blubluh: Though petrol and deisel can rise and fall with the market, there is not likely to be a similar market rhythm with gas, and the cost has only been rising. I am not at all a socialist, but there is a long tradition of such in EY, and there is a local loathing of what is called piggish capitalism. and in this I must agree. In this small market, there are very concentrated stratification of weath and power. Those making their living in monopolies do not generally pass on their lower costs.
OP and others, I am in the hot water business here, and if it takes an hour you need service. Even in the winter there is solar input and a fresh or maintained system should heat up in half hour to forty minutes. For those with very large households and those who just want on demand hot water there are gas fired wall furnaces that will give a fixed amount of hot water continually. These units also are routinely used for space heating.
Point of use heaters are small electric heaters that are spliced into the hot pipe of the showers. They are sold in hardware stores here but they not long lived because they succumb quickly to the calcification of our hard water.
+1LU on what really matters, but the water in my corner of yerushalim is ice cold in the winter.