Geospring HPWH being discontinued

[Seasoned Oak]

Sounds like the reaction I'd expect from a high voltage relay going bad. The make/break action of delivering electrical current can tend to pit the contacts over time. If you can locate the source of the clicking sound, you may be able to isolate the component and find one on Newark or Digikey to swap it out, if you're handy with a soldering iron.

Wouldnt the warranty service send me one? Its only about a year old.

 

[Where2]

Wouldnt the warranty service send me one? Its only about a year old.

If it's still under warranty, find your receipt and call the manufacturer. They should be able to troubleshoot it with you and tell you exactly what it needs.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I would imagine GE would send me the part as its still under warranty .But it is working and producing hot water .I guess it dont always come on when you turn the water temp up.

 

[maple1]

is it in hp only mode?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

is it in hp only mode?

Yea i always keep it in HP mode only unless i have heavy hot water demands like guests and back to back showers. There are so many options for high demand times. I just dont remember it clicking like that before the compressor starts. When i need faster recovery i use the hybrid mode. I love the WH though, its a money saver ,and my electric is not very expensive at about 10-11cKwh . ill probably never have a regular WH again.

 

[Brian26]

Good news for those with Geosprings. Bradford White bought all the geospring production equipment last year from GE and relocated it to its factory. They are now producing the Aerotherm which is just a rebranded Geospring. All they did was put a Bradford White sticker on it. They also took over full support and warranty from GE for existing customers.

Here in CT they had some pretty insane rebates 6 years ago on these when I bought mine. They were basically giving them away for free and tons of people were buying them. Mine has been running nonstop in heat pump only mode for 6 years just fine. I know tons of people with them that have had zero issues with them as well.

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/bradford-white-buys-geospring-rights-and-equipment

You can buy one right now at lowes for $899.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/A-O-Smith-...Water-Heater-with-Hybrid-Heat-Pump/1000213655

 

[SpaceBus]

How would a HPWH compare to a tank less water heater?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

How would a HPWH compare to a tank less water heater?

Id say the HPWH beats the tankless as the only saving from the tankless is no storage losses. Storage losses in modern water heaters is way down,my HPWH only loses a half degree an hour. Plus in HP mode it only uses 550 watts. Less than 2.5 amps. Electric tankless practically needs the equivalent of additional electric service as they draw 60 to 80 AMPs . Or almost 20000 watts.

 

[SpaceBus]

Id say the HPWH beats the tankless as the only saving from the tankless is no storage losses. Storage losses in modern water heaters is way down,my HPWH only loses a half degree an hour. Plus in HP mode it only uses 550 watts. Less than 2.5 amps. Electric tankless practically needs the equivalent of additional electric service as they draw 60 to 80 AMPs . Or almost 20000 watts.

In my situation we need to replace an aging 52 gallon resistance heating tank. In the future I would like to install a solar water heater and a cook stove capable of heating domestic water. I didn't realize those tank less heaters were such power hogs, I was under the impression they were much more efficient. Maybe I'll look into HPWH more.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

In my situation we need to replace an aging 52 gallon resistance heating tank. In the future I would like to install a solar water heater and a cook stove capable of heating domestic water. I didn't realize those tank less heaters were such power hogs, I was under the impression they were much more efficient. Maybe I'll look into HPWH more.

I have to warn you the recovery time is a bit longer in heat pump only mode .Switching to Hybrid mode fixes that during high use periods but uses more power. You can use the HPWH is one of several different modes,one of which is electric resistance only that uses 4500 watts,but the recovery time is faster of course. if the 52 gallon is barely enough for your domestic HW usage,id go with the 80 gallon HPWH. For me with a family of 4 the 50 Gallon model is fine. When we get company that stays over and takes showers ,i just switch to Hybrid mode.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

My electric HW bill went from about $35 a month to about $10 a month with the HPWH. So im saving roughly about $300 a year on guessing about my 5th year. I cant even heat my HW that cheap with coal.

 

[SpaceBus]

I have to warn you the recovery time is a bit longer in heat pump only mode .Switching to Hybrid mode fixes that during high use periods but uses more power. You can use the HPWH is one of several different modes,one of which is electric resistance only that uses 4500 watts,but the recovery time is faster of course. if the 52 gallon is barely enough for your domestic HW usage,id go with the 80 gallon HPWH. For me with a family of 4 the 50 Gallon model is fine. When we get company that stays over and takes showers ,i just switch to Hybrid mode.

The 52 gallons is plenty, the system is just super old. Before we bought this house the home inspector and plumber said the heater is on its way out and a bit rusty. We just figured a tank less would save us a bit on our power bill and take up way less space. I'll have to look into this some more.
As far as typical usage, it's pretty minimal. It's just two adults, no kids, and our dogs. I assumed the minimal use would make the tankless have the advantage, but now I know I don't know much of anything about water heaters.

 

[Tegbert]

The 52 gallons is plenty, the system is just super old. Before we bought this house the home inspector and plumber said the heater is on its way out and a bit rusty. We just figured a tank less would save us a bit on our power bill and take up way less space. I'll have to look into this some more.
As far as typical usage, it's pretty minimal. It's just two adults, no kids, and our dogs. I assumed the minimal use would make the tankless have the advantage, but now I know I don't know much of anything about water heaters.

You should be ok with a 50 gallon. I have a wife and two toddlers. Depends on how long your showers are. If my wife take a shower first and then me I will have lukewarm water with it in heat pump only mode which is fine with me I don’t take hot showers. But anymore than that I have to put it in hybrid before the showers or in high demand. When the kids are older I will have to probably upgrade to the 80 gallon one. But when I bought this one it was 800. I had a $500 rebate from the electric company and a federal rebate of 2-300 so I basically got it for free and my bill went down about $35 a month too.

Just a word of caution there is a minimum space requirement for them. 10’x10’x7’ room. If not then you will need to use the ducting kit to draw and vent air from a smaller location. Also the unit are taller than a similar sized tank. Because of that I was limited to the 50 as the 80 wouldn’t fit without major Reno and I needed the water heater now as our broke. Also will need a drain location for the condensate. If no drain is available the a condensate pump can be used. That what I did and works great.


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

 

[maple1]

In my situation we need to replace an aging 52 gallon resistance heating tank. In the future I would like to install a solar water heater and a cook stove capable of heating domestic water. I didn't realize those tank less heaters were such power hogs, I was under the impression they were much more efficient. Maybe I'll look into HPWH more.

I would not buy a tankless electric heater.

Either heat pump, or a new one of what you already have. We have an 80 gallon tank heater, only costs us about $25/mo to run - with a cheap install to boot, pretty hard to beat.

 

[SpaceBus]

I would not buy a tankless electric heater.

Either heat pump, or a new one of what you already have. We have an 80 gallon tank heater, only costs us about $25/mo to run - with a cheap install to boot, pretty hard to beat.

Wow, this is a surprise to hear. It seems like due to our space limitations that a conventional might just be the best thing to do. Are newer units any better? I have no idea how old ours is, but it also sat unused for the majority of its life.

 

[Brian26]

My electric HW bill went from about $35 a month to about $10 a month with the HPWH. So im saving roughly about $300 a year on guessing about my 5th year. I cant even heat my HW that cheap with coal.

Thats about spot on as they have a COP of around 3.5 meaning they are 350% efficient compared to a reg electric tank. Before I had solar panels installed I monitored mine for a few months and it was using around $8-10 a month in power. Thats incredible for a month of hot water.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Wow, this is a surprise to hear. It seems like due to our space limitations that a conventional might just be the best thing to do. Are newer units any better? I have no idea how old ours is, but it also sat unused for the majority of its life.

All depends on the use.More HW needs more KW = more cost to run. 4 people households will generally use twice as much HW and cost twice as much to make, as 2 people HH. If i were to go back to Conventional HW heater id expect my bill to go back to $35 Mo.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Check your local rebates ,if you can get a few rebates the price may be just as low or even lower than a conventional WH. My power company sent me a check for like 3 or $400 when i got mine. Some place they are as good as free with all the rebates.

 

[SpaceBus]

Our utility room is barely wide enough for the water heater we have, I doubt we could get a HPWH in there. I'm fairly certain our water heater was installed 7/1977. Anything should be better than this.

 

[CaptSpiff]

So from your photo it looks like the 50 gal tank HWHP might fit fine. They tend to run about an inch wider and 12-18 inches higher. An 80 gal in that area might be a squeeze. What's the normal temp in that utility room, I see you have baseboard under a window?

 

[SpaceBus]

So from your photo it looks like the 50 gal tank HWHP might fit fine. They tend to run about an inch wider and 12-18 inches higher. An 80 gal in that area might be a squeeze. What's the normal temp in that utility room, I see you have baseboard under a window?

We don't use that baseboard heater, but it stays around 60 in there. We may look into the HPWH, we are getting a plumber out here for an estimate in a few weeks.

 

[CaptSpiff]

We don't use that baseboard heater, but it stays around 60 in there. We may look into the HPWH, we are getting a plumber out here for an estimate in a few weeks.

That's a good temperature, because the HWHP uses an electrical compressor and the heat from the room air to heat the water. So the room temp needs to be warm enough, which it sounds like it will be. In the summer the HWHP will act like a dehumidifier and pump a bunch of condensate (that's usually a good thing). You'll need to buy a condensate pump for about $50, cause I don't see a sink.

 

[SpaceBus]

That's a good temperature, because the HWHP uses an electrical compressor and the heat from the room air to heat the water. So the room temp needs to be warm enough, which it sounds like it will be. In the summer the HWHP will act like a dehumidifier and pump a bunch of condensate (that's usually a good thing). You'll need to buy a condensate pump for about $50, cause I don't see a sink.

Thanks for the info, I had never heard of such a thing. We will talk to our plumber about it.

 

[Brian26]

Our utility room is barely wide enough for the water heater we have, I doubt we could get a HPWH in there. I'm fairly certain our water heater was installed 7/1977. Anything should be better than this. View attachment 237511 View attachment 237512

I posted in the other thread as well. Efficiency Maine has a $750 rebate on heat pump water heaters and you can even self install it. I would be all over this if I were you. A HPWH would fit fine in that area and run 350% more efficient than your current tank.

https://www.efficiencymaine.com/at-home/heat-pump-water-heater-program/

 

[woodgeek]

Good info here, but do keep in mind that when I called three plumbers to get my 80 gal HPWH installed 5 years ago, two of them bent my ear at length about how awful they were, one refused to install it, the other said I would be calling him back in a year to take it out, and I would have to pay him twice.

The third guy said sure, did it, and cashed the check. LOL.