LIke when the wife is preparing a meal at the sink and running part hot water and part cold. I can see that thing cycling on and off a hundred times a day.
Best Electric Water Heater
- Thread starter thinkxingu
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Here is a complete EcoSmart system that my neighbor installed and used a FloTec holding tank so not heating really cold water.
See pics
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...tion-pics-good-efficient.143673/#post-1939059
I am planning on using the indirect tank that my oil boiler uses so oil heat would be the backup I can connect the generator too for a long power outage.
You do not need 3 - 40 amp breakers on the smaller units. My neighbor uses the EcoSmart-18 that needs 2 - 40 amp breakers. 8 Guage is not too hard to work with or too expensive if purchased at Home Depot. I just did a run of 6-3 for my 50 amp welder in the new workshop and it only cost about $100 with the outlet. Yes you do need space in your circuit box which I also did not have! Therefore I just installed a 125 amp sub panel in the boiler room so I can easily connect what ever EcoSmart panel I choose. Also with the new liquid copper lock - no sweating is needed for the copper water connections! I cannot wait to try that!
Just throwing out this option, I did some research to put in my 2 cents.
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The Copper Lock looks cool! Wonder how that compares to Sharkbite connections?Here is a complete EcoSmart system that my neighbor installed and used a FloTec holding tank so not heating really cold water.
See pics
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...tion-pics-good-efficient.143673/#post-1939059
I am planning on using the indirect tank that my oil boiler uses so oil heat would be the backup I can connect the generator too for a long power outage.
You do not need 3 - 40 amp breakers on the smaller units. My neighbor uses the EcoSmart-18 that needs 2 - 40 amp breakers. 8 Guage is not too hard to work with or too expensive if purchased at Home Depot. I just did a run of 6-3 for my 50 amp welder in the new workshop and it only cost about $100 with the outlet. Yes you do need space in your circuit box which I also did not have! Therefore I just installed a 125 amp sub panel in the boiler room so I can easily connect what ever EcoSmart panel I choose. Also with the new liquid copper lock - no sweating is needed for the copper water connections! I cannot wait to try that!
Just throwing out this option, I did some research to put in my 2 cents.
As for the on-demand, each time you start adding stuff--breakers, wire runs, sub panels--the payoff is reduced. If the electric ones were more efficient and reliable, maybe, but given they're not...
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An oil boiler to heat hot water in the summer has to be one of the most expensive ways to heat water. There is a constant heat loss while on standby.
And it heats the basement, making the AC work harder. Like pushing a car uphill.
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X2. I have to get rid of it!
Using the efficient Buderus oil boiler for hot water Only uses approx 225 gallons a year for 4 people.
225 x $1.66 per gallon is $373.50 right now but if it goes up to $4 then it is $900 a year! yikes
How much does your hot water heating cost?
My HPWH is estimated to use $135 annually for 4 people but may be less if the room temp is above 70 and the WH set temp is below 135. I keep mine at 120. and when the wood stove is going the room temp goes to 90 so should be less.X2. I have to get rid of it!
Using the efficient Buderus oil boiler for hot water Only uses approx 225 gallons a year for 4 people.
225 x $1.66 per gallon is $373.50 right now but if it goes up to $4 then it is $900 a year! yikes
How much does your hot water heating cost?
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maple1
Minister of Fire
Installed my Kenmore standard electric water heater yesterday and set it to 120 degrees--$515 total, so we'll see how it goes!
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Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk
If it works on day one with no leaks, it will likely last a long long time. These modern appliances are either crap out of the box or pretty good.
Ditto that,last one i replaced had stripped threads where the water pipes attach. No way could i get it to stop leaking from the threads. Not much leak testing done at the factory i guess. Had to swap it out at HD the same day .Its replacement is going on 5 years now
iron
Minister of Fire
curious if anyone has new thoughts on whether the hybrid water heaters are ready for prime time yet. i'm looking at this one ((broken link removed)) and with a $500 rebate from my local energy company, it comes out just a few hundred more than a standard water heater and purports to save $200-300/yr compared to the standard heater. financially, it seems like a no brainer. but, i am suspect of durability and reliability. i believe this rheem had some recalls 2-3 years ago with heaters that were catching fire. plus, with the hybrid, you have to install condensate lines such, so it wouldn't be a plug and play like with a standard heater.
Did you read the reviews? 347 of them on the webpage the heater is on. Avg 4.5 out of 5 stars
Tegbert
Feeling the Heat
I have the geosprings version for 2 1/2 years now and it works great. 90% of the time it’s in heat pump only mode. I just about got it for free with the pud rebate and federal rebate that was going on. I did have to run a condensate pump but that’s it. Just plugged it into the outlet and ran a drain line to the washer drain and ran a pvc pipe from the water heater to the pump. Really only added 10-15 minutes to the install.
Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25
Its hard to beat an appliance that pays for itself, Same as a hi efficiency washer that pays for itself through lower power and water consumption. Mine paid for itself the first year i used it,after rebates and power savings. 3 years after purchase im about $600 ahead Money in the bank on power savings. Even if the heat pump eventually conks out ,it has 2 regular elements like a conventional WH so could probably use it in electric only mode. At this point i would definitely buy another one down the road .
iron
Minister of Fire
i did, but whenever i read reviews, i look for the critical/negative ones to see if there's a pattern. there seems to be for this model - though it's possibly an earlier version of this model.
I do the same. It does seem like there are a lot more positive reviews for this brand (Rheem) than the GE that i have ,but they also were had a few bad ones until they worked out the bugs.
iron
Minister of Fire
so what happened here?
https://www.treehugger.com/sustaina...lug-geospring-heat-pump-hot-water-heater.html
seems like the geosprings model was nixed, but it appears to still be sold in stores???
ETA: limited quantity available. looks hard to find and now it's sold under another name.
https://www.treehugger.com/sustaina...lug-geospring-heat-pump-hot-water-heater.html
seems like the geosprings model was nixed, but it appears to still be sold in stores???
ETA: limited quantity available. looks hard to find and now it's sold under another name.
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Low sales killed the beast. I installed mine myself and if it ever needs repairs, ill do that as well.
Reportedly, there were quality issues with the original (blue top) units that were made in China. Supposedly the 2nd gen. (red top) was much improved but it seems the damage to its reputation was done.
Our Gen 1 unit is still going strong and paid for itself long ago with decreased electricity costs.
Ours lives in the basement and shares a room with a condensing (ventless) clothes dryer creating a mutualistic pairing - each likes the air exhausted by the other.
Many find the dehumidifying and air filtering aspects of HPWHs to be an advantage rather than a problem. I've also found that its ability to run off a relatively small generator in a power outage is nice. I also like that scale accumulation from hard water is less because of the lower heating temps of the HPWH as compared to a resistance unit.
I'd buy another HPWH without hesitation.
iron
Minister of Fire
do you see issues with a garage install in the seattle area (maritime climate)? i think in the winter the garage is down to 40 or so, so kind of right at the threshold of heat pump vs electric resistance. in the summer, 60s-70s. not as ideal as an install in FL or AZ.
40 is lower than will work well when in HP mode but you can set it to automatically use the resistance elements when the HP won't work. It will work very efficiently in the 60-70 degree range. You'll still probably see a significant benefit in power use over a resistance unit. A garage is a good place to put one. Fan noise is a problem for some so there's that too.
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