heat pump water heaters

[BK911]

Anybody have one of these?
We are starting to test them and finding out they have less than a year payback.
Was curious if there are any real world stories out there.

[masraum]

We need to replace our water heater, and my plan was to go with one of the hybrids. It seems like a no brainer, although the price seems to be about double.

[BK911]

Yea, let me clarify my payback remark;
The hybrids are pretty expensive, and require 240V.
The straight heat pumps are also 240V but we are currently testing 120V units that will plug into any dedicated 20A circuit.
So the quick payback was for a large family, and for an electric WH replaced with a non-hybrid HPWH.

Downsides are first cost, slower recovery rate, and potentially an electrical upgrade.
They also put cooling out into the space. Sometimes that is good, sometimes bad.
Warm garage in the summer? Yup!

[masraum]

Our water heater is electric, and I'm pretty sure 240V (I'm not home right now). For us having the water heater suck heat out of the room would be great. We have a small addition on the back of the kitchen. It's got no door, but the lack of AC vent means that it's warm in the summer and cool in the winter. Since we have far more warm/hot weather than cool, I think having the hybrid heater (heat pump with electric backup) would be great.

But that's when we were planning to be there for years. Now I don't know that we're planning to be there that long, so I don't know that we'll spend the extra money for the better water heater.

[LWJ]

I have seen many presentations on these. My take away is if it is inside the heated envelope of the home, you are paying 1) to heat the house and 2) to heat the water. Meaning, you are using a very inefficient means.

If the WH is OUTSIDE the envelope, then it should be reviewed and analyzed. And, probably makes sense.

I could be wrong, but sucking heat out of your home (that you already pay for) seems dumb.

[billybek]

Heat pumps extract the heat from the outside air.

The water heater aspect of the heat pump is usually utilized during the cooling season to heat water. The high pressure refrigerant vapor is directed to the water heater first, then the condenser outside.

The heat recovery water heater is typically piped in series with a standard electric water heater that will provide service when the heat pump is heating the house or in times of high load on the water heater.

This could be a different product from what I am familiar with, do you have a link?

[NYNick]

I have a Heat Pump water heater. It is almost the same size as a regular water heater but has a heat pump on top. I built a new garage with an apartment above it. My utility gave me a $750 rebate to buy it but it's still more expensive than just a regular electric water heater. Be careful of the Rheem brand. They have a reputation of being noisy.

I have ben trying to track its energy use. We have a 50 gallon State Heat Pump Water Heater that has an electric element back up built in. There are only two of us, but it seems like it's costing about $4 per week. It also has an app, a vacation mode, energy use, kWh etc.

It is located within my mechanical room within my heated and air conditioned garage. I keep the garage at 60 degrees in the winter. The water heater vents cool, dry air, which I decided to vent from the mechanical room into my garage to help with any humidity. The lower the humidity the better for my collector cars.

I love this water heater. I'm not sure about the overall ROI, but I don't care. It's the most efficient way to heat water.

[LWJ]

^^^the ones I saw are like above. All in one unit.

External heat exchanger? Perfect.

[908/930]

Your electricity must be really pricy to get a one year payback, up here reg 50gal electric $700, 50gal Heat Pump electric $2900, $2200 purchases a lot of electricity, Tank will likely need replacing prior to breaking even. Great for application that needs electric but does not have enough amperage to house or off grid use. When building I did consider one but went with natural gas, regular tanks have a 10 year lifespan around here.

[flipper35]

Our geothermal heat pump puts waste heat in our water heater tank so our electric elements seldom get used in ours. Ours was 6.5 years to payback, but it is whole house, not just the water.

[NYNick]

Originally Posted by 908/930

Your electricity must be really pricy to get a one year payback, up here reg 50gal electric $700, 50gal Heat Pump electric $2900, $2200 purchases a lot of electricity, Tank will likely need replacing prior to breaking even. Great for application that needs electric but does not have enough amperage to house or off grid use. When building I did consider one but went with natural gas, regular tanks have a 10 year lifespan around here.

I guess you're quoting CAD$.

Here in CT a HP water heater is $1800 USD minus $750 in utility rebates=$1050 USD. Electric water heaters are $600 USD. That's a $450 difference.

Considering electric resistant element water heaters are the least efficient of any water heater, I'd say $450 bucks over 8-10 years is well worth it.

As for ROI, if I'm worried about $45 a year I've got much bigger problems on my hand.