then within the warranty period so lets be honest, this company is the low life of all business operations I have ever had to deal with.

Recommendation: Avoid them as much as you can.

Unsuitable for Australian Conditions – System has continued to overheat from new. Relief valve has been replaced twice and distributor maintained it was normal for the unit to vent hot water to cool down, but not for 45 mins at a time. It has overheated on most days when temperature is 30 degrees or above. If this unit is exposed to the sun then it basically overheats. We are on tank… Read more

water only so we cannot afford to lose so much water. Unit has been in use for 6 years, is now spewing out rust coloured water and we are getting rid of it. Unit was supplied as part of a builders package which I won't name. Avoid this product.

Never go for it! – The builder installed solar/electric Chromagen HWS in my townhouse (so as in another 21). No way I would have done it by myself. Living by myself, without washing machine, TV or any other major appliance I noticed that my daily electricity usage jumped from 5kW (in my other house with all same appliances) to 20-25kW a day!!! It took me few days to… Read more

figure out what's happening. Apparently this crap HWS was running all the time of electricity (solar is connected but probably has same quality as the rest). Got first bill - 626kW (vs usual 140kW) and $223. Talked to neighbours - they got like $300 bills! The tank does not keep water warm at all. Looking at the usage we saw it was heating up at 8 am, at 5pm - the time when I'm not even at home. At 11pm the water was heated up and I go to sleep - it was losing so much heat that at 8 am every day it was heating again for whole hour! Called up Chromagen - they sent their plumber who said that during the night their also can be up to 100L loss of water that goes to prevent anti-frost in solar plate pipe, and guess what? This water doesn't get back to the tank, but goes to the drain! I can't even imagine my water bill that is still to come! Chromagen refused to do anything else, and obviously they didn't want to take it back and return the money. So after using it for 1.5 month I changed the system to Sanden Eco Pump and this is the best decision I made - I'm back to 6.5kW a day. What a bliss. Never go with Chromagen. Absolutely crap company and products, should be forbidden from the market. They tried to sell me their solar panels as well - what a joke! Unfortunately most of us don't have choice if its done through the builder. Had I know in advance - I'd have rather paid extra to get a proper solar brand installed.

Even too big for a boat anchor ! – This piece of crap came with the house we built. If only we’d known. After seven years of fettling, repairing and wasting my poor electricians time, we’ ve had a gutful...its going . A couple days rain and i flicked the boost switch on to help the solar water. Wife came home to no hot water. Chromagen is a piece of crap! Dont ever go there, buy a quality Australian product. If thats not clear, ....its crap! Show details

Stay away – Shocking product and even worse customer service. It leaks, it's noisy and of course it's never the product's fault according to Chromagen. Unfortunately this piece of crap came with the house and we'll be bypassing it as soon as we get a chance. Show details

very bad quality – our unit was installed by HENLY and it was leaking on my roof I do not know for how long at first the leak was very small and hard to detect but my water bills got bigger and bigger until one day we had a huge fountain of water spouting on the roof I had to call a emergency plumber to disconnect the water from the panel on the roof and was… Read more

told not to have it repaired because everything was rusted.Much cheaper to get a quality hot water system installed then put up with the poor quality of this. Since the solar panel was disconnected my hot water gas bill has actually gone down ?? Why do people still go for this product?

Unreliable product – I to must join the long list of reviewers who rate this product poorly. I originally purchased this product in 2008 attracted to the then 7 year warranty. Within 6 years the tank needed replacement. To their credit they replaced the tank with an identical unit free of charge but i noted the warranty for the tanks tanks had been reduced to 5 years.… Read more

This tank was installed in Feb 2014 and in exactly 5 years and 1 month this tank also needs replacement.

The bottom line is that they just don't last. Its such an inconvenience not to have hot water and replacing tanks regularly is costly and bad for the environment. I will definitely be installing a different branded tank as I will be onto my fourth tank in 12 years. My relationship with Chromagen is over, never to return.

TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY – Purchased a 300 litre solar hot water system.Product is unreliable and a waste of money.Stopped working 3 times in 4 years.Replaced with a new unit but I had to pay for installation.$495 out of pocket.So called customer service is non existant.Complaint handballed and very rude service.Excuse made for getting cut off during phonecall.Hung up on… Read more

more like it.Old unit rusted out around fittings and poor installation and poor water quality blamed.DO NOT PURCHASE THEIR PRODUCTS.

Disgraceful product – Well, having read all other reviews I find that I can only agree with all the issues people have had Purchased a Chromogen solar hot water system in December 2014, actually New Years Eve! Could not get anyone else to replace our system which we had had for 30 years...... we needed hot water. Wished we had just waited and used cold water. What… Read more

a disaster, we have had three call outs, one each year for product failure. Today it cost us 545.00

Well enough is enough. I’m off to Fair Trading with a full blown complaint about the product.

One is entitled to expect to receive fair and reasonable use from a product purchased and that is something that has not happened.

Will give the company a chance to right a wrong first but not holding my breath.

Scam artists, Terrible Customer Service, Rip Off Agents, Run Miles Away When You Hear Their Name!!!! – We were not given an option by Eight Homes when we moved into our dream first home. Quite frankly I did not imagine that a builder will partner with scam artists as the warranty repairs are something that builders avoid as much as possible. I concur with all the negative reviews on this forum. The product is inferior in quality, and they have a… Read more

well-trained service team waiting to pounce on innocent customers.

My system is three years old and one morning just gave away with water all over the roof. They told me that the frost valve had a one year warranty and is the possible culprit and if that needs a change only then I will need to pay a fee. The panels come with a 5.5 year warranty and if the panels are faulty then it would be replaced without any fuss. The service technician arrives when I was not home and tells my wife that she needs to pay up for them to fix the issue. My wife thinks its the frost valve and pays the $187 charge after which the plumber says we have made a temporary fix and someone will get in touch. No one responds even after 3 - 4 days and I follow up to get a report. I am sent a statement saying that the panels have blown and I can use to report to claim any additional charges from the water company. When I raise concern on the charges, and when the panels would be fixed, these guys stop responding. Eight homes have washed their hands saying its a matter to be dealt with Chromagen as my warranty is with them. However, the only papers I have is a contract with my builder.

I raise a case with consumer forum and they tell me that this is a DBDRV issue. After I raise a DBDRV issue, someone calls me from Chromagen and says that they will replace the panel if I pay up $350. I tell them it's unprofessional and unethical to which the lady responds that my labour component is out of warranty, but the panels are still under warranty.

How can labour be out of warranty?

Anyways, I have been informed to wait for ten weeks by DBDRV as they have a huge backlog, but I have decided that I won't give in to ransom and will take these guys head on.

Please don't make the mistake of going with Chromagen. Read your building contracts carefully and crosscheck all the sub-contractors used by the builders and ask for a replacement if your builder plans to use a dodgy sub-contractor.

Tank failed at 4.5yrs replacement at 2yrs – Chromogen 300L Vitreous Enamel Tank installed July 2012. Outlet joint at tank rusted and failed September 2016. Tank replaced under warranty. Outlet joint tank rusted and failed August 2018. Tank NOT covered under Warranty. Now up for total replacement solar hot water system - not Chromogen - with not recompense from Chromogen for faulty product. Now heard of multiple experiences with this product. Don't touch Chromogen  Show details

Jury Still Out on this Chromagen 300L Solar Hot water System but not very promising – Recently moved into a new house where we had the Chromagen 300L Gas Boost Evacuated Tube Solar hot water system installed as part of the build. Been in the house 4 weeks and it has not worked properly since day 1. The problem is that it is erratic in delivering hot water when it i most needed in the morning or late evening. This is because the… Read more

gas boost fails to fire up, sometimes it will initially come through hot then will go cold during the shower. Initially thought it might be something to do with restrictors in the shower heads but this proved not to be the case as the builder had already removed them and anyway even putting the hot water tap on the basin on for five minutes still did not trigger the gas unit to come on. Other times during the day it comes on and we have all the hot water we need. It is very frustrating.

A service call has been placed by the builder to Chromagen but we have been advised that the response time could be a couple of weeks.

How I will finally rate this product will depend on Chromagen's response and how quickly the fault is corrected. After reading the various reviews on this site I am not encouraged and wish I had insisted on a different brand.

Warranty Customer service – System was installed on new home seven and a half years ago, solar panel started to leak just after the seven year warranty expired, contacted Chromagen to see if they would be prepared to come to some arrangement answer was a BLUNT No you are out of warranty. I was not surprised that to replace the one panel it was no longer manufactured so had… Read more

to purchase two.

Was made to pay up front then advised service call would be within 48hrs took them 9 days.

Installation done by Green Logic rubbish left on solar electric panels next to replaced panels.

Would not recommend either company both displayed extremely poor service.

Warranty not good enough – We had, against our better judgement , one of these units installed by our builder, the so called ice protection system did not even last 12 months before dying. I contacted this company 12 months ago and no response, contacted them again as cooler nights have set off this problem again, first call they told me it was under warranty now… Read more

apparently it is not, what makes it worse is to be told by their staff that apparently we cancelled the service call, which we did not. You actually have to have someone like their plumber to contact you first to cancel a call and guess what this did not happen. Now to add insult to injury their service call charges have gone up from $135 to $187 this I am told happened on the 1st of March, funny thing that we contacted them again a week before Easter and was not told of the price rise and was definitely told that this was a warranty job. I would never recommend this organisation to anyone. There so called ice protection valve is obviously a faulty product and Chromagen are not prepared to replace this.

Do not buy Chromagen! – Two burst solar panels almost 1 year apart, first was no frost valve installed (Why I do not know) We live in a suburb known for frosts. Second was a faulty panel, also my hot water service rusted out within 4 years. Sure all under warranty but you get charged for call out fees for plumber. Last year it took 2 weeks for Chromagen to get a plumber out, which means my family had no water For 2 weeks. Never again!  Show details

Less than 3 years old and this israeli made tank is KAPUT!! – The system is Israeli made and apparently heavily pushed and discounted to the industry some years ago ...but it's clearly crap when the tank is buggered less than three years in. Warranty will cover BUT the supply of the replacement will take a month!!! I believe you're way better off to Buy Australian and get a 10 yr warranty on the tank. … Read more

April 10th 2018 Update: Dont buy Israeli crap

This product has yet to be replaced after a two month wait ..the Israeli manufacturer and Australian distributors are clearly not able to replace the second 300 litre tank in three years in a reasonable timeframe. Or ...they aren't interested in manufacture quality or after sales customer service. Either way ..it's time to BUY Rheem Australian made and a 10 yr guarantee on the tank ...what a dud chromogen is!!

The Worst hot solar water system in the world!! – Our rubbish Chromagen system is only two years old installed by Henley. First time the frost valve and now the joiner washers gone resulting in water leak wasting $570 on repairs. Never ever agree to have this piece of garbage installed! I haven’t saved more in bills than I wasted on this!  Show details

Chromagen's change of warranty period – I have a Chromagen 302VOBP10 system (panels on roof, and tank on the ground), and have a leaking tank (which has been leaking for 12 months, but got much worse lately, prompting me to investigate with Chromagen). My unit is 5 years 11 months old. I understood these came with a 7 year warranty in 2012, which has since been changed to a 5 year… Read more

warranty. Can someone tell me when Chromogen's warranty period on these units changed ? My service guy who attended was certain that the 2012 units came with a 7 year warranty, and advised me that someone would be in touch to organise replacement under warranty. A few days later, someone from Chromogen called me to say their managers have reviewed my details and unless i can produce a warranty document, that they will not replace it under warranty. My husband did all the filing back at that time, and has since passed away, so at this point i have only the receipt and installation details (no warranty sheet). I feel like Chromogen is playing the odds a bit here on who can produce what. Can anyone tell me when the warranty on these units changed from 7 years to 5 years please !!