# 5 Months with a Ge GeoSpring Water Heater



## seige101 (Jul 1, 2014)

It has been just about 5 months since i installed the Geospring. It was replacing a 5 year old 40 gal generic electric that sprung a leak.

Paid 999.00 at lowes after 10% off and purchased the 10 year extended warranty for $99 for peace of mind. Plumber charged me $170 to hook it up. Just recieved the $750 rebate from the mass save program a few weeks ago so total cost of Water heater $348 with warranty $518 installed only about $100 more than if i had replaced it with a conventional electric unit.

Since i installed it in the end of january i was running it on traditional electric only mode. I thought it was foolish to use the pellet stove to heat the house and suck that heat into the water. Early may i put that baby in heat pump only mode after i installed the condensate pump and piped it into a drain. It was running for 2 weeks until the electric bill came in it dropped $14.37 compared to the same time last year. Impressive! 1 month later the new electric bill came in and it was $28.72 lower. That is a good savings. As an added bonus now that it has gotten more humid i am only emptying the dehumidifier tank 2-3 times a week compared to daily before the HPWH was installed. The real hot temps have just gotten here and i have had not had to run the AC yet. I am sure that during this heat wave i will need to but i suspect only about half of what i needed to in previous years.

I figure it will run in heat pump only mode for about 7 months a year saving an average of $30 a month in electricity savings puts me at about 2.5 year pay back.


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## woodgeek (Jul 2, 2014)

Even with heat stealing in the winter time, it will still be cheaper to operate in HP mode than electric.


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## Brian26 (Jul 2, 2014)

seige101 said:


> It has been just about 5 months since i installed the Geospring. It was replacing a 5 year old 40 gal generic electric that sprung a leak.
> 
> Paid 999.00 at lowes after 10% off and purchased the 10 year extended warranty for $99 for peace of mind. Plumber charged me $170 to hook it up. Just recieved the $750 rebate from the mass save program a few weeks ago so total cost of Water heater $348 with warranty $518 installed only about $100 more than if i had replaced it with a conventional electric unit.
> 
> ...



Where is your located? Mine is in my unfinished basement and I run mine in heat pump only mode year round. I think the amount of heat they suck out of the air is minimal. I have a temp and humidity gauge down there and never notice much of a temperature difference. Stays 70-75 all summer and 55-65 all winter down there. 

The savings are massive in heat pump mode as it uses 500 watts compared to the elements that use 4500.


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## velvetfoot (Jul 2, 2014)

Massive?  It uses those 500 watts longer.  My Nyletherm runs for about an hour to recover.


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## woodgeek (Jul 2, 2014)

Indeed.  The COP is 2-ish.  You prob get 2.5 in the summer (60% savings), and with the lower COP and heatstealing in the winter, prob at least 20-30% savings relative to electric conventional.


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## seige101 (Jul 2, 2014)

The water heater is in a section of unfinished basement, the walls are insulated though. The pellet stove is in the finished family room, we usually keep the utility room door open in the winter and keep the room warm because it helps keep the bathroom floor warmer. I was concerned about heating the space with pellets and then cooling the space with the heat pump. You guys don't think that is counter productive?


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## woodgeek (Jul 2, 2014)

If all of the BTUs 'stolen' came from the house (not the ground) AND they cost the same per BTU as resistance heat, then the HPWH would still just cost the same as conventional electric in the Winter (not more).  Otherwise, you still save running the HPWH.

If your pellet BTUs cost half as much as electric resistance BTUs, figure your savings are half in the winter what they are in the summer.


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## maple1 (Jul 3, 2014)

I would definitely run in HP mode all year.

You are burning pellets to heat your house because it is a cheaper fuel. That (fuel cost) is applicable to heating your DHW as well as your house. And, DHW heating is a very small proportion of your overall house fuel usage - it won't 'steal' that much heat from your house. My electric hot water heater runs on $20-30 of electricity per month - I would use that much (likely more) in a day to heat my house with electricity.


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## Brian26 (Jul 4, 2014)

woodgeek said:


> Indeed.  The COP is 2-ish.  You prob get 2.5 in the summer (60% savings), and with the lower COP and heatstealing in the winter, prob at least 20-30% savings relative to electric conventional.



Keep in mind the advertised savings with the GeoSpring are in Hybrid mode. (Heat pump mode and conventional


woodgeek said:


> Indeed.  The COP is 2-ish.  You prob get 2.5 in the summer (60% savings), and with the lower COP and heatstealing in the winter, prob at least 20-30% savings relative to electric conventional.



Keep in mind the 62% advertised savings by GE is when running in hybrid mode which uses both the heat pump and conventional electric elements. I have found my savings to be much higher based on monitoring with my Efergy e2 energy monitor.

I run mine in heat pump only mode. I had mine hooked up to a Effergy e2 energy monitor for most of the past month. Total monthly cost was around $12. That also factors in the fact that here in CT we pay one of the most expensive electric rates in the US at around .24 a KWH. 

Also, It is just me and my wife. We don't use a ton of hot water. A shower a day and an energy efficient dishwasher run maybe twice a week. Yesterday we took showers at the same time. About 5 mins each. The GE recovered in about 1 hour. 

I think based on my monitoring with my Efergy unit I am saving close to 80% compared to a conventional electric tank.

Also, for those in Connecticut. These units are now $599 at Lowes with rebates available.


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## STIHLY DAN (Jul 19, 2014)

Mine saves me about $1,200 a year compared to my oil boiler.


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## TradEddie (Jul 20, 2014)

I just pulled the trigger on one too. Install this week, almost perfectly timed for my billing cycle, so we'll soon see. Install was significantly more than a regular heater, but with a $400 rebate, it should work out only $300 more than my last water heater install. The down side is that now I really need to get my water neutralizer working properly and protect that expensive investment.

TE


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