I'd use Tankless. Much better, 2 240v. Drop electric bill. Only 5%. $115 year. Cost $600. I was the plumber and electric my self. It is now 5 years, now it safe money.
I'd use Tankless. Much better, 2 240v. Drop electric bill. Only 5%. $115 year. Cost $600. I was the plumber and electric my self. It is now 5 years, now it safe money.
- dabeeman2
Hard to make out the specifics of what you mean but are you comparing savings against a hybrid water heater?
The estimated energy cost of this is only $117/year.
How come nobody ever talks about the cost to heat the air that this thing gets its heat from? Heat pumps aren't magic, if they transfer heat into the water, they had to get it from the house air, which you then have to heat using other fuels. Might be OK in the summer when you're using AC, but in the winter it's just gonna drive up your heating bills.
How come nobody ever talks about the cost to heat the air that this thing gets its heat from? Heat pumps aren't magic, if they transfer heat into the water, they had to get it from the house air, which you then have to heat using other fuels. Might be OK in the summer when you're using AC, but in the winter it's just gonna drive up your heating bills. - MrBeano
True to *some* extent, except that it does offset that by decreasing summer energy to run the A/C, and in winter a seldom thought about factor is that it is still converting electricity to heat at the same efficiency rate as an electric central heater, that when you use that hot water (or even if you don't and it is the tiny amount lost through the tank insulation), much of that heat stays within the premises.
If 1KWH of electricity heats water, and the heat from that is heating your interior pipes/faucets/sinks/tubs/drains, it is similar efficiency to 1KWH spent on an electric heater heating the air, both of which radiate within the premises. There will be a little loss, water incoming to the premises in winter will be colder than that exiting to the sewer, but this is still true no matter how you heated that water.
An obvious exception to this would be if it is situated outside the insulated and interior-ventilated (climate controlled) portion of the premises such as an attic or garage, then you have a bit more heat loss, but also this mitigates the factor you began with which was 'sinking away the heat in the climate controlled vicinity.
True to *some* extent, except that it does offset that by decreasing summer energy to run the A/C, and in winter a seldom thought about factor is that it is still converting electricity to heat at the same efficiency rate as an electric central heater, that when you use that hot water (or even if you don't and it is the tiny amount lost through the tank insulation), much of that heat stays within the premises.
If 1KWH of electricity heats water, and the heat from that is heating your interior pipes/faucets/sinks/tubs/drains, it is similar efficiency to 1KWH spent on an electric heater heating the air, both of which radiate within the premises. There will be a little loss, water incoming to the premises in winter will be colder than that exiting to the sewer, but this is still true no matter how you heated that water.
An obvious exception to this would be if it is situated outside the insulated and interior-ventilated (climate controlled) portion of the premises such as an attic or garage, then you have a bit more heat loss, but also this mitigates the factor you began with which was 'sinking away the heat in the climate controlled vicinity. - dave_c
The efficiency of this unit is primarily influenced by the ambient temp in the heater environment, so the "constant efficiency" isn't really relevant, and heat pumps don't "convert electricity to heat" they just move it around, ideally using less energy to move it than it would take to generate it which is why they make sense for grabbing heat from the outside but not from your basement. This unit needs to find 1000 joules of heat in the environment to put 1000 joules of heat into the water so if you're heating the air then the air heating system of whatever type has to output that 1000 W at its native efficiency. I also don't agree that you retain most of
the heat, I suspect the majority of it goes right down the drain without transferring a lot of the heat since most of your hot water is used for washing and immediately goes down into the earth, but regardless, from an economic standpoint these still just don't make a lot of sense when you include the initial cost of the unit compared to a gas or resistive unit, and the fact that the increased complexity and corresponding reduced lifespan will probably make this thing at best a wash compared to a resistive unit. Don't forget you might have to make accommodations for a condensate pump/outlet for these if you don't have a convenient drain and possible big money for wiring if you're "upgrading" from a mechanical gas unit. Oh, and of course don't forget, this contains refrigerant so getting rid of it isn't just leaving it on the curb...that's gonna be a big hassle/expense as well.
^ Gas surely isn't an option or else why would someone consider electric instead?
It does make sense compared to a purely resistive heater. It pays for itself over the average lifespan of the unit. That should be kind of obvious in that if it didn't, they wouldn't exist.
Hard to make out the specifics of what you mean but are you comparing savings against a hybrid water heater?
The estimated energy cost of this is only $117/year.
- dave_c
Tankless electric will use more electricity than this heat pump model. Properly sized electric tankless will often require a much larger and expensive circuit as well.
Comments & Reviews (9)
- dabeeman2
The estimated energy cost of this is only $117/year.
If 1KWH of electricity heats water, and the heat from that is heating your interior pipes/faucets/sinks/tubs/drains, it is similar efficiency to 1KWH spent on an electric heater heating the air, both of which radiate within the premises. There will be a little loss, water incoming to the premises in winter will be colder than that exiting to the sewer, but this is still true no matter how you heated that water.
An obvious exception to this would be if it is situated outside the insulated and interior-ventilated (climate controlled) portion of the premises such as an attic or garage, then you have a bit more heat loss, but also this mitigates the factor you began with which was 'sinking away the heat in the climate controlled vicinity.
If 1KWH of electricity heats water, and the heat from that is heating your interior pipes/faucets/sinks/tubs/drains, it is similar efficiency to 1KWH spent on an electric heater heating the air, both of which radiate within the premises. There will be a little loss, water incoming to the premises in winter will be colder than that exiting to the sewer, but this is still true no matter how you heated that water.
An obvious exception to this would be if it is situated outside the insulated and interior-ventilated (climate controlled) portion of the premises such as an attic or garage, then you have a bit more heat loss, but also this mitigates the factor you began with which was 'sinking away the heat in the climate controlled vicinity. - dave_c
the heat, I suspect the majority of it goes right down the drain without transferring a lot of the heat since most of your hot water is used for washing and immediately goes down into the earth, but regardless, from an economic standpoint these still just don't make a lot of sense when you include the initial cost of the unit compared to a gas or resistive unit, and the fact that the increased complexity and corresponding reduced lifespan will probably make this thing at best a wash compared to a resistive unit. Don't forget you might have to make accommodations for a condensate pump/outlet for these if you don't have a convenient drain and possible big money for wiring if you're "upgrading" from a mechanical gas unit. Oh, and of course don't forget, this contains refrigerant so getting rid of it isn't just leaving it on the curb...that's gonna be a big hassle/expense as well.
It does make sense compared to a purely resistive heater. It pays for itself over the average lifespan of the unit. That should be kind of obvious in that if it didn't, they wouldn't exist.
The estimated energy cost of this is only $117/year.
- dave_c
Thank you!