My brother has one in his home. We are located in central FL. His family must use a lot of hot water, because they say that the water doesn't stay hot when the unit is in Eco mode. Using Heat Pump mode has been more consistent, though.
@@b0bsaget007 I'm still not sure what the difference between the two modes is. Mine has been set and left in Heat Pump mode and the only time I've ever seen the heating element turn on as been the very first start up 3.5 years ago. I wonder if it's running the compressor differently that you're seeing different recovery times.
I have had a Rheem 50 gallon HPWH for 6 years now, and it's been great. It is located in my garage with closed off attic space above, so I have plumbed the air intake for it to draw from the peak of the attic - which raises inlet temperatures by 3-20F depending on season and time of day. I keep it in heat pump only mode for maximum savings, and with the rebates I received when I installed it, am money ahead vs. if I had kept the previous electric water heater in place. The Rheem water heaters have 4 different modes of active operation, in order of most to least efficient: Heat pump only, Eco (hybrid heat pump and resistance), High Demand (more aggressive resistance heat but still hybrid), and Resistance heat only. All of these modes make them highly versatile for changing needs. I have seen it advised however that upsizing makes more sense if using any of the hybrid modes is likely, as that provides a higher buffer of hot water to draw on which may eliminate the need for anything more than heat pump only. Happy I got it. Installed it myself. The only problem I continue to have with it is dust accumulation from woodworking, etc. (Better filtering is a must if that's a regular thing.)
I have one as well for over 2 years now. Works great and low energy consumption. Also replaced dryer to a heat pump model. Miele, it’s a bit small but runs on 120volts. Also use two solar powered heat pump mini splits for heating and cooling from signature solar. Two electric cars as well. All powered off of 60 solar panels. No more natural gas bill. No more gasoline bill. No more electric bills with payed off solar. Have to pay to play. I just think of PG&E like a bad credit card that never gets paid off and has a variable interest rate in the wrong direction…. I hate credit cards….
BC Canada here, I have the exact same unit and going on my 4th year of use and I still love it. It's like my hot water bill disappeared. I have 8Kw of solar installed on my house so I have to be power efficient and this was definitely worth it. I'm going on my 4th year now of never paying for Hydro (that's what we call our electricity bill here in BC). When I purchased this unit the standard rebate was $1000 but because of COVID the provincial gov't doubled the rebates for that year and I actually got a $2000 rebate for a $2400 install, Awesome!!! It's still going strong with zero issues so far.
I installed the 50 gallon version a year ago. I live in Florida and it's simply a bonus that some temperature/humidity reduction is a byproduct in my garage now. It's not much, but it's essentially free. The sale price was $1449 and then I also did get a $300 tax rebate. I think it will pay itself back after a few years due to the energy savings. So far, it works really well and the noise is not an issue since it's in the garage.
I installed a 80 gallon RHEEM water heater around 2020. It has been flawless to date. I run it exclusively in heat pump mode for a family of 3, and have 4 over the holidays. Never ran low on hot water and the unit consumes about 2.5 amps in the heat pump mode. The 80 gallon unit has a higher energy rating than the 65 gallon unit and is the reason I chose to go with the 80gallon. I recommend this unit to all my friends that need a water heater.
We've had one since 2018 which replaced a standard electric water heater. The savings in electrical use was immediately apparent. Never run out of hot water even when my grand children, son and his wife visited for a week. It is in our unfinished part of the basement under the master bedroom. The sound is minimal and I even forget it's there. Haven't had any problems and I'd recommend it to anyone. It used 936 kwh in 2023 which cost $243 USD at our electric rate. We also installed a solar system in 2022 that provides all the electricity to run our all electric home!
Installed one about a month ago, runs completely off grid from the solar system. I like the 1.3 amp draw while running! Set to 140 degrees and running in heat pump mode only. There's not a lot of houses in FL to ideally set these other than a garage, I happened to have an enclosed back porch that runs the length of the house, lots of windows, washer, dryer and two freezers. Everything on the back porch is hooked to the solar system except for the dryer. Will probably go with a heat pump dryer when the dryer gets replaced. Thanks for posting the video and what you do!
I have two and love them. One is in my barn, and I’ve connected ducting for intake and discharge air because it’s in a small boiler room. The second is in my basement and similar to you it keeps the basement cooler than normal but not a problem. It also provides “free” dehumidification. The one in the barn will often need to run the element during the winter months but still is a net win over the old oil boiler that had been producing hot water there. The house unit runs in heat pump mode all year round.
I installed one in April 2024 and have used 300.12kWh, it has been great as it cools the garage and now that we are in winter, i have not noticed any negative impacts. I also got a tax break and rebate from my utility provider. I fully recommend it.
Excellent video! Thanks for making it. You contrast a lot of question I've had about this topic. For me, with trying to get to a solar based energy system, the heat pump idea is the only way to go.
Great update. Be anxious to hear how this performs over 10 or more years. As you say the more complicated the system, the more expensive the repairs , possibly negating any savings.
I have the 80 gallon heat pump Rheem and it consumes a little over 200 kWh in the winter months and a good bit under 100kWh for the warmer months. My old electric water heater logged a whopping 445 kWh for a past winter month before it was replaced. These water heaters are definitely worth it and can pay for itself within a couple years with utility rebates, tax credits, monthly savings, and minimal maintenance.
Glad you all are having good luck with your hp water heaters. My 2nd ao smith hp water heater is going out, takes forever to reheat water and my electricity use for it has increased almost 3x. My first one went out after 15 months so I was charged $500 to install the new one. It did work as expected until it went out. The new one is only 5 months old. If the company wants another $500 to install another, I'm going back to gas.
I feel like I got screwed. Everyone else I know who have hp water heaters are happy with theirs, and none are ao smith. Hoping for a class action suit since there are so many complaints about them.
I have a g.e. heat pump water heater that's been running in my basement in ohio for 11 years now, heat pump only mode set to 120 degrees, it's fantastic!!!!!
I have a large greenhouse (15' x 48') in which I built a small (4'x11') walk-in cooler. I have an 8K BTU window AC unit that uses the CoolBot Controller that tricks the AC unit into keeping the walk-in cooler at 37° F. One of the side benefits of this arrangement is that the warm side of the AC unit heats the greenhouse in the spring for even earlier crops than normal, and also extends the growing season in the fall to where I'm harvesting tomatoes as late as November, while the tomato plants outdoors have been long dead.
I am now going to make a root cellar of some sort dug into the side of a hill that will then also have a greenhouse on that side of the hill and I'll separate the two with a door and a wall that has a bunch of old window-mounted AC units that people don't want anymore because now they all have to use those portable floor one because we can't have slide up windows anymore.
Your numbers are great. My electric hot water uses 210kWh in the winter and yours is under 100kWh. I would say the heat pump is much more efficient than a heating element.
Hi - Great video as usual. Apparently Rheem (maybe others?) do make a version of the heat pump water heater that is made to plug into a standard 120 VAC outlet - Home Depot has them - "ProTerra 50 Gal. 120-Volt Plug-in Smart Heat Pump Water Heater with Leak Detection and Auto Shutoff and 10-Year Warranty" They are more expensive and I suppose have a lower recovery rate.
12 months of usage from our Rheem Hybrid Heatpump and we have 978.3 kWh and we live in NY state. This is with a family of five. We keep our tank at 120f. Also, if there is something wrong with the refrigerant system, Rheem says it will outright just replace the unit. At least our warranty paperwork said as much for within the 10 year time.
I have the AO Smith version and it has been working fine for the last 5 years sitting happily in the garage. It was part of the deal when I had my grid-tie solar installed in my home. However I did install a Corro-Protec powered anode due municipal water supply is just below the borderline of not needing additional water conditioning and a full opening port boiler drain valve to replace the crappy OEM drain valve. Just one of the few maintenance items checked off the list for the life of the water heater. Besides draining out 10 gallons from the bottom of the tank quarterly and blowing out the dust bunnies once a year with shop air is about it. I did find out that it is quite generator friendly when I lost power for 8 days when Hurricane Milton blew through town. Even having 3 extra people stopping by per day for hot showers and laundry gave it a good workout, but it handled it fairly well overall.
I've had my GE HPWH installed in my built in garage for about 10 years. Some additional benefit's not mentioned are: - we have hard water and conventional WH's build up a ton of mineral scale on the bottom of the tank, I'm guessing that the HPWH heats so evenly and gradually that mine gets ZERO build up now. This is huge for longevity, especially if you have gas or tankless. -When I park the car in the garage, the considerable amount of heat from the car gets captured and recycled by the HPWH ( at least it did, until I bought an EV) -The HPWH dehumidifies the garage, especially when the car is wet or covered in ice and snow. -I'm able to set vacation days. We are gone in the winter for months and I set the amount of days, I have the HPWH come back on 2 days before we get back home and set if for the highest temp setting to kill off any bacteria. - The water temperature is more consistent that any other water heater I've owned, no need to adjust the temperature mid shower.
Sounds like this fits your needs well. 50 gallon standard in the U.S. I wasn't aware of that, in fact, I've had 40 gallons heaters in all my houses. Never had a need for anything larger. Good luck in the future.
I recently installed the 40 gallon Rheem heat pump water heater. Also I am in an off-grid, 100% solar application. Some of my observations: As you said, it is an air conditioner. It makes noise, especially compared to a traditional electric or gas HWH. The noise isn't terrible, but it is there. Be sure to plan for it during the installation and apply sound proofing if necessary. I definately see a huge difference in the power requirements for running it in traditional electric mode vs. heat pump mode. The actual energy observed for the heat pump is many times more efficient than running on 100% electric. Installation was easy. But, I find the operator interface/automation to be crap. My original control module would not connect to my wifi, so they had to send a new one. Even with the new unit it took a lot of time to connect to the wifi and users have to turn off mobile data, then turn it back on. In today's technology, the Rheem automation is years behind the tech. Another frustrating thing for me is the only way I can set the schedule is through the WIFI and the rheem cloud server. I cannot set it manually on the installed control panel. Ridiculous in my opinion. I also find the schedule options to be very limited. Especially for an off-grid application. For my application, it would be useful to be able to have more schedulint options to run it less and possibly lower temperatures when there is less sun and more with hotter temperatures in the warmer months. Unlike you, I like to run mine at a hotter temperature. Especially if the sun is shining. My scheule is set temperature to 120 at about 730 AM. 140 at about 10 AM. 140 again at 330 PM. And 110 at 7 PM. This in an effort to only run it during the day when the sun is shining and shut it off at night. The only option is to turn it down to 110. It does not provide an option to completely shut it off or prevent from running in the schedule. When I put mine on vacation mode from the control panel, I have to turn the schedule off first through the app or the schedule will override the vaction mode when the next time triggers on the schedule. I also notice the automation will run the unit in electric mode from time-to-time, even when in heat pump mode. Mine is installed in a garage area. It may be because the temperature in the garage is below some set point on the unit for effiient heat pump operation? Or, because when it is set up on the cloud to my specific location the cloud uses my location and weather? Not clear why it would ever run in electric when I have it set on heat pump only. I live in Texas. It does not get that cold here and the heat pump should be able to run all the time. So in summary, love the heat pump tech. Hate the interface. I doubt I would buy another Rheem because of the interface if I can find another brand that has a local interface that does not require me to create a cloud account.
Just over 5 years with mine, love it. I run it in heat pump only for most of the day and change to balanced between 5-9pm when showers may occur. Then to High Demand if all 4 of us are showering the same night. Only annoying this is, I get a condensate line error every month or so that I need to clear, sometimes it knocks off the heat pump. If I clear it, it good for a while. My condensate line has a open T at the top and its definitely never clogged tho. Getting the SANCO2 as my next one tho. 80g version and pretty much never runs out of hot water, especially if I turn on high demand before all the showers/baths start. Family of 4, this year at 1607 kWh, 1652 kWh in 2023, 1702 kWh in 2022, etc... in the PNW
I have the same model and size. I used 830 kWh in my first year, just two people. I agree with the video, especially the noise description. When my basement cools off a little in the winter, it uses more power. In my case I save a little vs. gas but it is very close and depends a lot on gas costs - just a couple of years ago gas was 250% more than today.
I looked at them, and nearly pulled the trigger - but HD was out of stock at the time. Heat Pump tech got me interested in where else it might help me and my family - Lead me to a ducted minisplit heat pump - heating and cooling - for my entire home. Installed last spring and sooooo happy we went this way. For about the same money as just the HPHWT, we got coolling all summer and heating fall and spring. One day we will revisit the HWT HP thing, hope these come down in price, as well as get quieter.
I live in Ontario, Canada, and I looked at installing one of these. I was pretty close to pulling the trigger to replace our 17-year-old gas water heater when the power company introduced "Ultra-Low Overnight" rate billing ... at 2.8¢/kWh (CAD, which is 2¢ USD). It turned out to be cheaper for us to install a larger electric hot water tank (Rheem Marathon, which also comes with 3" of insulation) and a timer to only run it overnight. We also put ours on a mixing valve so that it stays hot throughout the day. If that hadn't been introduced here, I'd have 100% installed one of these; way better than gas, and unless power is super cheap, almost certainly better than electricity.
I've had mine for 11.5 months. I'm on a solar power system with battery, and a super-cheap off peak electric price at night. I've used 3x as much power as you have, because if there is sufficient solar, I run it in electric mode to save the compressor/heatpump. I run it in electric mode at night too. I run it in eco mode during the hours between solar fading in the evening and until the cheap off peak pricing starts, and again in eco mode in the AM when the peak pricing starts but before Solar is available. Mine is in the garage, and I can definitely hear the compressor in the house (another reason I run it in electric mode at night). Overall I'm happy with it, I like the programmability with an ESP board and Home Assistant. (The Econet App that comes with it is pretty bad, so slow to update). Edit: I program mine to change temperature, dropping when nobody is home, and going back up to 140 before Solar drops off. I do 140 because, on the 50 gal model, I struggle to have enough hot water with a family of four. I wanted to get a larger capacity unit, but the ledge in my garage wasn't big enough where the tank goes.
@@JM-yx1lm I figured someone would ask that, it's a good question: It wasn't that expensive, and I got a good rebate from the transmission/distribution company (and the tax credit too). I've got prohibitively expensive electric rates on-peak, but great rates off peak. With my Solar, it gives me flexibility during cloudy days to run cheaply during peak using the heatpump. I was already budgeting extra for wiring electric (I am getting rid of all gas in the house) so I just went with it. And lastly, I liked the idea of it cooling my garage which gets so hot and I can run heatpump then. Will it break even? Maybe, maybe not. A bit of an experiment for me, seeing how I can integrate with HA and automate around sunny/cloudy and having it switch operating modes. I play around with the different modes during different seasons to see if I can save money. Edit: Also I would run eco mode at night, but it's so loud being in the garage next to a living space. I wasn't sure how that would be going in. Now I know about that.
@@Phelper99 I have mine in a bonus room next to my home, to me it makes little noise, it is quieter then a small window A/C. I have solar power with grid pass through on my inverters. I did not think about using the electric mode during the day. My system has sufficient power that most of the year (I am in Florida) I could just leave it in electric mode most of the time. I got it before I had my solar system so I didn't know how much power it would make and I wanted something that would heat water with less power if something did happen to the grid.
I love my HP water heater. I do have to replace the anode rod every 18-24 months due to scale in the water. Never did that before. Never had one last long either . . . probably because of that :)
I have to run a dehumidifier in my basement. I've heard these do a good job of drying the air, so I'm hoping when we finally get around to switching, we can ditch our dehumidifier. Right now we have a solar hot water system that warms up a tank that is used as the intake for our gas hot water heater. If we were doing it now, I'm convinced that PV solar panels instead of hot water solar panels would do a better job.
8:00. Both Rheem and A.O. Smith make versions that run on 120 volt plugs, but the electric resistance heat, if they even have heating elements will be very limited compared to the 240 volt versions.
@@LithiumSolar Which is fine for smaller households. A heat pump 120v unit is basically forced to always run at its max efficiency and even if I had a 240v heat pump unit I'd likely just run it in heat pump only mode anyways. My showerhead's flow rate is reasonable, my countertop dishwasher uses like 3 gallons, I don't do laundry anywhere near the time that the shower is being used.
@@chaon93the water cylinder should be able to buffer all those things. It's just if you try to have 2 hours of showering then it won't keep up if the cylinder is too small
Excellent and well rounded presentation. Thank you. If I only had electric in my home as an option, I would consider one. However, I have a gas water heater now and the unit itself is about 1/3 the cost of a heat pump model and my monthly operating costs are actually lower than with electric (heat pump or otherwise). I think the big concern for me is the repair cost and failure rates as the heat pump models as they get to be 8, 10, 12 years old. Folks are used to going 15, 20 even 30 years with virtually no repairs on standard gas/electric units and that just wont be the case for heat pump or tank-less models.
9:30 they are saying to duct the air intake from outside. These units can, and in some cases should, be ducted such as a small installation area, or pulling air from an attic space which increases efficiency.
I agree there are some instances where it would be very beneficial, such as one of the other commenters whom said they duct warm air from their attic; however, certainly not a "requirement".
@@LithiumSolar In my area, pulling in air from the attic would be a real boost to efficiency, 120 degrees and above in the summer! Unfortunately the 2 story house I own would make that very difficult or extremely expensive (master bedroom is above the garage). I have to park the car outside and let it "cool down" before putting it in the garage. Driving on the freeway and pulling it into the garage will easily get the garage about 130 in the summer.
I have enclosed unheated porch in maritime climate, summer it gets hot, in winter it has dropped down to 3 degrees but spends most of the winter around 4-10 degrees. I wonder how low it can pull heat?
Just checked. 2024 used 330kWh in south FL. Set to “Energy Saving”. Installed aftermarket intake filter made from two shop vac filters stacked on all thread.
I got one of these installed in 2022. I'm certainly happy with it, but I'm not sure how to replace an anode rod on it. I will admit that when I first got it, the compressor was quite annoying, even in my basement. Also there is a bug where they get stuck in vacation mode if you pair it with the app. Have to go through unpairing and pairing again.
8:10 If you're converting from gas they make models specifically to run off of 110 so that you can put it anywhere, the problem is you lose the redundancy of having the standard elements in it. As well as a little less first hour output with a longer regen time. Also good for off-grid applications
I didn't realize those 120V versions were even a thing until after this video. They seem very convenient but I think I'd rather pull some 10/2 and have the electric element redundancy just in case!
I have an 80 gallon rheem that replaced a 50 gallon all electric. We have a big tub that takes 50-60 gallons to fill so we went big. I went the mixing valve route and run the tank at 140 then mix to 120. It's not really any different than the mixing happening at the shower and tub valves but it makes me feel better that the scald risk is gone. Electricity usage of the water heater went from $40 a month to $15. My payback period will be incredibly short. Local rebates made it a no brainer. For the ones worried about the heat pump failures and not having hot water, you can run it in resistance only mode from what I can tell. Do be prepared for the weight of these things, mines like 260? I've already convinced a few others to switch after seeing the benefits.
Interesting, do you find it consumes a lot of extra power to get to 140? Ie less efficient than power required to heat it to 120? That's another reason I haven't installed the mixing valve. Maybe I should just do it and see how it works... And yes, mine is heavy as ... also, took 2 people to stand it up from laying down.
@LithiumSolar I really don't know how much less efficient it is, I haven't done any testing yet. I track it with emporia but I know the econet app can track too. I want to try some lower temps to see how efficient I can get it I just haven't yet.
I have an external compressor heatpump unit and an internal system of two large isolated vats. One vat is to balance the underfloor heating system and it barely goes over 24c or so (very efficient). The other is the hot water supply and it's mostly around 45 to 55c. It does a weekly cycle where it heats the vat to 60 ~ 65c to get rid of any chance of legionella. The system is strong enough to supply 400+ liters of hot water and it can supply in realtime should the system be empty. It also have an external electrical coil that can add heat if needed (COP of 1, very inefficient but nice as backup). The external heatpump and main control unit are from NIBE, works great for me.
Almost installed one a few years ago... But it was a small enclosed "stock room" and wasn't too sure on heat exchange and clearances... Plus had to replace the old one pronto... Went with a rheem with plastic tank but not a heat pump... Still quite interesting for the next one.
I have the same unit with a mixing valve and it works well. The heat pump function is not great and if you monitor the temps it can't keep up with a family of 4 on its own. I run mine in electric mode 90% of the time. The power company in my area gave me a 50% credit for the heater so I gave it a try.
you should be running it on high demand. Element will kick on with the water drops too far below set point (but still hot enough for a shower). Otherwise, it seems to stay heat pump only. Also, heat pump + element = unlimited hot water.
All new buildings should be designed with large roof overhangs. The large overhang provides beauty and protection from the sun, rain and wind. Protection of the doors, windows and siding make for a more durable and comfortable home.
makes great ice damns on the roof too, perfect for water getting in under the shingles and wrecking your home. meanwhile - how is this realated to HP HWT's?
I installed the 80 gallon version in the Fall of 2021 and have had a similar great experience. Only complaint is that the EcoNet module went offline after a few months and I’ve never been able to get it working again. I call Rheem and they blame it on my ISP or my router settings but don’t offer specifics. I’ve tried tethering to my home as well without any luck.
I've the same unit and over all satisfied going on our third year. First I'd like to comment on duct ing the outside. Manufactur states unless in a large open uncondtioned space one needs to install the exhaust to the outside . If installed in a enclosed utility space less than 700 square ft the ducting is a must. Beware in hybrid mode or energy savers mode and should one draw out all 50 gal of hot water one will wait up to 2hrs for more hot water unless you set it on all electric mode then one can get a quicker recovery. You stated your energizing the heater with solar.Are you dc charging the heater as a dump load?
Good points! My discussion was assuming an open space. If it's in a closet, definitely needs some sort of circulation. Mine is not DC-powered, it's an inverter setup (pair of EG4 6000XPs) to a secondary loads panel for the house.
@@LithiumSolar Thanks for your reply. That said, I have heard conflicting opinions as to whether it can or cannot be. Since it can be done, can you explain how, as I have been told it will defeat the heat pump aspect, and it will just run off of straight electric defeating the cost savings.
My question was (at least I thought I asked it) what the temperature is of the exhaust air the reason is my garage is next to my furnace room where I would locate the hybrid heater so input air would be say 70f and I want to exhaust into my unheated garage and if the air is not to cold it could be a heat source in winter for my garage. Sounds weird right lol. Thanks for the video
Just installed Rheem 50G Proterra. Controller board failed after 1 week. Tech support sent me new board in 4 days. System is up and running on Energy Saver mode. This morning 12/22 App showed no hot water available! Switched to High Demand mode which restored hot water. I’m wondering if control board is operating correctly. There is a test mode, but a technician needs to guide you through tests. To be continued.
@LithiumSolar nice, I used to have those too, but retired now.. don't care if I ever see a computer again, except, my laptops. I am going to watch my Temps through the winter to see how low it goes. But I'm pushing 4000 kw a year. My current wh is 24 years old... time for a new one.
9:25. The person making the comment might have been in Britain. Someone who commented on an unrelated video about heat pumps for home heating in the UK mentioned that they have subsidies for heat pumps as long as they can’t function for cooling inside the home. Because this heat pump water heater could be vented inside the house, they might not have updated the laws to allow it to take heat from inside their houses. Supposedly they don’t want to encourage air conditioning in homes for fear of stressing the electric grid in the summer.
I bet it is no louder than my existing 90+% efficient water heater and air handler, which is in the center of my finished basement with living space on both sides. It has a 130K BTU-H burner and a 45 gallon tank so I use a lot more BTUs than that little heat pump can provide because it also heats my house. I set the water heater at 145F in the summer and it runs the burner +/-10F from that point, 150F right now, and if winter gets colder I'll bump it higher. I have an electric plumbed in series before the gas water heater. If 180F on the gas water heater is not hot enough then I turn on the electric. And yes, I have a mixing valve that feeds the house. Legionnaire's is a thing, so I want my water heater to get above 140F fairly often. That alone is not sufficient, but every little bit helps. Other countries are now requiring the water heater to periodically heat hot enough to kill legionella, and we should as well.
I just put a 65 gallon one in my phoenix garage about 6 months ago. there isnt anything wrong with cooling off my garage. im about 470kwh worth of electricity over the last 6 months. I am looking forward to my 1 year mark to see how much electricity it uses.
@@uhjyuff2095 My old water heater was gas and the only thing in my house that was left on gas, my gas bill was about 650 a year with 240 of it just being the service fees. so i was able to cancel my gas, im saving about 500 a year.
I installed a Rheeme 50gal hybrid (heat-pump) in 2019 and agree with all you're saying. Mine is under my house with ranges from 55F in dead winter and 75F in dead summer and still works very well. We run ~1900kwh/year which is ~$285/year = $24/month but we run in cold ambient temp in winter (55F) which causes it to use 50% more power compared to 75F ambient summer. I set mine at 125F, run in heat-pump only mode (max of 400w) all the time which is easy on the off-grid inverters. When it runs out (say washing 2 loads + some showers) it's a gradual (over 10min) lowering of temp the same as any water heater and you can hurry up and finish the shower. It takes maybe 2-3hrs to fully recover if you run all the way out. Also, the Rheeme has full 'regular' 4,500w electric heating elements and you can switch to high demand mode if say you had visitors for Christmas for a week and had hi demand. For us, its very quiet. I get 'clear filter' warnings every other year and I just rest because the filter is never dirty but still - I'd install somewhere with easy access. One key difference with heat-pump is, like an air conditioner you have to run a humidity/condensate line somewhere where the drips of water can drain... I ran mine thru the wall to the outside and there are other options.
don't have one yet but it's on the shortllist, to replace a ~10yr old gas unit. looking at getting the 120v heat pump-only version, my panel is full and i'd rather avoid running an additional 230v circuit anyway... thanks for the video. love the deadpan annoyance at all the keyboard warriors
Maybe, but think you'll have trouble 1) getting it up to the attic as it's very heavy and 2) the weight of the tank will need good structural support for sure. You're probably talking 500lbs when the tank is full.
I will certainly consider one when my 30 year old gas water heater dies (in the garage, in Phoenix). Cooling off the garage would be a genuine bonus. So far, I have had the pilot light blow out twice (simple fix, relight it), and a plastic drain valve disintegrate (we have a lot of ozone pollution, replaced with a brass fitting). It's still going strong, so economically, it would make no sense. Today it's 80 degrees, so cooling off the garage would really only be a negative for at most 3 months of the year.
I just did this in phoenix this summer. My gas water heater was the last thing on gas. it was $400 for an electrician to run 30 amp service to the spot. the water heater was 1900 for a 65 gallon and 600 for a plumber to install it. I was able to shut off my gas which saves me about 600 per year and now im only spending about an additional 150 in electricity per year and my garage gets a little bit of cooling. there is a 30% federal rebate too to cover total conversion project cost.
@Thebackson Thank you for the breakdown of what it cost you. Hot water heater, central heater and gas dryer still here. The central unit was replaced in 2014 with a new Trane unit, so it would be very costly for me to get where I could shut off the gas. I will say that a $500 rebate by SRP got me a SEER 17 AC for only $200 more than the SEER 15 unit. Since it replaced an SER 10 unit from 1994, that made a large impact on my electric bill (nothing but the cheapest legally allowed for this builder). I've got to wait and see what impact the looming rate increase has. Unfortunately I just retired, so I must first concentrate on necessary improvements first. Like replacing the concrete for the pool cool decking that spalls so badly the cool decking needs replacing every 2 or 3 years, and cutting down the palm tree that has gotten so tall it costs me $500 every 6 months to get it trimmed. I do appreciate the feedback on what it cost you. I can highly recommend a swamp cooler if you need to do any work in the garage during the summer, worth every penny. I bought the house in January 2002 for 130k, it's paid for, so it is what it is (i.e. worth about 350k more than I paid for it).
Great video. We built a house 4 years ago and our builder made it super energy efficient. Part of that efficiency is a Bradford-White Aerotherm heat pump water heater, 50 gallon, just like yours. We are two older adults (late 60's, with no children at home. We're set in our habits, and the average shower is 6-8 minutes long. I did turn the unit up to 125ºF, and then recently to 127ºF because we have a 2300 sq ft ranch home and the water heater is in the garage, on the opposite end of the house from the master bathroom. That way I can mix the temp down and get more hot water. My garage is typically 48-55 degrees in the winter, fully insulated, but not heated. The water heater doesn't seem to contribute to the cold that much, and in the summer doesn't help to cool the over-size three car garage. The efficiency rating of a standard electric water heater is 1.0. The efficiency of a heat pump water heater is 4.0, if I remember correctly. Even with relatively cheap 10.0 cent per kWh electricity, I'm happy to have the savings of this unit. 4+ years old and not a single problem.
Do you use your garage for cars? Do you open the garage door daily? If so, I'd imagine there's way too much air exchange to notice any difference with a heat pump water heater.
Between Local Utility Rebates, the Federal Tax Incentive, and the $250 sign-up bonus that I met on the new card I got just for and by buying the water heater, my total, all-in, installed cost was only $750 for my little 40 gallon 6th generation rheem HPWH. Break even point for me over running my 2008 50 gallon electric water heater is only like 3 years, even at my cheap power rates.
I have had one for 2 years and I think it’s a great idea but it has a long way to go to be a better product I have had humorous issues with it freezing up. And I’ve had to fix diagnose and replace parts on this with rheems help I’m not trying to talk down about most home owners, but I do have an electrical background and multimeters and have had to do some testing on this that I don’t know if most people are up to I started having problems about 11 months and they only cover sending a tech out until 12 months or one year so they would not help me. I replaced the thermostat on this unit three times I believe now. And they send you new parts but you have to install them or have them installed I’m using this unit to heat my hot water but also to cool my solar room since I have my Solar room in the basement where my woodstove at so this works well for that application but I would not buy another one of these units considering the price of them After the rebate I run my house 3/4 of the time with Solar and a battery back up In my house it’s me and my 2 girls and this thing seems like it barely ever shuts off
I set ours at 120 at first but our water came out smelling like sulfur. I upped it to 140 and that stopped the bad smell. 140 also gives us more hot water capacity.
One thing you didn't mention is the anode rod. By year 3-4 should be replacing it. Or sooner if you have hard water. Failing to do so will cause the minerals in the water to start "eating" the tank rather than the anode rod. This will lead to leak and eventually the death of the water heater. This is definitely not covered by any type of warranty.
Agreed!! I actually ordered two new rods last week and have them here. I'm planning to do a separate video showing how to change them - might be 3-4 weeks yet.
I've considered getting one, but have seen too many bad reviews on plumbing supply stores. Apparently the newer models were changed from 2021 and earlier, and both fail early and are extremely loud
Read through the comments on this video. They're overwhelmingly positive. I'm not sure what to say otherwise since my experience is reflective of a single unit, not a large sample size. Also, a portion of those that posted negative comments in the other 2 videos seem to have the wrong expectations or didn't install it right. I would sure hope the newer ones are quieter and the technology is improving, not getting worse.
@LithiumSolar I have read the comments, and they align with what I've read. Majority of Rheem owners that are happy with their HPWH installed theirs years ago, whereas those in the past couple years are not. HPWH owners from other brands are overall happy with theirs
Wow, you're right! They do have a 120V plug-in version now. That seems like a terrible idea, but who am I to decide that I guess lol. I am not an electrician or an engineer.
I have the 120 volt unit, 50 gal. It works fine for my wife and I. When we have had guests, it hasn't run out of hot water. So, after a year of use I have no complaints. Oh, it doesn't have a heating element only the heat pump.
@@LithiumSolar They have 120v air conditioners. I can't imagine the BTU exchange of an AC unit would be less than the water heater. Especially if it's only using ~80kWh/mo. Window AC units use about 5-10kWh/day. I'd imagine the 120v units don't have a quick resistive heat recovery mode which requires a pretty hefty wiring connection (basically the same as a regular electric water heater). 80kWh/month is ~ 2.5kWh per day, or at 120v running 24x7 less than 1 amp at 120v. Not as much as most people think. Say it runs 50% of the time, then you're only talking less than 2 amps for 12 hrs a day.
It would be nice if you said how many gallons of water were used. Your use case is much different than others, and the only way to tell how efficient it is is to say how many kWh per gallon is used. Also, 130 is the ideal temperature for water; 120 is used to hit the target energy savings numbers, but most post-install units I have seen are at 130.
@@LithiumSolar should have said it would be nice if these units could calculate how many gallons they process.. My On-Demand unit does that, It is kinda nice to make sure it is performing as it should.
Also, how much on average should I expect to pay more for a unit like this to be installed replacing a regular electric 240v HWH of the same size in 2025?
I feel your pain with all the armchair experts. Anything that saves a lot of money gets attacked by people who are paying more. I would be interested to know how much better this heat pump model is compared to a regular electric water heater. Either percentage-wise, or how much money per year (if both ran from grid power). Are we talking about saving 10%, 50%, 75%?
The energy label on this one states 866 kWh/year and the label on the electric heater I replaced was 4622 kWh/year. Obviously it's entirely dependent on your usage. Both have a first-hour rating of 67 gallons. The old heater is long-gone but the labels were shown at 2:00 in the first video. If I had to make an armchair guess based on my obsessive power statistics watching, I'd place it around 1/3rd the power of the old electric tank.
@@LithiumSolar That's absolutely stellar. I never would have imagined it was that good. It's risky being one of the early ones in a new technology, before there is good repair support. Imagine if everybody had one of those how much greenhouse gases would be reduced.
Thanks for the video. I just checked my gas water heater usage. It averages about $15/mo in NY, so a little more expensive per month. It has lasted 23 years so far with an occasional anode replacement every 7 years. But curious about heat pumps. I have solar too, but I paid for it, so it did cost me money to run things off of it, not really free. But at this point it's generated more electricity than it originally costs, so for me, it's free from here on out. Although that's if I had stuffed the money in a mattress and not invested it. 3:00 I don't have insulated floors between the basement and first floor so technically my basement is conditioned space regardless if the basement walls are insulated, so every degree removed from my basement pulls heat from the floor above because the floors get cold. And unless you live in an area that the ground is more than 64°, your basement walls and floor are pulling heat from the room rather than supplying heat to the heatpump. Heat only goes in one direction. Although, in the end, I doubt anybody is going to notice $12 worth of extra heat that their house heating system supplies. On the other hand, the heat pump water heater dehumidifies the basement which is an added benefit and helps cool the house in the summer.
If your bill is an average of $15 a month, you won't save money with a heat pump water heater, based on my experience and the energy star tag. Gas water heaters heat much faster. We seem to run out of hot water much faster with the hp water heater than we did with a smaller gas water heater. Also, my second hp water heater is going out (2 in less than 2 years, ao smith), and it costs $500 for each new install since the first one went out just after the 1 year mark.
All homes should be built to accommodate the elderly and disabled. This will be better for everyone. Large wide doorways and hallways make using a cane, walker or wheel chair much easier. Bathrooms or wet rooms need to have flat floors and no shower hump or pan. A flat floor allows for easy access and drains need to provided. Easy to use lever door and faucet handles are easier for the elderly to grip and open. Main floors should include a master bedroom, restroom, shower, laundry and wide walk in closet with few steps to enter. Homes should be designed with aging in place in mind.
You dont.. That is why these would never work for me.. How do you fill a tub for the kids and have enough water for two adults to shower... On-demand units are where it is at unless you have the money to buy 2 or 3 of these hot water heaters..
I can't even imagine spending more than 7 minutes. Although that is the advantage of being bald. Turn on the water, maybe 2 minutes to soap up and 2 minutes to rinse.
I'll be honest, I never actually timed my showers but it seems like it would be more than 7 minutes. Also, there are nights when we do 2 kid baths, then 2 adult showers back to back and there is still hot water at the end of the last shower. There is a slight decrease in temperature by that point but you would hardly notice it unless you're purposely looking for it.
@ I noticed it first when I went to Australia. But it was true in Europe too. Some of it is because people in the rest of the world don’t care as much about deodorant or intentionally won’t wear it because they’re proud of their stench. It’s also cultural because in America the focus on public health in the early 1900s engrained a value of cleanliness in the culture. In World War II, if someone was repeatedly in trouble for hygiene on a US Navy ship, they’d just throw them overboard and list them as “lost at sea”. Disease is a massive risk to a ship’s crew and once it happens the ship can’t engage as well in combat. So you throw the person overboard.
@@causarumcognitio Funny how different people have different experiences. I smell the fat and obese from 10 feet here in the US. It's a mix of old sweat and urine.
in PA i get gas so cheap it is ridiculous to go with anything else i have a tiny bill when not heating house including dryer and stove if I lived in Florida where cooling the house down and dehumidifying it year round would be a good thing one of these might make sense
Mine lasted about 4 years before the condenser started leaking. After the repair, it lasted another 4 years before the circuit board went out, and it was obsolete. The ROI was terrible.
I piped mine from the utility room to the garage (dehumidifying wooo). They put out a lot of cold air. Water takes a lot of energy to heat. Set point is 130, but it's only allowed to run 10 pm to 6 am. Electricity is 1/3 normal rate off peak. No family = $50/yr. Codes are a joke. There's also a 120V version in case that's all you have (like replacing gas).
We had a Rheem heat pump hot water system on our newly built house as it was a BASIX sustainability requirement! It broke down 5 times in 12 months! The repair man kept replacing electronic PCBs. It was ridiculously complicated when all you required it to do is boil water. The other thing they don't tell you is it will not work under 3 degrees C as it requires a higher temperature for the refrigerant to do its thing, remembering that's what it basically is doing is using a compressor to boil the water. After being let down multiple more times and waiting for the technician to once again repair it, I had enough and got a plumber out to replace it with a dual element 450 litre and took the heat pump to the dump still under warranty! It was awesome to have reliable hot water regardless of the outside temperature! When the technician arrived I told him if he wants to fix it it's at the dump! He said I don't blame you!
you have a power delivery problem and no surge protector. But why would they install an outdoor air source heat pump that doesn't work when cold (b/c the expensive ones absolutely do just like a mini split)? Your builder scammed you and it has nothing to do with the heat pump.
@@TheGuruStudexactly! It's how heat pumps work they need a temperature range to condense the refrigerate. Once you exceed that lower and even upper range they shut off! No issues with power! I'm in Australia 240 volt 50 Herz. All circuit protection! That was my experience with this great way to boil water! 😂 It was some time ago and we have long since sold that property and it has financed our retirement! So I can't be too hard on the builder! 😂
I had the no electronics on demand heater, it froze on a cold night when I lit a fire due to negative air Loved it every day until it failed should have run hot water on a schedule to keep it alive if I had known it was freezing when I lit the fireplace, no sensors, no electronics =( shrug
My resistive water heater is literally two feet away from my main bedroom. Sorry, no chance in hell it will ever be a monolithic heat pump. Maybe if they do a remote compressor, combine with the condo HVAC…
My heat pump part keeps freezing coils I've cleaned them still happens no help from reheem at all terrible experience with it so far app sucks completely I can only run it in electric mode I bought an over priced element water heater basically
I do remember seeing this when I visited a few years back. My understanding is it was because typical houses in Australia don't have basements? Ours are not designed for outdoor use.
@@LithiumSolar Correct, basements are rare here. Installing indoors is also seen as a waste of usable space, a safety issue if it uses gas and leaks inside will do more damage than outside.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Do you have a Rheem heat pump water heater? Please share your experience!
My brother has one in his home. We are located in central FL. His family must use a lot of hot water, because they say that the water doesn't stay hot when the unit is in Eco mode. Using Heat Pump mode has been more consistent, though.
@@b0bsaget007 I'm still not sure what the difference between the two modes is. Mine has been set and left in Heat Pump mode and the only time I've ever seen the heating element turn on as been the very first start up 3.5 years ago. I wonder if it's running the compressor differently that you're seeing different recovery times.
I have had a Rheem 50 gallon HPWH for 6 years now, and it's been great. It is located in my garage with closed off attic space above, so I have plumbed the air intake for it to draw from the peak of the attic - which raises inlet temperatures by 3-20F depending on season and time of day. I keep it in heat pump only mode for maximum savings, and with the rebates I received when I installed it, am money ahead vs. if I had kept the previous electric water heater in place.
The Rheem water heaters have 4 different modes of active operation, in order of most to least efficient: Heat pump only, Eco (hybrid heat pump and resistance), High Demand (more aggressive resistance heat but still hybrid), and Resistance heat only. All of these modes make them highly versatile for changing needs. I have seen it advised however that upsizing makes more sense if using any of the hybrid modes is likely, as that provides a higher buffer of hot water to draw on which may eliminate the need for anything more than heat pump only.
Happy I got it. Installed it myself. The only problem I continue to have with it is dust accumulation from woodworking, etc. (Better filtering is a must if that's a regular thing.)
I have one as well for over 2 years now. Works great and low energy consumption. Also replaced dryer to a heat pump model. Miele, it’s a bit small but runs on 120volts. Also use two solar powered heat pump mini splits for heating and cooling from signature solar. Two electric cars as well. All powered off of 60 solar panels. No more natural gas bill. No more gasoline bill. No more electric bills with payed off solar. Have to pay to play. I just think of PG&E like a bad credit card that never gets paid off and has a variable interest rate in the wrong direction…. I hate credit cards….
How can you be off-grid and have the power company reimburse you for the water heater? You don't need to be a custormer?
Florida here, I have one in my garage. It is amazing to get bonus cooling in the garage.
BC Canada here, I have the exact same unit and going on my 4th year of use and I still love it. It's like my hot water bill disappeared. I have 8Kw of solar installed on my house so I have to be power efficient and this was definitely worth it. I'm going on my 4th year now of never paying for Hydro (that's what we call our electricity bill here in BC). When I purchased this unit the standard rebate was $1000 but because of COVID the provincial gov't doubled the rebates for that year and I actually got a $2000 rebate for a $2400 install, Awesome!!! It's still going strong with zero issues so far.
I installed the 50 gallon version a year ago. I live in Florida and it's simply a bonus that some temperature/humidity reduction is a byproduct in my garage now. It's not much, but it's essentially free. The sale price was $1449 and then I also did get a $300 tax rebate. I think it will pay itself back after a few years due to the energy savings. So far, it works really well and the noise is not an issue since it's in the garage.
I installed a 80 gallon RHEEM water heater around 2020. It has been flawless to date. I run it exclusively in heat pump mode for a family of 3, and have 4 over the holidays. Never ran low on hot water and the unit consumes about 2.5 amps in the heat pump mode. The 80 gallon unit has a higher energy rating than the 65 gallon unit and is the reason I chose to go with the 80gallon. I recommend this unit to all my friends that need a water heater.
We've had one since 2018 which replaced a standard electric water heater. The savings in electrical use was immediately apparent. Never run out of hot water even when my grand children, son and his wife visited for a week. It is in our unfinished part of the basement under the master bedroom. The sound is minimal and I even forget it's there. Haven't had any problems and I'd recommend it to anyone. It used 936 kwh in 2023 which cost $243 USD at our electric rate. We also installed a solar system in 2022 that provides all the electricity to run our all electric home!
Installed one about a month ago, runs completely off grid from the solar system. I like the 1.3 amp draw while running! Set to 140 degrees and running in heat pump mode only. There's not a lot of houses in FL to ideally set these other than a garage, I happened to have an enclosed back porch that runs the length of the house, lots of windows, washer, dryer and two freezers. Everything on the back porch is hooked to the solar system except for the dryer. Will probably go with a heat pump dryer when the dryer gets replaced. Thanks for posting the video and what you do!
I have two and love them. One is in my barn, and I’ve connected ducting for intake and discharge air because it’s in a small boiler room. The second is in my basement and similar to you it keeps the basement cooler than normal but not a problem. It also provides “free” dehumidification. The one in the barn will often need to run the element during the winter months but still is a net win over the old oil boiler that had been producing hot water there. The house unit runs in heat pump mode all year round.
I installed one in April 2024 and have used 300.12kWh, it has been great as it cools the garage and now that we are in winter, i have not noticed any negative impacts. I also got a tax break and rebate from my utility provider. I fully recommend it.
Excellent video! Thanks for making it. You contrast a lot of question I've had about this topic. For me, with trying to get to a solar based energy system, the heat pump idea is the only way to go.
Great update. Be anxious to hear how this performs over 10 or more years. As you say the more complicated the system, the more expensive the repairs , possibly negating any savings.
I have the 80 gallon heat pump Rheem and it consumes a little over 200 kWh in the winter months and a good bit under 100kWh for the warmer months.
My old electric water heater logged a whopping 445 kWh for a past winter month before it was replaced.
These water heaters are definitely worth it and can pay for itself within a couple years with utility rebates, tax credits, monthly savings, and minimal maintenance.
Glad you all are having good luck with your hp water heaters. My 2nd ao smith hp water heater is going out, takes forever to reheat water and my electricity use for it has increased almost 3x. My first one went out after 15 months so I was charged $500 to install the new one. It did work as expected until it went out. The new one is only 5 months old. If the company wants another $500 to install another, I'm going back to gas.
@@1mikeb my nephew has a AOSmith in Florida. He’s very frustrated with it. Nothing but problems
I feel like I got screwed. Everyone else I know who have hp water heaters are happy with theirs, and none are ao smith. Hoping for a class action suit since there are so many complaints about them.
@ yea, all the negative reviews at Lowe’s for AOSmith definitely drove me to Rheem
I have a g.e. heat pump water heater that's been running in my basement in ohio for 11 years now, heat pump only mode set to 120 degrees, it's fantastic!!!!!
I have a large greenhouse (15' x 48') in which I built a small (4'x11') walk-in cooler. I have an 8K BTU window AC unit that uses the CoolBot Controller that tricks the AC unit into keeping the walk-in cooler at 37° F. One of the side benefits of this arrangement is that the warm side of the AC unit heats the greenhouse in the spring for even earlier crops than normal, and also extends the growing season in the fall to where I'm harvesting tomatoes as late as November, while the tomato plants outdoors have been long dead.
I am now going to make a root cellar of some sort dug into the side of a hill that will then also have a greenhouse on that side of the hill and I'll separate the two with a door and a wall that has a bunch of old window-mounted AC units that people don't want anymore because now they all have to use those portable floor one because we can't have slide up windows anymore.
Your numbers are great. My electric hot water uses 210kWh in the winter and yours is under 100kWh. I would say the heat pump is much more efficient than a heating element.
Good job covering the questions. Thanks for the update.
Hi - Great video as usual.
Apparently Rheem (maybe others?) do make a version of the heat pump water heater that is made to plug into a standard 120 VAC outlet - Home Depot has them - "ProTerra 50 Gal. 120-Volt Plug-in Smart Heat Pump Water Heater with Leak Detection and Auto Shutoff and 10-Year Warranty"
They are more expensive and I suppose have a lower recovery rate.
12 months of usage from our Rheem Hybrid Heatpump and we have 978.3 kWh and we live in NY state. This is with a family of five. We keep our tank at 120f. Also, if there is something wrong with the refrigerant system, Rheem says it will outright just replace the unit. At least our warranty paperwork said as much for within the 10 year time.
Good video, think im going to go with the Bradford white hybrid myself. Good insight into all questions i was thinking about. 👍👍
I have the AO Smith version and it has been working fine for the last 5 years sitting happily in the garage. It was part of the deal when I had my grid-tie solar installed in my home. However I did install a Corro-Protec powered anode due municipal water supply is just below the borderline of not needing additional water conditioning and a full opening port boiler drain valve to replace the crappy OEM drain valve. Just one of the few maintenance items checked off the list for the life of the water heater.
Besides draining out 10 gallons from the bottom of the tank quarterly and blowing out the dust bunnies once a year with shop air is about it. I did find out that it is quite generator friendly when I lost power for 8 days when Hurricane Milton blew through town. Even having 3 extra people stopping by per day for hot showers and laundry gave it a good workout, but it handled it fairly well overall.
I've had my GE HPWH installed in my built in garage for about 10 years.
Some additional benefit's not mentioned are:
- we have hard water and conventional WH's build up a ton of mineral scale on the bottom of the tank, I'm guessing that the HPWH heats so evenly and gradually that mine gets ZERO build up now. This is huge for longevity, especially if you have gas or tankless.
-When I park the car in the garage, the considerable amount of heat from the car gets captured and recycled by the HPWH ( at least it did, until I bought an EV)
-The HPWH dehumidifies the garage, especially when the car is wet or covered in ice and snow.
-I'm able to set vacation days. We are gone in the winter for months and I set the amount of days, I have the HPWH come back on 2 days before we get back home and set if for the highest temp setting to kill off any bacteria.
- The water temperature is more consistent that any other water heater I've owned, no need to adjust the temperature mid shower.
Sounds like this fits your needs well. 50 gallon standard in the U.S. I wasn't aware of that, in fact, I've had 40 gallons heaters in all my houses. Never had a need for anything larger. Good luck in the future.
I recently installed the 40 gallon Rheem heat pump water heater. Also I am in an off-grid, 100% solar application. Some of my observations:
As you said, it is an air conditioner. It makes noise, especially compared to a traditional electric or gas HWH. The noise isn't terrible, but it is there. Be sure to plan for it during the installation and apply sound proofing if necessary.
I definately see a huge difference in the power requirements for running it in traditional electric mode vs. heat pump mode. The actual energy observed for the heat pump is many times more efficient than running on 100% electric.
Installation was easy. But, I find the operator interface/automation to be crap. My original control module would not connect to my wifi, so they had to send a new one. Even with the new unit it took a lot of time to connect to the wifi and users have to turn off mobile data, then turn it back on. In today's technology, the Rheem automation is years behind the tech. Another frustrating thing for me is the only way I can set the schedule is through the WIFI and the rheem cloud server. I cannot set it manually on the installed control panel. Ridiculous in my opinion. I also find the schedule options to be very limited. Especially for an off-grid application. For my application, it would be useful to be able to have more schedulint options to run it less and possibly lower temperatures when there is less sun and more with hotter temperatures in the warmer months. Unlike you, I like to run mine at a hotter temperature. Especially if the sun is shining. My scheule is set temperature to 120 at about 730 AM. 140 at about 10 AM. 140 again at 330 PM. And 110 at 7 PM. This in an effort to only run it during the day when the sun is shining and shut it off at night. The only option is to turn it down to 110. It does not provide an option to completely shut it off or prevent from running in the schedule.
When I put mine on vacation mode from the control panel, I have to turn the schedule off first through the app or the schedule will override the vaction mode when the next time triggers on the schedule. I also notice the automation will run the unit in electric mode from time-to-time, even when in heat pump mode. Mine is installed in a garage area. It may be because the temperature in the garage is below some set point on the unit for effiient heat pump operation? Or, because when it is set up on the cloud to my specific location the cloud uses my location and weather? Not clear why it would ever run in electric when I have it set on heat pump only. I live in Texas. It does not get that cold here and the heat pump should be able to run all the time. So in summary, love the heat pump tech. Hate the interface. I doubt I would buy another Rheem because of the interface if I can find another brand that has a local interface that does not require me to create a cloud account.
Just over 5 years with mine, love it. I run it in heat pump only for most of the day and change to balanced between 5-9pm when showers may occur. Then to High Demand if all 4 of us are showering the same night. Only annoying this is, I get a condensate line error every month or so that I need to clear, sometimes it knocks off the heat pump. If I clear it, it good for a while. My condensate line has a open T at the top and its definitely never clogged tho. Getting the SANCO2 as my next one tho.
80g version and pretty much never runs out of hot water, especially if I turn on high demand before all the showers/baths start. Family of 4, this year at 1607 kWh, 1652 kWh in 2023, 1702 kWh in 2022, etc... in the PNW
I bought one because I'm off grid. so far its been great
I have the same model and size. I used 830 kWh in my first year, just two people. I agree with the video, especially the noise description. When my basement cools off a little in the winter, it uses more power. In my case I save a little vs. gas but it is very close and depends a lot on gas costs - just a couple of years ago gas was 250% more than today.
I looked at them, and nearly pulled the trigger - but HD was out of stock at the time.
Heat Pump tech got me interested in where else it might help me and my family - Lead me to a ducted minisplit heat pump - heating and cooling - for my entire home. Installed last spring and sooooo happy we went this way. For about the same money as just the HPHWT, we got coolling all summer and heating fall and spring.
One day we will revisit the HWT HP thing, hope these come down in price, as well as get quieter.
I live in Ontario, Canada, and I looked at installing one of these. I was pretty close to pulling the trigger to replace our 17-year-old gas water heater when the power company introduced "Ultra-Low Overnight" rate billing ... at 2.8¢/kWh (CAD, which is 2¢ USD). It turned out to be cheaper for us to install a larger electric hot water tank (Rheem Marathon, which also comes with 3" of insulation) and a timer to only run it overnight. We also put ours on a mixing valve so that it stays hot throughout the day.
If that hadn't been introduced here, I'd have 100% installed one of these; way better than gas, and unless power is super cheap, almost certainly better than electricity.
I've had mine for 11.5 months. I'm on a solar power system with battery, and a super-cheap off peak electric price at night. I've used 3x as much power as you have, because if there is sufficient solar, I run it in electric mode to save the compressor/heatpump. I run it in electric mode at night too. I run it in eco mode during the hours between solar fading in the evening and until the cheap off peak pricing starts, and again in eco mode in the AM when the peak pricing starts but before Solar is available. Mine is in the garage, and I can definitely hear the compressor in the house (another reason I run it in electric mode at night). Overall I'm happy with it, I like the programmability with an ESP board and Home Assistant. (The Econet App that comes with it is pretty bad, so slow to update). Edit: I program mine to change temperature, dropping when nobody is home, and going back up to 140 before Solar drops off. I do 140 because, on the 50 gal model, I struggle to have enough hot water with a family of four. I wanted to get a larger capacity unit, but the ledge in my garage wasn't big enough where the tank goes.
Well that begs the question....why did you even buy it if you're not going to use it the way it was presented, as a heat pump water heater?
@@JM-yx1lm I figured someone would ask that, it's a good question: It wasn't that expensive, and I got a good rebate from the transmission/distribution company (and the tax credit too). I've got prohibitively expensive electric rates on-peak, but great rates off peak. With my Solar, it gives me flexibility during cloudy days to run cheaply during peak using the heatpump. I was already budgeting extra for wiring electric (I am getting rid of all gas in the house) so I just went with it. And lastly, I liked the idea of it cooling my garage which gets so hot and I can run heatpump then. Will it break even? Maybe, maybe not. A bit of an experiment for me, seeing how I can integrate with HA and automate around sunny/cloudy and having it switch operating modes. I play around with the different modes during different seasons to see if I can save money. Edit: Also I would run eco mode at night, but it's so loud being in the garage next to a living space. I wasn't sure how that would be going in. Now I know about that.
@@Phelper99 I have mine in a bonus room next to my home, to me it makes little noise, it is quieter then a small window A/C. I have solar power with grid pass through on my inverters. I did not think about using the electric mode during the day. My system has sufficient power that most of the year (I am in Florida) I could just leave it in electric mode most of the time. I got it before I had my solar system so I didn't know how much power it would make and I wanted something that would heat water with less power if something did happen to the grid.
I love my HP water heater. I do have to replace the anode rod every 18-24 months due to scale in the water. Never did that before. Never had one last long either . . . probably because of that :)
I haven't replaced mine since installation. I really need to check it - and probably replace it by this point.
Thanks for the in depth feedback...
Solid review. Well done! Appreciate it! Hard no on the 68 degree showers unless you're going full pioneer days. :D
I have to run a dehumidifier in my basement. I've heard these do a good job of drying the air, so I'm hoping when we finally get around to switching, we can ditch our dehumidifier. Right now we have a solar hot water system that warms up a tank that is used as the intake for our gas hot water heater. If we were doing it now, I'm convinced that PV solar panels instead of hot water solar panels would do a better job.
8:00. Both Rheem and A.O. Smith make versions that run on 120 volt plugs, but the electric resistance heat, if they even have heating elements will be very limited compared to the 240 volt versions.
Thumbs up 👍 good follow-up. And information
FYI- Rheem makes a 120 volt model that just plugs into a wall socket.
Yeah, I learned something new through this video. Those models appear to be heat pump-only though, no heating elements.
@@LithiumSolar Which is fine for smaller households. A heat pump 120v unit is basically forced to always run at its max efficiency and even if I had a 240v heat pump unit I'd likely just run it in heat pump only mode anyways. My showerhead's flow rate is reasonable, my countertop dishwasher uses like 3 gallons, I don't do laundry anywhere near the time that the shower is being used.
@@chaon93the water cylinder should be able to buffer all those things. It's just if you try to have 2 hours of showering then it won't keep up if the cylinder is too small
Excellent and well rounded presentation. Thank you. If I only had electric in my home as an option, I would consider one. However, I have a gas water heater now and the unit itself is about 1/3 the cost of a heat pump model and my monthly operating costs are actually lower than with electric (heat pump or otherwise). I think the big concern for me is the repair cost and failure rates as the heat pump models as they get to be 8, 10, 12 years old. Folks are used to going 15, 20 even 30 years with virtually no repairs on standard gas/electric units and that just wont be the case for heat pump or tank-less models.
9:30 they are saying to duct the air intake from outside. These units can, and in some cases should, be ducted such as a small installation area, or pulling air from an attic space which increases efficiency.
I agree there are some instances where it would be very beneficial, such as one of the other commenters whom said they duct warm air from their attic; however, certainly not a "requirement".
@@LithiumSolar In my area, pulling in air from the attic would be a real boost to efficiency, 120 degrees and above in the summer! Unfortunately the 2 story house I own would make that very difficult or extremely expensive (master bedroom is above the garage). I have to park the car outside and let it "cool down" before putting it in the garage. Driving on the freeway and pulling it into the garage will easily get the garage about 130 in the summer.
@@john_in_phoenix mini split for the garage
Great Video! Thanks! Didn't know these existed...
I have enclosed unheated porch in maritime climate, summer it gets hot, in winter it has dropped down to 3 degrees but spends most of the winter around 4-10 degrees. I wonder how low it can pull heat?
Just checked. 2024 used 330kWh in south FL. Set to “Energy Saving”. Installed aftermarket intake filter made from two shop vac filters stacked on all thread.
I got one of these installed in 2022. I'm certainly happy with it, but I'm not sure how to replace an anode rod on it. I will admit that when I first got it, the compressor was quite annoying, even in my basement. Also there is a bug where they get stuck in vacation mode if you pair it with the app. Have to go through unpairing and pairing again.
How often do you change the sacrificial anode rod?
Six years with mine it is awesome, $6 of electricity per month.
Plenty of hot water.
8:10 If you're converting from gas they make models specifically to run off of 110 so that you can put it anywhere, the problem is you lose the redundancy of having the standard elements in it. As well as a little less first hour output with a longer regen time. Also good for off-grid applications
I didn't realize those 120V versions were even a thing until after this video. They seem very convenient but I think I'd rather pull some 10/2 and have the electric element redundancy just in case!
I have an 80 gallon rheem that replaced a 50 gallon all electric. We have a big tub that takes 50-60 gallons to fill so we went big. I went the mixing valve route and run the tank at 140 then mix to 120. It's not really any different than the mixing happening at the shower and tub valves but it makes me feel better that the scald risk is gone. Electricity usage of the water heater went from $40 a month to $15. My payback period will be incredibly short. Local rebates made it a no brainer. For the ones worried about the heat pump failures and not having hot water, you can run it in resistance only mode from what I can tell. Do be prepared for the weight of these things, mines like 260? I've already convinced a few others to switch after seeing the benefits.
Interesting, do you find it consumes a lot of extra power to get to 140? Ie less efficient than power required to heat it to 120? That's another reason I haven't installed the mixing valve. Maybe I should just do it and see how it works... And yes, mine is heavy as ... also, took 2 people to stand it up from laying down.
@LithiumSolar I really don't know how much less efficient it is, I haven't done any testing yet. I track it with emporia but I know the econet app can track too. I want to try some lower temps to see how efficient I can get it I just haven't yet.
How would you characterize the noise when compared to a gas water heater with a power vent?
As noted in the video, I cannot provide a comparison with gas heaters due to lack of experience with gas.
Great video and update. I'm curious. How many watts it uses over the course of 24 hours
In heat pump mode what's the power draw?
I have an external compressor heatpump unit and an internal system of two large isolated vats. One vat is to balance the underfloor heating system and it barely goes over 24c or so (very efficient). The other is the hot water supply and it's mostly around 45 to 55c. It does a weekly cycle where it heats the vat to 60 ~ 65c to get rid of any chance of legionella. The system is strong enough to supply 400+ liters of hot water and it can supply in realtime should the system be empty. It also have an external electrical coil that can add heat if needed (COP of 1, very inefficient but nice as backup). The external heatpump and main control unit are from NIBE, works great for me.
Almost installed one a few years ago... But it was a small enclosed "stock room" and wasn't too sure on heat exchange and clearances... Plus had to replace the old one pronto... Went with a rheem with plastic tank but not a heat pump... Still quite interesting for the next one.
Also in NH, 40gal GE geospring always been on heat pump only in the basement since 2014, can’t complain, was only $500 after rebates.
I have the same unit with a mixing valve and it works well. The heat pump function is not great and if you monitor the temps it can't keep up with a family of 4 on its own. I run mine in electric mode 90% of the time. The power company in my area gave me a 50% credit for the heater so I gave it a try.
you should be running it on high demand. Element will kick on with the water drops too far below set point (but still hot enough for a shower). Otherwise, it seems to stay heat pump only. Also, heat pump + element = unlimited hot water.
I love mine Rheem hybrid. The newest AO Smith models are nice also.
All new buildings should be designed with large roof overhangs. The large overhang provides beauty and protection from the sun, rain and wind.
Protection of the doors, windows and siding make for a more durable and comfortable home.
makes great ice damns on the roof too, perfect for water getting in under the shingles and wrecking your home.
meanwhile - how is this realated to HP HWT's?
I installed the 80 gallon version in the Fall of 2021 and have had a similar great experience. Only complaint is that the EcoNet module went offline after a few months and I’ve never been able to get it working again. I call Rheem and they blame it on my ISP or my router settings but don’t offer specifics. I’ve tried tethering to my home as well without any luck.
you tried a reset? When they update it, it can go stupid.
@ hmm, I think so. They’ve taken me through various procedures. Is there a particular reset procedure?
I've the same unit and over all satisfied going on our third year. First I'd like to comment on duct ing the outside. Manufactur states unless in a large open uncondtioned space one needs to install the exhaust to the outside . If installed in a enclosed utility space less than 700 square ft the ducting is a must. Beware in hybrid mode or energy savers mode and should one draw out all 50 gal of hot water one will wait up to 2hrs for more hot water unless you set it on all electric mode then one can get a quicker recovery. You stated your energizing the heater with solar.Are you dc charging the heater as a dump load?
Good points! My discussion was assuming an open space. If it's in a closet, definitely needs some sort of circulation. Mine is not DC-powered, it's an inverter setup (pair of EG4 6000XPs) to a secondary loads panel for the house.
@LithiumSolar I gather then that your ac coupled and you only heat the tank during g sun hours or you have a large enough battery bank for night use?
@@snakecreepsdown No AC coupling. It's an entirely off-grid system with a very large battery bank yes, around 75 kWh.
@LithiumSolar Good deal, thanks for responding, now I've a better understanding on how your system is setup.
Unable to pull my attention away from that PVC san tee improperly installed.
Damn diy.
What is incorrectly installed about it?
You say it is not designed to be used with a recirculation pump, but I have heard it can be done. Any ideas as to how?
Well of course it can be done. Anything "can" be done. It's not made to be used that way though as I stated.
@@LithiumSolar Thanks for your reply. That said, I have heard conflicting opinions as to whether it can or cannot be. Since it can be done, can you explain how, as I have been told it will defeat the heat pump aspect, and it will just run off of straight electric defeating the cost savings.
My question was (at least I thought I asked it) what the temperature is of the exhaust air the reason is my garage is next to my furnace room where I would locate the hybrid heater so input air would be say 70f and I want to exhaust into my unheated garage and if the air is not to cold it could be a heat source in winter for my garage. Sounds weird right lol. Thanks for the video
I stuck a thermometer to mine to test, intake is 67F and output is 51F. I'm not sure how effective that will be for "heating" a garage lol.
@@LithiumSolar Thanks 51 is better than freezing so it could work a little depending on how much hot water we use.
Just installed Rheem 50G Proterra. Controller board failed after 1 week. Tech support sent me new board in 4 days. System is up and running on Energy Saver mode. This morning 12/22 App showed no hot water available! Switched to High Demand mode which restored hot water. I’m wondering if control board is operating correctly. There is a test mode, but a technician needs to guide you through tests. To be continued.
Thanks
COOP
...
What is the coldest temp in your room ? My basement today is 59, but its been in the 20s at night (in sc)
I've seen the high 50's before but these past 2 years has been around 65F due to having a server rack in the corner of the room now lol.
@LithiumSolar nice, I used to have those too, but retired now.. don't care if I ever see a computer again, except, my laptops. I am going to watch my Temps through the winter to see how low it goes. But I'm pushing 4000 kw a year. My current wh is 24 years old... time for a new one.
@@ronludington5393 Wow, 24 years? On an electric heater?! I'm going to guess you practice good maintenance (anode rod changes, occasional drain, etc)?
@LithiumSolar never, not one flush or ever changed anode. Still working fine, but 4k kilowatts is a bit much. Maytag... not made anymore.
9:25. The person making the comment might have been in Britain. Someone who commented on an unrelated video about heat pumps for home heating in the UK mentioned that they have subsidies for heat pumps as long as they can’t function for cooling inside the home. Because this heat pump water heater could be vented inside the house, they might not have updated the laws to allow it to take heat from inside their houses. Supposedly they don’t want to encourage air conditioning in homes for fear of stressing the electric grid in the summer.
I bet it is no louder than my existing 90+% efficient water heater and air handler, which is in the center of my finished basement with living space on both sides. It has a 130K BTU-H burner and a 45 gallon tank so I use a lot more BTUs than that little heat pump can provide because it also heats my house.
I set the water heater at 145F in the summer and it runs the burner +/-10F from that point, 150F right now, and if winter gets colder I'll bump it higher. I have an electric plumbed in series before the gas water heater. If 180F on the gas water heater is not hot enough then I turn on the electric. And yes, I have a mixing valve that feeds the house. Legionnaire's is a thing, so I want my water heater to get above 140F fairly often. That alone is not sufficient, but every little bit helps. Other countries are now requiring the water heater to periodically heat hot enough to kill legionella, and we should as well.
I just put a 65 gallon one in my phoenix garage about 6 months ago. there isnt anything wrong with cooling off my garage. im about 470kwh worth of electricity over the last 6 months. I am looking forward to my 1 year mark to see how much electricity it uses.
sounds great, you are saving electricity with those numbers. Do you remember what your old water heater used in the same 6 months?
@@uhjyuff2095 My old water heater was gas and the only thing in my house that was left on gas, my gas bill was about 650 a year with 240 of it just being the service fees. so i was able to cancel my gas, im saving about 500 a year.
Thanks for the info.
I installed a Rheeme 50gal hybrid (heat-pump) in 2019 and agree with all you're saying. Mine is under my house with ranges from 55F in dead winter and 75F in dead summer and still works very well. We run ~1900kwh/year which is ~$285/year = $24/month but we run in cold ambient temp in winter (55F) which causes it to use 50% more power compared to 75F ambient summer. I set mine at 125F, run in heat-pump only mode (max of 400w) all the time which is easy on the off-grid inverters. When it runs out (say washing 2 loads + some showers) it's a gradual (over 10min) lowering of temp the same as any water heater and you can hurry up and finish the shower. It takes maybe 2-3hrs to fully recover if you run all the way out. Also, the Rheeme has full 'regular' 4,500w electric heating elements and you can switch to high demand mode if say you had visitors for Christmas for a week and had hi demand. For us, its very quiet. I get 'clear filter' warnings every other year and I just rest because the filter is never dirty but still - I'd install somewhere with easy access. One key difference with heat-pump is, like an air conditioner you have to run a humidity/condensate line somewhere where the drips of water can drain... I ran mine thru the wall to the outside and there are other options.
don't have one yet but it's on the shortllist, to replace a ~10yr old gas unit. looking at getting the 120v heat pump-only version, my panel is full and i'd rather avoid running an additional 230v circuit anyway...
thanks for the video. love the deadpan annoyance at all the keyboard warriors
I'd think it would be great to put in a conditioned attic. Dehumidify and remove any excess heat buildup.
Maybe, but think you'll have trouble 1) getting it up to the attic as it's very heavy and 2) the weight of the tank will need good structural support for sure. You're probably talking 500lbs when the tank is full.
I will certainly consider one when my 30 year old gas water heater dies (in the garage, in Phoenix). Cooling off the garage would be a genuine bonus. So far, I have had the pilot light blow out twice (simple fix, relight it), and a plastic drain valve disintegrate (we have a lot of ozone pollution, replaced with a brass fitting). It's still going strong, so economically, it would make no sense. Today it's 80 degrees, so cooling off the garage would really only be a negative for at most 3 months of the year.
I just did this in phoenix this summer. My gas water heater was the last thing on gas. it was $400 for an electrician to run 30 amp service to the spot. the water heater was 1900 for a 65 gallon and 600 for a plumber to install it. I was able to shut off my gas which saves me about 600 per year and now im only spending about an additional 150 in electricity per year and my garage gets a little bit of cooling. there is a 30% federal rebate too to cover total conversion project cost.
@Thebackson Thank you for the breakdown of what it cost you. Hot water heater, central heater and gas dryer still here. The central unit was replaced in 2014 with a new Trane unit, so it would be very costly for me to get where I could shut off the gas. I will say that a $500 rebate by SRP got me a SEER 17 AC for only $200 more than the SEER 15 unit. Since it replaced an SER 10 unit from 1994, that made a large impact on my electric bill (nothing but the cheapest legally allowed for this builder). I've got to wait and see what impact the looming rate increase has. Unfortunately I just retired, so I must first concentrate on necessary improvements first. Like replacing the concrete for the pool cool decking that spalls so badly the cool decking needs replacing every 2 or 3 years, and cutting down the palm tree that has gotten so tall it costs me $500 every 6 months to get it trimmed. I do appreciate the feedback on what it cost you. I can highly recommend a swamp cooler if you need to do any work in the garage during the summer, worth every penny. I bought the house in January 2002 for 130k, it's paid for, so it is what it is (i.e. worth about 350k more than I paid for it).
You'll save enough to pay for it by replacing today
@@john_in_phoenix If you ever switch out your ac unit get a dual/multi stage unit. it saves a ton of money.
@@Nicholas-f5 No, I won't.
Great video. We built a house 4 years ago and our builder made it super energy efficient. Part of that efficiency is a Bradford-White Aerotherm heat pump water heater, 50 gallon, just like yours. We are two older adults (late 60's, with no children at home. We're set in our habits, and the average shower is 6-8 minutes long. I did turn the unit up to 125ºF, and then recently to 127ºF because we have a 2300 sq ft ranch home and the water heater is in the garage, on the opposite end of the house from the master bathroom. That way I can mix the temp down and get more hot water. My garage is typically 48-55 degrees in the winter, fully insulated, but not heated. The water heater doesn't seem to contribute to the cold that much, and in the summer doesn't help to cool the over-size three car garage. The efficiency rating of a standard electric water heater is 1.0. The efficiency of a heat pump water heater is 4.0, if I remember correctly. Even with relatively cheap 10.0 cent per kWh electricity, I'm happy to have the savings of this unit. 4+ years old and not a single problem.
Do you use your garage for cars? Do you open the garage door daily? If so, I'd imagine there's way too much air exchange to notice any difference with a heat pump water heater.
Between Local Utility Rebates, the Federal Tax Incentive, and the $250 sign-up bonus that I met on the new card I got just for and by buying the water heater, my total, all-in, installed cost was only $750 for my little 40 gallon 6th generation rheem HPWH. Break even point for me over running my 2008 50 gallon electric water heater is only like 3 years, even at my cheap power rates.
Has yours been problem-free this whole time? I just installed mine a couple months ago, and seems like thermistor failure is a common issue.
Yes, haven't had a single problem with it... (yet)
I have had one for 2 years and I think it’s a great idea but it has a long way to go to be a better product
I have had humorous issues with it freezing up. And I’ve had to fix diagnose and replace parts on this with rheems help I’m not trying to talk down about most home owners, but I do have an electrical background and multimeters and have had to do some testing on this that I don’t know if most people are up to
I started having problems about 11 months and they only cover sending a tech out until 12 months or one year so they would not help me. I replaced the thermostat on this unit three times I believe now. And they send you new parts but you have to install them or have them installed
I’m using this unit to heat my hot water but also to cool my solar room since I have my Solar room in the basement where my woodstove at so this works well for that application but I would not buy another one of these units considering the price of them After the rebate
I run my house 3/4 of the time with Solar and a battery back up
In my house it’s me and my 2 girls and this thing seems like it barely ever shuts off
I set ours at 120 at first but our water came out smelling like sulfur. I upped it to 140 and that stopped the bad smell. 140 also gives us more hot water capacity.
What's your solar array size at the moment?
Somewhere around 9 kW.
@@LithiumSolar and battery size?
@@uhjyuff2095 Somewhere around 75 kWh without going through the math to figure out an exact number.
They have 120v models now. A standard plug.
idk how, because the heating element requires a lot of power.
The 120V plug-in model is heat pump only. It does not have an electric element option.
One thing you didn't mention is the anode rod. By year 3-4 should be replacing it. Or sooner if you have hard water. Failing to do so will cause the minerals in the water to start "eating" the tank rather than the anode rod. This will lead to leak and eventually the death of the water heater. This is definitely not covered by any type of warranty.
Agreed!! I actually ordered two new rods last week and have them here. I'm planning to do a separate video showing how to change them - might be 3-4 weeks yet.
Have one, great heater. Connecting with the ap is not possible, for at least me. Had to port in by IP address and get it to work that way.
I've considered getting one, but have seen too many bad reviews on plumbing supply stores. Apparently the newer models were changed from 2021 and earlier, and both fail early and are extremely loud
Read through the comments on this video. They're overwhelmingly positive. I'm not sure what to say otherwise since my experience is reflective of a single unit, not a large sample size. Also, a portion of those that posted negative comments in the other 2 videos seem to have the wrong expectations or didn't install it right. I would sure hope the newer ones are quieter and the technology is improving, not getting worse.
@LithiumSolar I have read the comments, and they align with what I've read. Majority of Rheem owners that are happy with their HPWH installed theirs years ago, whereas those in the past couple years are not. HPWH owners from other brands are overall happy with theirs
They have a 120 volt heat pump water heater now, that uses standard receptacle
Wow, you're right! They do have a 120V plug-in version now. That seems like a terrible idea, but who am I to decide that I guess lol. I am not an electrician or an engineer.
I have the 120 volt unit, 50 gal. It works fine for my wife and I. When we have had guests, it hasn't run out of hot water. So, after a year of use I have no complaints. Oh, it doesn't have a heating element only the heat pump.
@@LithiumSolar They have 120v air conditioners. I can't imagine the BTU exchange of an AC unit would be less than the water heater. Especially if it's only using ~80kWh/mo. Window AC units use about 5-10kWh/day. I'd imagine the 120v units don't have a quick resistive heat recovery mode which requires a pretty hefty wiring connection (basically the same as a regular electric water heater). 80kWh/month is ~ 2.5kWh per day, or at 120v running 24x7 less than 1 amp at 120v. Not as much as most people think. Say it runs 50% of the time, then you're only talking less than 2 amps for 12 hrs a day.
It would be nice if you said how many gallons of water were used. Your use case is much different than others, and the only way to tell how efficient it is is to say how many kWh per gallon is used. Also, 130 is the ideal temperature for water; 120 is used to hit the target energy savings numbers, but most post-install units I have seen are at 130.
It's a typical family of 4's amount of water. I don't use hot water for laundry really, so maybe a little less than a typical family's usage.
@@LithiumSolar should have said it would be nice if these units could calculate how many gallons they process.. My On-Demand unit does that, It is kinda nice to make sure it is performing as it should.
Also, how much on average should I expect to pay more for a unit like this to be installed replacing a regular electric 240v HWH of the same size in 2025?
My power company paid me $1000, which was half the cost!
Holy crap!!! And I thought $400 was good...
I feel your pain with all the armchair experts. Anything that saves a lot of money gets attacked by people who are paying more. I would be interested to know how much better this heat pump model is compared to a regular electric water heater. Either percentage-wise, or how much money per year (if both ran from grid power). Are we talking about saving 10%, 50%, 75%?
The energy label on this one states 866 kWh/year and the label on the electric heater I replaced was 4622 kWh/year. Obviously it's entirely dependent on your usage. Both have a first-hour rating of 67 gallons. The old heater is long-gone but the labels were shown at 2:00 in the first video. If I had to make an armchair guess based on my obsessive power statistics watching, I'd place it around 1/3rd the power of the old electric tank.
@@LithiumSolar That's absolutely stellar. I never would have imagined it was that good. It's risky being one of the early ones in a new technology, before there is good repair support. Imagine if everybody had one of those how much greenhouse gases would be reduced.
@@LithiumSolarCOP is 4 (I've seen new ones at 5) given your intake air is warm enough.
Thanks for the video. I just checked my gas water heater usage. It averages about $15/mo in NY, so a little more expensive per month. It has lasted 23 years so far with an occasional anode replacement every 7 years. But curious about heat pumps. I have solar too, but I paid for it, so it did cost me money to run things off of it, not really free. But at this point it's generated more electricity than it originally costs, so for me, it's free from here on out. Although that's if I had stuffed the money in a mattress and not invested it. 3:00 I don't have insulated floors between the basement and first floor so technically my basement is conditioned space regardless if the basement walls are insulated, so every degree removed from my basement pulls heat from the floor above because the floors get cold. And unless you live in an area that the ground is more than 64°, your basement walls and floor are pulling heat from the room rather than supplying heat to the heatpump. Heat only goes in one direction. Although, in the end, I doubt anybody is going to notice $12 worth of extra heat that their house heating system supplies. On the other hand, the heat pump water heater dehumidifies the basement which is an added benefit and helps cool the house in the summer.
If your bill is an average of $15 a month, you won't save money with a heat pump water heater, based on my experience and the energy star tag. Gas water heaters heat much faster. We seem to run out of hot water much faster with the hp water heater than we did with a smaller gas water heater. Also, my second hp water heater is going out (2 in less than 2 years, ao smith), and it costs $500 for each new install since the first one went out just after the 1 year mark.
All homes should be built to accommodate the elderly and disabled. This will be better for everyone.
Large wide doorways and hallways make using a cane, walker or wheel chair much easier.
Bathrooms or wet rooms need to have flat floors and no shower hump or pan. A flat floor allows for easy access and drains need to provided.
Easy to use lever door and faucet handles are easier for the elderly to grip and open.
Main floors should include a master bedroom, restroom, shower, laundry and wide walk in closet with few steps to enter.
Homes should be designed with aging in place in mind.
What do you get clean in a seven minute shower?!
You dont.. That is why these would never work for me.. How do you fill a tub for the kids and have enough water for two adults to shower... On-demand units are where it is at unless you have the money to buy 2 or 3 of these hot water heaters..
I can't even imagine spending more than 7 minutes. Although that is the advantage of being bald. Turn on the water, maybe 2 minutes to soap up and 2 minutes to rinse.
I'll be honest, I never actually timed my showers but it seems like it would be more than 7 minutes. Also, there are nights when we do 2 kid baths, then 2 adult showers back to back and there is still hot water at the end of the last shower. There is a slight decrease in temperature by that point but you would hardly notice it unless you're purposely looking for it.
I feel like we're getting in to aspects of how one bathes here vs use of the water heater 😂
8:50 maybe this why we complain about the amount of body odor we notice when we travel abroad.
lol
You shouldn't only travel to Thailand for the the obvious reasons.
@ I noticed it first when I went to Australia. But it was true in Europe too. Some of it is because people in the rest of the world don’t care as much about deodorant or intentionally won’t wear it because they’re proud of their stench. It’s also cultural because in America the focus on public health in the early 1900s engrained a value of cleanliness in the culture. In World War II, if someone was repeatedly in trouble for hygiene on a US Navy ship, they’d just throw them overboard and list them as “lost at sea”. Disease is a massive risk to a ship’s crew and once it happens the ship can’t engage as well in combat. So you throw the person overboard.
@@causarumcognitio Funny how different people have different experiences. I smell the fat and obese from 10 feet here in the US. It's a mix of old sweat and urine.
in PA i get gas so cheap it is ridiculous to go with anything else i have a tiny bill when not heating house including dryer and stove if I lived in Florida where cooling the house down and dehumidifying it year round would be a good thing one of these might make sense
Mine lasted about 4 years before the condenser started leaking. After the repair, it lasted another 4 years before the circuit board went out, and it was obsolete. The ROI was terrible.
I piped mine from the utility room to the garage (dehumidifying wooo). They put out a lot of cold air. Water takes a lot of energy to heat.
Set point is 130, but it's only allowed to run 10 pm to 6 am. Electricity is 1/3 normal rate off peak. No family = $50/yr.
Codes are a joke. There's also a 120V version in case that's all you have (like replacing gas).
We had a Rheem heat pump hot water system on our newly built house as it was a BASIX sustainability requirement!
It broke down 5 times in 12 months! The repair man kept replacing electronic PCBs. It was ridiculously complicated when all you required it to do is boil water.
The other thing they don't tell you is it will not work under 3 degrees C as it requires a higher temperature for the refrigerant to do its thing, remembering that's what it basically is doing is using a compressor to boil the water.
After being let down multiple more times and waiting for the technician to once again repair it, I had enough and got a plumber out to replace it with a dual element 450 litre and took the heat pump to the dump still under warranty! It was awesome to have reliable hot water regardless of the outside temperature! When the technician arrived I told him if he wants to fix it it's at the dump! He said I don't blame you!
you have a power delivery problem and no surge protector. But why would they install an outdoor air source heat pump that doesn't work when cold (b/c the expensive ones absolutely do just like a mini split)? Your builder scammed you and it has nothing to do with the heat pump.
@@TheGuruStudexactly! It's how heat pumps work they need a temperature range to condense the refrigerate. Once you exceed that lower and even upper range they shut off!
No issues with power! I'm in Australia 240 volt 50 Herz. All circuit protection!
That was my experience with this great way to boil water! 😂 It was some time ago and we have long since sold that property and it has financed our retirement! So I can't be too hard on the builder! 😂
30Kw is 30 KW us it now or over the course of 24 hours.
No, that's not really how it works...
@@LithiumSolar oh ok
I had the no electronics on demand heater, it froze on a cold night when I lit a fire due to negative air
Loved it every day until it failed
should have run hot water on a schedule to keep it alive if I had known it was freezing when I lit the fireplace, no sensors, no electronics =( shrug
My resistive water heater is literally two feet away from my main bedroom. Sorry, no chance in hell it will ever be a monolithic heat pump. Maybe if they do a remote compressor, combine with the condo HVAC…
Yeah that's a definite no !
My heat pump part keeps freezing coils I've cleaned them still happens no help from reheem at all terrible experience with it so far app sucks completely I can only run it in electric mode I bought an over priced element water heater basically
99% of residential water heaters are installed outside in Australia. My heat pump is outside and appropriately IP rated.
I do remember seeing this when I visited a few years back. My understanding is it was because typical houses in Australia don't have basements? Ours are not designed for outdoor use.
@@LithiumSolar Correct, basements are rare here. Installing indoors is also seen as a waste of usable space, a safety issue if it uses gas and leaks inside will do more damage than outside.
@@sjtrny that's why indoor installations (when modern) have a pan and drain installed in the US.