Head-to-Head Undersink Water Heater Comparison: Ariston Vs. Zip

When choosing an undersink water heater for your property, many specifiers and plumbers look to find solutions in these two major brands, Zip and Ariston. In this head-to-head, we aim to compare the Ariston Andris Lux 15 Litre EP15/U3 with the Zip Aquapoint 15 Litre AP315. Both of these are incredible options that provide water heating for 1-2 basin usage, perfect for catering environments, public mess halls, hospitals, nurseries, and anywhere where a small store of mains pressure hot water is needed on a small scale.

About Ariston

Ariston is an Italian firm specialising in water and heating solutions, which have made a name for themselves worldwide. Their dedication to quality, technical excellence and price have garnered them a first-choice basis in many specifiers notebooks. Their Europrisma/Andris Lux range features some state-of-the-art electronic technology and their robust compact design should allow for versatility of deployment.

"Ariston gives homes access to advanced sustainable comfort solutions using less energy and effort"

About Zip

Zip is a market leader in various styles of boiling water appliances, making a name for themselves with their Hydrotap range. They also happen to produce a wide range of water heaters, tankless and storage types alike from small to medium scale.  The Aquapoint 3 range is designed to offer a premier unvented water solution for small uses, designed to offer a perfect blend of robust and efficient design that this Australian firm has spent many generations honing and perfecting.

"Zip: World-leading brand in hot water for home and commerical settings."

How do they stack up?

  • Pricing and sizing

So in this regard - we believe the Ariston unit probably edges out overall. The EP15 unit comes in at 360W x 360H x 346D. This is slightly chunkier than the Zip which comes in at 350W x 480H x 310D - so this unit is a sight smaller. With your average cupboard space, however, we would stress that both should be plenty suitable and fit neatly within most use spaces. The price is where Ariston will shine through however, at the time of writing 27/09/23 the Andris Lux sits at 133.18 exVat - compared with the Aquapoints 206 exVat. With only delivery left to pay, both of these units come as standard with similar installation materials, and so the price comparison clearly favours the Ariston and will continue at such proportion through any price changes/inflation increases.

  • Build Quality

So with the price difference as discussed above being quite significant, you'd imagine that the overall build quality would suffer. This is an area we can't clearly comment on, however, what we can do is state some features of both and allow the reader to decide. The Aquapoint has a high-quality composite plastic exterior, and a glass-lined interior tank, which itself is made of stainless steel. It comes as standard with frost protection, and the controllable temperature dial seems a tad basic but sturdy. One point to note about the Aquapopint is that it comes in at a lightweight 9.8kG (empty). The Ariston Andris Lux compares at a rather impressive 9kG, featuring a quality steel internal tank lined and vitreous enamel glass line coating. The external temperature dial protrudes a little more than the AP315 but is also clearer and easier to use we would conclude.

  • Warranty and Support

This is an area where we have a more clear winner. The Zip Aquapoint Ap315 comes with a comprehensive one-year parts and labour warranty, which is of course nice and ensures that operation should run smoothly. This unit is relatively well purchased, and we believe that it wouldn't shock any plumber to see if you had to arrange for some maintenance or repair work. The Ariston unit stands head and shoulders above this, however, coming with an incredible 3 years' worth of warranty. The parts and labour will be on site, both brands require contact with the manufacturer to initiate this process. From our understanding of the market, the Ariston unit is purchased more frequently, and so whilst this part is not so significantly advantageous for one model or the other we are confident that the Ariston Andris Lux would be well recognised by your average plumber.

Conclusion

All in all, we would tend to direct customers towards the Ariston Andris Lux EP15/U3. We believe that with its price point, availability, and warranty, any physical aspects or dimension differences can be brushed aside. Whilst there's not a whole lot in it (indeed most brands are about equal with each other) we think there are just enough clear differences, the Andris Lux is the most popular electric water heater sold in the UK for a reason and leads the undersink water heater market at this time.