2020 Top 5 Heat Pump Electric Tank Water Heaters
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2020
- Rheem - ProTerra Electric Hybrid (Gen 4) -
Spec Sheet - bit.ly/308vWZk
Price - $2199.99
A.O. Smith - Signature Series -
Spec Sheet - bit.ly/30UDlL9
Price - low.es/3jNyLGV
Bradford White - AeroTherm
Spec Sheet - bit.ly/3hNwj1E
Price - bit.ly/3f26Gs0
Sandon - SanCO2
Spec Sheet - bit.ly/3fbNeZM
Price - bit.ly/2X59fDE
Stiebel Eltron - Accelera
Spec Sheet - bit.ly/2DhKygc
Price - $2599.00
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Correction : The Rheem HPWH is now Generation 5 . I said Gen 4 in the video.
I forgive you. Thanks for being honest
great video, but I do have a pet peeve.....you refer to these as "hot water heaters".....if the water's already hot, why would you need to heat it?.....they're just "water heaters".....LOL.....cheers....
no drain in the garage floor... and reports of these Konking out out . We'll stick with the gas tankless.
Nixa Eagle you can drain them outside. “There’s to much free information online to be ignorant”.
@@nixaeagle141 I actually have mine running into a 5 gallon drum. It evaporates faster than it fills.
This was an exact replacement for the old one that lasted about 10 years. ruclips.net/user/postUgkx7yWIKcrbA9KMHkGSfcgxW2lsjHT6B8Sh The top of my mitigation tube by my roofline was just a 90 elbow which allowed too much debris to fall down into the fan, eventually ruining it. Without this issue, I bet it would have kept running another 10 years. When I replaced this fan, I added an extra elbow joint so the top tube now it does a 180, which should solve that problem. The radon guys around here wanted to charge me a $300 diagnostic fee, then parts/labor (probably close to $600 total). I installed this all by myself in about an hour for the cost of the fan; it would probably be even easier/faster with two people. FYI the manufacturer's warranty greatly differs depending on whether you install it yourself (1 yr warranty) or have a licensed installer do it (10 yrs).
Our 65 gallon Rheem/Ruud has no problem warming the tank up to 160ºF with the heat pump mode or hybrid mode. Just had to change the settings and added a mixing valve on the output, so the effective tank volume is enough for two adults and two teenagers who take extra long showers or baths. Very nice in the summer for extra house cooling. The intake and output air is ducted to the outside air, with bypass valves for the summer to help cool the house, and then can be switched to outside air so it will not add a heating load in the winter.
Unsponsored content, review of competing products, and GBA (and Martin) gets full and solid credit for their work. What's not to like?
I have had one of these heat pump water heaters for a decade, and I really like it. Other than the higher up front costs, they are great. It is actually a pretty basic and proven technology underneath, essentially slapping a tiny room A/C running in reverse on top of a regular electric water heater, dumping the heat into the tank. In a cold climate, you lose a little bit of efficiency as you heat the air that then heats your water all winter, but you are still way, way ahead on an annual basis even in a cold climate. If you can, get a size up if you are replacing a traditional water heater, as they do take longer to recover, and you want them running in the most efficient (slowest recovery) mode all the time. Note that they have some variant of a "high demand" mode that runs the regular, resistance elements to make them recover faster, but that mode should be reserved for situations when you have a bunch of house guests, ideally your daily needs should never require that. They are a little bit noisy (think a small window A/C unit that turns on by itself occasionally) so don't stick them right next to your bedroom or in a small closet where they won't have enough circulating air. But in a basement, garage or normal sized mechanical room, they are great. Get one, you won't regret it!
Perhaps a worth while option compared to a std electric water heater if you don't have natural gas to your house.
We just installed a reheem 50Gal hybrid water heater 4th gen and we love it! Cools the garage with is a bonus! Our house is electric so it will save is a ton. And its so efficient wr were able to add it to our transfer panel for backup power. We also have solar panels so this is a perfect setup! Great video breakdown!
Love it! You need to keep doing comparisons like this! This is what’s missing in the building science RUclips space!
You inspired us to install a Heat Pump Water Heater in our new home build here in Austin also, we went with the Rheem 50 gal. We run in only Heat Pump mode as a family of 4 and never have had a "shortage" of hot water. We absolutely love it, And the City of Austin Rebate made the savings that much sweeter!
Have installed 13 of the Sanden units in the past three years with great success in cold climates. Strongly recommend them.
Have the AO Smith for 7 years...the heat pump lasted about a year. Back then, they had a design problem where the fan would blow the water inside the condensation pan of the HP and it will drip on the side of the tank corroding it at the bottom. After going back and forward with them for months and they came out with a piece of plastic to attach to the side of the unit to prevent the spill.
Soon after that the closed system had a leak of the coolant and that was it. My A/C guy tried to fix it but was impossible without taking the tank out. Even though it was clearly a defect in manufacturing they never replace it, give a credit or anything. They kept claiming that putting in a small room voided the warranty even though they had me put louvres in the door for the first claim.
All sorts of excuses and avoiding at all cost to stand behind their products. As an electric is still working but I could have paid $600 for a plain electric WH instead of $2000. Needless to say, I'll never buy anything from that company again
I live in NE USA and my elec WH is right next to my oil furnace, in an unheated basement room but gets plenty warm from the wasted furnace heat. Definitely will look into one of these!
Bought one about a half year ago. Running it on heat pump only mode. Our power bill virtually dropped like a rock. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Super appreciate your videos. As an electrician for almost three decades commercial residential industrial including refineries and major utilities, your detail to quality is much appreciated in top notch.
I'm in the middle of a remodel looking for a new water heater something to compliment my solar and I realized stop looking go to the build show.
I’ve had the 80 gallon OA Smith heat pump hot-water tank since 2014. Love it. Oh! Replace the AO Smith anode rod with an aftermarket electronic anode. Done! 😎👍
I put in a HP water heater 7/8 years ago. So far so good although I have been thinking about replacing it with a gas tankless. Good/Bad is the cooling depending on the season & the condensed humidity to get rid of. and being mindful to making sure to make sure the drip line doesnt get clogged.
I installed a Rheem 50 gallon hybrid water heater 2 years ago in my home. At the time I was able to get it through a government refund program of $750. It was a no brainer for us. We are 3 people in the house. We tested it with both showers going as well as the dishwasher. Never ran out of hot water. We love it. The main reason we did it was to get the domestic hot water without using the boiler to save on oil. It has worked out wonderfully. I highly recommend these water heaters.
We went with the Rheem 50 gallon last fall, pulls the heat from the basement and gives us dehumidifying and air conditioning down there. Great unit.
Matt thanks so much for the review I planned on going this way when needed, you definitely put me at ease for the extra cost.
By the time I work in professional install costs converting from gas to heat pump, and annual maintenance I come up with a 20 Year + ROI. Not exactly a home run. If I can install it myself It drops to 11 years +/-. That starts to look ok. If you are needing to replace a broken unit, it makes more sense, but not everyone can do that.Definitely something for homes with an electric water heater, but to ready to replace my gas unit. And I still have hot water when the power goes out! I recommend heat pump water heaters to many customers that have high usage. Customers with very low usage are actually better off with a tank-less electric.
Agreed, quick ROI calc seemed very long. Also agree that still having hot water when power goes out is extremely valuable.
Does the ROI include tax rebates and utility rebates?
Hot water when the power goes out? I'd say you would get two days with comfortable (although luke warm) showers without power in an electric unit. By then, you will need power for A/C and refrigeration, etc. anyways. I can make electricity much easier and cheaper than I can make LP or natural gas. Just saying that you argument is valid, however not black and white. Plus a hybrid unit will be much easier on any generator than a standard water heater.
@@chuckdickey3250 Agreed not a black and white issue, there are many factors to consider. Clarification, Plenty of hot water when electric power is out/unavailable presumes a natural draft gas water heater.
Awesome video Matt! The comparison between the water heaters is super useful. Love that the heat pumps are energy efficient.
Definitely thinking of doing heatpump hot water in my new build now that I am in Florida and no shortage of heat. Thanks for great info Matt.
One thing to consider: If you're looking at a Rheem, look for the equivalent model from Richmond. They're Rheem's "value" brand, and while still expensive, you can usually save a couple hundred dollars.
Poor reviews on Rheem though
Would love to hear more about radiant floors and how they integrate well with these water heaters...install considerations, efficiency, etc.
We put one of these in our smoothie shop in our utility closet where we also chest freezers to store inventory. The heat from chest freezers basically gets recycled into water heater instead of getting dealt with by our HVAC system. I'd wager that we save about $1,000/year in utility costs. I'm thinking about getting one for my condo as well. I live in the south and might turn my heat on maybe 10 days a year. The rest of the year the added cooling from this unit would be welcome.
This video is gold! LOVE the value comparisons!! Do more video's like this one!!
The Rheem is great. Very happy with mine.
We bought the AO smith heat pump water heater for my mother's condo. It is on the buzzy/loud side. The Rheem seems a lot quieter.
Ya my 4th gen Rheem is in the garage on the other side of my master bedroom closet. 2nd gen Rheem, I could hear the compressor working inside of the mbr closet, though not much and not annoying. 4th gen Rheem now and I cannot hear the compressor at all in the mbr closet.
I have a Rheem HPWH Gen 4
80 gallon, Performance Platinum. It saves us 35-40% every month compared to our old HWT. Our area is total electric so this was a no brainer but I had no clue it would save us so much every month. Our old tank was energy efficient for what it was but man not like this rock star. And bonus it cools the garage during the summer months making it very pleasant to work on the cars.
I got a Rheem 40 gallon for 650 dollars, replaced an AO smith unit that was ES rated at $600 a year, while the Rheem is ES rated at 104. I ran my tank in high demand mode for the first few hours, then switched to Energy Saver mode once I had hot water. I was taking a hot shower within an hour of installing it, which I needed cause I had to run the condensate drain through the crawl space, and it's a dirt floor space. I'm pretty happy with the Rheem unit. Especially seeing how it ranks on this list.
If you change out the Anode rods on a regular basis, water heaters will last a really long time. I like A.O. Smith tanks. I have two that are 18 years old. I have one Bradford White that is 19 years old. I just changed out a Whirlpool tank that was 19 years old that was made by A O Smith.
Flush tanks annually. Replace the Anode Rod before they completely disintegrate. Check the Anode Rod after the first year of use. The amount of deterioration during that first year will give you an idea of how often you will need to change it.
The Anode Rod, heating elements, and thermostats can be replaced on standard type water heater for less than $80, if done by the homeowner.
Often the savings from improvements in efficiency justify changing out the tank instead of keeping an old tank going for twenty years.
Some plumbers quote a six year warranty tank install. The install labor is the same for installing a 12 year warranty tank. The better warranty tank will cost you sixty dollars more but will last a lot longer.
Jack LaBloom Sounds like a lot of money and effort that’d be eliminated by a Stainless Steel tank.
Nobody Famous , what is the cost of a stainless steel tank? The Rheem Marathon, which does not use glass and needs no anode cost over $1000.00. Even then you'd have the maintenance items, heating elements, high pressure valve, etc. Hot water heaters are made to last between 6 to 12 years. A 6 year glass lined tank will typically last eight years and a 12 year tank will typically last 14 years, without touching them. Not a bad deal for $500.00.
Jack LaBloom hello Jack, just wanted to let you know that both tanks are identical. The manufacturer doesn’t build to different tanks, all they do is charge more for the 12 year warranty. In essence you are buying a future tank at the current price because they know it will rust out and they know that most people will not replace the anode rod .
John Breunig , yes, I suspect the additional cost for the 12 year warranty has been determined to cover the manufacturers cost for the small percentage of tanks they actually end up replacing under warranty. That is why the difference in cost between a six year tank and a 12 year tank is not that much.
Replacing a tank at ten years will pay for itself in energy savings over and over 👏🏽
Outstanding review! You are at your best when you do these fact-filled videos.
Seems like a backhanded compliment 🧐
Ian Carney It was meant as a sincere compliment.
I bought one based on the previous video, love it and installed it myself
After watching all of Matt’s water heater review a heat pump water heater is the best route. It’s basically free hot water!!!
Getting ready to build retirement home in VA and was thinking about a tankless, but this looks like it might be a better solution.
Tankless are energy hogs. If you care about energy effeciency you go heat pump (or solar)
@@mrgylex123 Solar PV + heat pump for the win. Solar thermal is just a $$$ hog :(
I installed the Stiebel Eltron 80 Gallon unit in my basement in February this year in western NY and it has been awesome. Our electric costs dropped significantly and we have never run out of hot water with my family of 4 since. The Stiebel unit has a glass lined tank vs steel.
It works in winter of northeast?
What size for the family of four did you get, @firstname3079 ?
I got a heat pump water heater in December. It is saving me 30 to 40 a month so far. It has been an amazing water heater so far!
5-6 times the price, have to use it for 10+ years before you see savings. Unless you get rebates. Don't get those in our country.
aucrewmusik I paid 1050 for my 50 gallon rheem unit. An electric 50 gallon is around 500. Payoff is 2 to 3 years at this rate. Plus it cools and dehumidifies my basement
Never been to one of your vids in the first minute. Love your channel!
I'd be curious to see how these work in function in a northern house that you're paying to heat. In theory, your furnace would be subsidizing your water heater through a series of mechanical inefficiencies.
That's what I was also thinking. Yes heat pumps are great at moving heat but the heat to heat the water has to come from someplace. Therefore, in a northern climate it's coming from the heat source heating the air.
That is when you would want the sanden and its outdoor unit. It can gather heat down to -15f(-26c) and doesn't place a parasitic load on your hvac system. Colder then that and will need a geothermal system if you want to run heat pumps .
I have a Rheem Professional 65 gallon in one of my homes. It is in an insulated 1600sqft garage with an Inland Northern climate with winter temperatures usually down in the teens and over 100° in the summer. There have been very few times where we had to change it to high demand mode in the winter and the garage sometimes dipped down into the low 20's if someone left the man door open. Very impressed with the water tank for the 3 years it has been in operation.
@@MGXsport I'm in the north myself and I would get nervous about having a water heater in my garage due to extended power outages being able to freeze the thing solid. But, the scenario you're describing is the only energy efficient way to do it that comes to mind immediately. Having it suck air in that I just paid to heat up doesn't make much sense. Nor does the $4,000 split system option another person mentioned. I'd straight up boil it on the stove before spending that sort of coin.
@@mgkleym In areas where winter can get -30F, do you think there is a electrical way to supplement heat in something like the Sanden?
You also have done videos on instant tankless water heaters interior and exterior models. You should of included them in this or do a follow up for it! :D
No comparison to tankless water heaters though?
Solar hot water, too 👏🏽
Tankless water heaters are actually quite problematic and will eventually disappear as a fad tech. Gas tankless, have constant “lighting” (assuming pilotless feature) and each “lighting” emits methane to the atmosphere. Cumulatively it would be a disaster for the environment if everyone when that way. Electric waterless suffer from the problem of needing large electricity demand and essentially are the same as standard resistance heat - no efficiency benefits like heat pumps. Plus neither forms of tankless water heaters provide any storage of water…In an emergency, a 60 gal hot water tank becomes a reserve of potable water !! (One can drain the water from the tank into a container). So absolutely no benefit of tankless - unless one needs the space..
Recently installed the Rheem 40 gal at my dads in Florida. Replaced a 20 year old electric. He doesn’t use much hot water but at the current usage on the app his estimated annual bill for water heating will be less than $20.00. Crazy i know...last month he used 4kWh. At the same time i installed a small solar array with Enphase microinverters. Everything you can do helps. His total electricity bill last for a 1600sq.ft. house in southern Florida, with really old windows and original AC unit, was 40.00. “Going green” will save you $green.
Really love the video, I installed the aosmith 2 years ago and really love it, my electric bill came down a lot.
I thought about this video for 24 hours and I still think it's incredible how such a simple goal can have so many complications. As I watch the series for the new house and look at the extreme measures taken to seal the house up, insulate it and control water, the water heater choice only needs this much attention because it's going into what is basically a house that is being built with all aspects taken to the ultimate available technology. I still contend that anyone paying retail would have a hard time getting a mortgage for this house. And before some Matt fan boy says I'm jealous, no I'm not. I could afford to build this house out of pocket but there has to be a balance between ROI and advantage that my engineering background can't ignore.
I think that for overall cost to operate, reliability and environmental considerations, a gas on-demand heater is the overall winner. All of them are above 95% thermal efficiency. My Rinnai exhausts at about 110F on average and when the water is really cold (5 months a year), I actually get condensation of the water of combustion. On average the US gets 63% of its electricity from fossil fuels. Those power plants are for the most part less than 40% thermally efficient. There are a few combined cycle plants that push into the 70% range but they're pretty rare. So from a greenhouse gas emission perspective, a natgas TWH is a clear choice.
And reading the comments about the ping-pong game between plumbers, electricians and HVAC techs would give me pause. They should be pretty reliable because effectively it's a unit similar to a deep freeze or large refrigerator sitting on top of tank of water. Further if you want it to run as a heat pump only, it appears you have to adjust your usage schedule to avoid running out hot water unless you don't have a family. I flush my TWH once a year with 4 gallons of vinegar and a pound of citric acid and my LMDT is the same as it was when it was new. I also take my shop vac and clean a couple of air filters while circulating my cleaning solution. That's extent of maintenance.
Finally, after 3 years with a TWH, I can prove that tank temperature maintenance fuel usage is not much of a factor. Even with just two active people, we use hot water many times during the day. If we had a relatively new, well insulated conventional high efficiency gas fired water heater, it might cycle once over night to maintain the temperature. And since the heater is likely in an occupied space, the heat isn't lost, it's just insignificant.
You really do need to take into account you local electrical company's carbon footprint when deciding a whole host of things. For instance, 80% of my electrical comes from hydroelectricity and wind. It is 8 cents per kilowatt. It would take some time for me to pay off a solar array and never regain the carbon that was created when manufacturing the components of a solar array. I know some people only care about the dollars and cents of things, but increasingly people care about the "green" part of the equation too.
@sweetgman46 All things in moderation.
Well I can’t get a gas water heater soooooooo
Have to consider methane leakage and fracking with gas vs direct solar and renewables for electric though 👏🏽
@sweetgman46 Many myths here
Hey Matt what else can they do with the Sandon? I am curious. Future video maybe? We love passive house videos!!!
I put an AO 50 gallon unit in my previous house about 6 years ago. At the time I paid $1000 and my utility have a $500 rebate, so it was an absolute no brainer for me. It was a colonial style house with a garage under, so all summer it was just eating up the heat from my roommates 5.0 mustang.
It also made the garage and basement a great place to work on projects when it was hot outside.
My current house has an indirect tank off my oil boiler. Whenever that starts to fail I'll probably replace it with a heat pump.
Just bought an ao 50 gallon, 549 after the 850 rebate. How much of a difference on the powerbill did you notice
@@wickedmainah950 virtually nothing.
"Stiebel Eltron", you nailed it, no butchering :)
I've got the Rheem 50 gallon and it works great for my 4 person family.
I would really like to see a comparison of electric tankless water heaters and gas tankless water heaters. Completely eliminating gas appliances in a house can save a significant amount on your utility bill as you can remove the utility company's gas service fees. No gas appliances in a house is also proving to be a more environmentally friendly (and even required in some areas for new build), especially if your local utility company generates electricity from renewable sources.
Hans, just replied to someone else. Problems with electric tankless. 1. Massive draw (can your service handle it). 2. If you get billed for peak draw (not in the USA ... yet?), it would increase your bill. 3. If you have time of day metering, you can't shift your usage to the most favorable night rates. If you want to avoid natural gas, why not get a HPHWH?
Love it. Mine is running great. No problems at all and yes it helps cooling my garage.
I installed an heat pump water heater AND an on-demand water heater. Heat pump tank runs without resistance heating and the on-demand is next in line with the temp set lower than the heat pump tank. This solves any concern of "running out of hot water" and I get the advantage that the recovery is very efficient. This setup is also fed from my geothermal de-super-heater tank that allows a low cost raise of the well water temperature.
To the concerns that a heat-pump water heater is inside the house creating a parasitic thermal draw remember that the tank is conditioning the air (reducing the moisture) and assisting the air conditioner in summer. Personally I leverage a geothermal heating system so I am less concerned with the remaining parasitic draw during the heating season.
One huge thing people should know is these are “heat pumps” so do not call a plumber to service it call an HVAC tech should the heat pump have problems.
Yep. When they have a premature problem (which is much more likely) rather than a leak you can fix yourself it is a many hundred dollar service call and maybe hundreds more to replace refrigerant. And likely a battle over fine print to get them to honor warranties that will only cover a fraction of the repair. When the chinese made compressor dies (According to the HVAC guy that has replaced the compressor on my frig twice the new ones have a very high failure rate) you likely have to replace the whole thing.
@@Mike-rp6lb or you can just switch it over and run it in regular electric resistive mode until you're ready to replace the compressor or the whole unit. To me that's a big advantage of a hybrid. If my compressor does fail, or when it fails, I will not be without hot water
@@chrisd4432 I agree.
Just one call is going to cost you the cost of the HPWH itself...For a home with less than four people, the conventional 40 gal WH is the way to go, at least to me. Yes, I am old fashioned, and yes, I have been thru a lot of the problems around the home, the more electronics/complex products, the more headaches (if you are not handy).
@@slchang01 Come on (price of repair is the cost of the unit - Nonsense!!) Typical HVAC service call and diagnosis is approx. $100-$150 bucks. Most will include the diagnostic hour if you hire them to repair too. I have had 2 repairs of an 8 year old fridge in the last 3 years and it was $100 each plus parts. Rheem gives 10 year parts warranty, so at most you are talking $200 for a repair (if even needed). These save you $300-$400 per year in power and if they broke down so much they would not be in business. They are on the 5th generation model and keep getting better. You still get a $300 tax credit in 2020 too.
These Rheem ones are the cats meow especially in FL. Run it on hybrid only, never run out of HW. Loves hot humid weather. By product? It air conditions my garage ! An excellent 10 year investment....
a direct solar water heater in series with your water going into your heat pump Tank would be a great addition as it cuts out the middle man and is more effective then the tank alone. It's well worth considering on top of using the tank.
I’ve been talking about these for years. Most people don’t even know they exist.
Call a plumber and ask them to repair one. They will think you are speaking greek. They don't want anything to do with them. hehe.
You’re totally right. Hopefully they get more popular and that changes.
Most people think it's a "hot water heater". (Why would you heat hot water?) It's a magical thing that lives in the crawl space somewhere. They only remember it exists when it starts leaking.
My water heater spends much more time heating hot water than cold water...
@@thebigmacdLOL! See my point? Why are you heating hot water? It's funny how you give your own comment a thumbs up...
This is the kind of shit that keeps me optimistic about the future of humanity
If you live in the Southern United States you should go with it without a doubt. I personally would go with one of the Rheem models. Rheem has been in business since 1930 & their knowledge in refrigeration far outpaces their rivals because of their long history in the HVAC industry.
Thanks Matt! The info is more relevant now than ever before! 👍
It really seems odd to that we put a heat pump water heater, next to a heat pump air handler, in a house that has refrigerators and freezers that have their own refrigerate compressors. In the Tesla Model Y they invented a device called the octovalve to handle the separate heating and cooling demands of the cabin, battery, motors, electronics, etc with one heat pump. They've hinted about getting into the home HVAC market. I wonder if it would include a combined water heater and air handler.
It would be cool if houses started having a “central refridgrent system” where appliances use the hot side or cold side depending on there function ( fridges cooling, water tanks heating ) in the UK we use wet central heating in a lot of homes so we are used to having pipes everywhere in our house anyhow.
The magic box or, by the Japanese name, ecocute. But it doesn't just need to handle all those functions; it also needs to integrate with site available 'power' generation like solar hot water etc. It would be fantastic but complexity equals money and it seems like most people like cheap and simple over efficient and expensive. I mean, look at the poor penetration of the ECM motor into the furnace/ac market. That's a slam dunk technology energy and money wise but it isn't widespread and quite a few contractors deride it for being an expensive motor replacement. You can get close on the magic box domestic hot water and heating and cooling with a product like Chiltrix or Daikin Altherma but the costs are significant. I don't think we'll ever integrate refrigerators however. Chilled water can't deliver the needed temperatures efficiently so you are stuck with refrigerant. Then think about the costs of dedicated refrigerant runs from a central compressor to address such a small cubic foot volume.
awesome idea in principal but one thing goes wrong and the whole system fails...
I just had my Reem fail on me while still under 6 year warranty and the warranty department refuse to replace it unless I used their supplier's recommended plumber and still pay the difference in cost from 2015 to a 2020 updated model. Their plumber wanted $750 in labor to install vs my plumber for only $400. My point is Rheem is totally not a good choice
Wow that's pretty lame way to get out of a warranty. Obviously if it was working for 6 years it was installed perfectly fine. I've always installed my own, pretty hard to mess up 3 wires and two hoses. Well 4 hoses on this model if you include the Pressure valve and condensate line. Thanks for the feedback on Rheem.
Thanks for the video Matt, having just moved into a new place a 18 months ago we're fully expecting that our water heater will die in a year, so we'll be looking into replacing the resistance electric unit with a heat pump one.
Thanks Matt, ready to build my house and I will be using a HP water heater. Save more money then a standard WH even running a loop through the house
For the AO Smith, my track record with them indicates that the compressor dies after 4 years. I bought my first in 2013 (50 gal model no longer being made). Compressor died in 2017 and was replaced with an all new unit (HPTU-66N). Just a few days ago, THAT one is showing an ECC error and was just authorized to be fully replaced (with another HPTU-66N) due to a failed compressor. I guess the 10 year warranty is good as I'll be on my THIRD unit but my 10 year warranty was transferred over so it is up in 2023. I'm guessing the 3rd unit will fail in 2025 and I'll be SOL on that one since I'll be out of warranty. I think I'm done with AO Smith so we'll see how #3 lasts*. The bummer part is that the Fed Rebate ($500) is only something you can take once so no more. I managed back in 2013 to get $800 back (with $300 from State) and so my cost for the HPWH back then was only $300 ($1100 initial cost). Finally, the replacement in 2017 I managed to get AO Smith to ship to a local distributor and I installed it myself (like I did in 2013).
*The replacement for 2021 is so far looking like I'll be forced to use a local outfit to install ($1k) so I still need to haggle with AO Smith to see if I can somehow get them to let ME install it and skip the local installer's cost. Otherwise, I'm not sure if I will end up getting #3 just yet. One nice thing with the hybrid is that it will switch to electric mode and continue to work so I have hot water albeit the more expensive pure electric element mode instead of heat pump mode. Is the Rheem in my future or something else? Not sure. It is tiring to replace these things every 4 years. Maybe I'll go back to gas....blah. BUILD BETTER STUFF!!!
Update 8/2022: I was able to pick up #3 on 4/2021 direct from the distributor so yeah! I parked it in the corner of my garage and have been running #2 in pure electric mode ever since. ECC continues to flash. So far so good with #2--plenty of hot water. I'm curious how long it'll go!
I reading more and more reports about the dreaded "ECC" error and compressor failing on the heat pump on these AO Smith heat pump models. Has anybody jumped shipped from their AO Smith and opted for a Rheem or Bradford White and had a better experience?
@@bh6984 Thanks for the bump up and your reply. I have a hot water recirculation pump and I'm reading that this might cause the compressor to work more than expected thus reducing the life span. Anyway, the update. I'm still on water heater #2 but its been running in electric mode since 4/2021. I was able to pick up water heater #3 myself (also in 4/2021) and I've stored that in my garage as I'm going to wait until water heater #2 dies. So far so good a year+ later. #3 sits quietly in the corner of my garage covered in plastic waiting....
@Richard Cranium Thanks for your reply. I have a Grundfos Pump w/timer and have it adjusted as you suggest. As to power quality, that isn't something I've checked but I'm good with the wire size and run as I installed it myself (all #10). As to the voltage level, it is also fine and correctly matched. You've given me some fodder to chew on--thanks!
These need to become a "zone" on the loop with a mini split system. In the summer you'd have 2+ tons of water heating which is technically free as long as you have the A/C running. No reason it wouldn't work with any existing multi head split system.
I don't know where people are putting all this hot water. My tankless heater has burned less than 10 gallons of propane in a full year. That's less than $30 total. You could save me 99% and it still wouldn't be a very good deal.
The kids can have 5 minutes, after that they gotta split some wood, start a fire, boil water, and bring it into the tub.
Lol to the kids. But seriously, having limited hot water is more efficient. I love a hot shower but if I know I only have 10 gallons, I hurry up a bit more.
For some reason asking people to take shorter showers or try a lower flow shower head is met with similar responses as asking them to change their religion. Many Americans can't seem to put up with even the slightest discomfort.
You are correct about the mini splits etc any stand HVAC system in ac mode is moving the heat from inside to outside when it could be putting it in the water heater until its too hot. But WAIT!, thats exactly what the desuperheater on my water source heat pump does !! Its a DIY climate master unit a tranquility 28 package unit that wasn't hard at all to swap out with old gas pack unit but you do need a well or a ground loop and some plumbing skills to but not much . Cut my utility bill by2/3.
@@teekay1785 That's what baffles me about this, and why it's not more common - no matter what equipment you have, your air conditioner could be making hot water instead of just blowing hot air all summer! Maybe not as important in cooler climates, but where I'm at we use A/C more than 6 months of the year. It's amazing nobody tried to tap into this heat source 40 years ago.
Using it to dehumidify a garage or basement is neat too - but when it gets cold it's still cooling your garage or basement to be even colder.
They do need to start being a zone. But that also means that the heat pump companies making mini splits, need to start making Heat Recovery models. You need a mini split with heat recovery to make this work. Most mini split systems, the entire system even if it has multiple zones, is in heat only mode or cool only mode. Heat recovery mini splits can heat and cool at the same time. This is the missing part. It's actually super common to have heat recovery heat pumps on commercial buildings, but super rare to find anything that can run on single phase 240V for the residential market. LG is the only company I have found that offers 240V heat recovery unit and also offers their hydrokit heat exchanger to heat the water. Other companies need to get on this and state energy codes need to figure out a way to model this in their energy calculations. For example, I could not install the LG Hydrokit as my water heater in California, because they have Zero modeling for such a system. None of your energy consultants can model it out for you and have you pass energy codes when you build your home. So we're all stuck installing stand alone units like the Rheem.
Matt, I think you should mention that homes in northern climates have to heat their homes much of the year, so these will be stealing heat from from your home's interior which you will have to pay to reheat with your furnace or other HVAC heating source!!!! So you have 2 inefficiency factors going on instead of one. However, it can work in your favor during the hot months when you want to cool your house because it takes heat from your your house air and puts it in your water heater. Thx for the great videos. Look forward to them.
Love the taped zip r!
Good comparison of themselves - how about pitting heat pumps against tankless.
Unlimited supply can skew your actual usage.
@@chriswise1232 For all those yellow stickers (which are also required on tankless units), they use some standardized basis of comparison. Therefore, the luxury of unlimited supply skewing actual usage is irrelevant. Like he did in this video - just present the facts. And compare apples to apples - electric to electric and gas to gas. AND...use the right size tank. The measurement of gallons per hour is relevant for tankless too...so don't compare a tankless with a 50 gallon heat pump!
My gas tankless was 1/3 the price of these heat pump models, I get unlimited hot water and it cost less than $200 a year to operate..
@@FJB2020 Thanks for the data Chris - that's exactly what I want him to show, so that everyone can see how overly priced these units are and that tankless (which has been being used in Europe forever) is a MUCH better option. Be well, Don
@@donabele1243 If I include rebates, which I don't since they are taxpayer funded, my tankless unit was "free" and I did the install myself.. living in Taiwan I got use to unlimited hot water and I would never go back to a tank..
Thing is, over the life of the unit (10 years), you will never recoup the cost of these things. They are not really worth it over gas unless the prices come down to around $1200 or you have a very large solar system (e.g. electricity is near zero cost). One other thing to note is that a lot of utilities actively discourage people from switching from one fuel source to another, specifically by small print in rebates.
Got the Rheem a few months ago very happy with, got duct work on it to blow the cool air in the house in summer and out side in the winter.
How cold is the air coming out of that thing? Seems like it would have to be colder than the outside air to make sense to dump it outside in the winter since you're using inside heated air to make up that difference.
@@TheBrokenLife typically these are getting their from the outside and dumping even colder air outside through another duct. You're not supposed to have them taking air from your heated home. You can, but that's not how it's supposed to work.
What a clear and wonderful voice.
I've imagined the two piece unit idea for my house.
My living room and kitchen share a vaulted ceiling. I would have heat collector near the apex and return the air some space away. Maybe pull from the kitchen and return in the living room.
That should significantly reduce my home's humidity and supplement my air conditioning.
Would need an anti scolding valve.
Thanks for the video Matt. As an engineer and avid DIY'er I like researching building tech. I looked into these for my own house, and decided to stay with a gas water heater. For my home it was more cost effective, both in the install cost and the yearly energy cost. And I would have needed to install a new electrical circuit in order to upgrade, increasing the install cost. Also, in more moderate climates, having a cooling source year round might not be very desirable if it is in your living space.
I would like to see some content on the life span of the mechanical components vs a traditional water heater. It seems like the heat pump would be more prone to breakdowns.
(as a side note...the electric resistance vs gas cost, the gas is 30% lower. I disagree with your statement of it being "not really that much lower"...though it is still a significant cost).
Wish I find this vid before I buy my water heater, Thank you for up loading.
Thank you From BC, Canada 🇨🇦🇨🇦 Im replacing mt hot water tank and had no idea the move away from Natural Gas . Heat Pump it is .
I've heard of tree hugging, but not water heater hugging!
The first hour rating is for the electric heating elements that are built into a Heat Pump. In reality it takes 4 or 5 hours to heat up the water in Heat Pump alone to get the 50 or so gallons. It also depends on how much hot water was removed. Heat Pump are good at saving on electric, however they cannot keep up with the demand like a electric or gas water. I have one an really enjoy it. Just got to think the hot water is more limited than gas or electric and work around it. Example wait a few hours after shower/s to do laundry or use the dishwasher.
Agreed. However .... Most hybrids have a high demand mode, which turns on the heatpump as well as the resistance elements for faster hot water production if and when you need it such as when you have a house full of company visiting. It isn't the best for efficiency, however still more efficient than electric resistance alone and an option to use temporarily as needed. Some manufacturers say that in high demand mode they can make water hot faster than a traditional gas tank style water heater. I do not work around my hybrid unit ever. I use heat pump only mode year round and with 3 people in the house, never want for hot water. That's not to say that three people can take back to back showers while the dishwasher is running, however under normal circumstances hot water is not a thought at all. I run my 4th gen Rheem on 119 degrees.
@@chuckdickey3250 so then you use even more power then a standard tank and at that point why not just go Tankless and never run out?
@@DanielRichards644 Tankless electric has massive power requirements and will need special wiring run during installation and condiseration given to the power capacity of the electrical service of the home. It also cannot be run with standard wiring for a hot water heater. Tankless electric in my experience is not good for whole house hot water. I have a 60 amp ecosmart unit and can feel a temp change during a shower if just one sink is turned on at the same time. In addition, tankless uses resistance type heating, thus is just as efficient as a standard heating element water heater. So, a hybrid in heatpump mode is up to 4x more efficient as any resistance sourced hot water. That means water sitting heated in a tank heated 4x more efficiently as tankless is still saving money. In the few times I have used High Demand mode, it has been during company visits for a week at a time. The rest of the year, I am 4x more efficient. I am speaking from experience in having hybrids for years and having a second property with the tankless where space was a premium and I didn't have room for a big water tank. I will not consider tankless electric in the future unless I have no other choice.
@@chuckdickey3250 not talking about tankless electric, talking about the GAS TANKLESS that has become the industry standard.
@@DanielRichards644 I don't have gas at my house, and I do have solar already so I am electric all the way. No doubt Gas Tankless is a great option for some people, but also not without its downfalls. In my case, hybrid models are drop in, no drama replacements and I am still getting excellently efficient hot water. Also thanks to my outside 'batch water heater' black tank heated by the sun. As a result of both the batch tank preheating the water in the hot Florida sun and my hybrid unit set to hybrid only mode (and the fact that is it hot as a mofo in Florida now) these working in tandem, last month I consumed 24.63 kWh of electricity heating water at my house where 3 adults currently live. That is approximately $2.88 of electricity usage heating water for the month at $.12 per kwh charge. I would venture a guess and say that that number can't be beat by 95% of the people in this country. This number was gathered from the Rheem Econet app, which tracks all of the usage and doesn't factor in the electricity generation of my solar system since it cannot factor that. In winter, my consumption will go up some, as I drain and bypass the batch tank and still run my unit hybrid only, but the garage is of course cooler.
Also, not so sure gas tankless is the industry standard. There are still a ton of electric tanked, gas tanked and even electric tankless sold. I don't see anything as 'industry standard'. My parents have a gas tankless and they dislike it very much due to the wasted water waiting for the hot to get to the sink and limited water capacity due to shared wells that have issues going dry in their neighborhood in NC. They therefore have installed a small electric hot water tank unit under their sink in the kitchen. The tankless in their situation is less than 100% and certainly not 'industry standard'. I'm sure the device itself is kick ass, as they overbuild everything. It just has its issues too.
Outstanding review, Matt! Thank you.
Thank you for this! We don't have natural gas at my house here in CA and have a normal electric heater. Electric bills are high and I had no idea about these heat pump water heaters. Mine is about 5 years old and it may be worth switching a regular functioning unit at that age.
Something to remember - Energy star stickers are for national average utility rates, local rates may vary. You have to look at the stickers to see what utility rate the cost is based on. For example, my local natural gas cost is far, far lower than the national average (on the order of 1/2), but my electric rate is close to the national average. Having done the math, it was actually a slightly better long term investment to go with a gas water heater. I'm probably the exception to the rule, but point being, know what you are looking at and don't just assume numbers on those yellow labels translate to what you will actually see.
I agree with you completely. It would have been nice to do a 10 year TCO and 15 year TCO on all the models and showing how it changed based on the cheapest electrical, national average, and the most expensive electrical.
Yes!! California has expensive electricity. This would never add up here.
Craig Talbot on one hand if you have reasonable gas then it never adds up, but if you only have electric service to your house then it adds up very quickly and the heat pump is definitely the way to go.
And, our NG ain't cheap either compared to national averages. Loose, loose all around.
Would you still recommend heat pump water heaters for colder climates? Here in the midwest almost all water heaters are in the basement and pretty much exclusively gas fired. Have to assume some of the efficiency gains are lost in cooler ambient temperatures.
I've been wondering the same, will my HVAC heat pump work harder to replace the heat being taken by water heater and how will that affect overall efficiency?
I wonder that too, our northern basement is not finished and feels cool in summer and COLD in winter.
Just from a common sense perspective they seem to be far less beneficial to heating dominant climates.
Provided you have the space, you could get smart about where you place it. If you have some kind of heat generator you could pair them up to reduce losses in efficiency. The way we use hot water though, most units would still outpace most heat generators for regular usage.
You will loose efficiency as the temp drops since there is less energy freely available in the air, but it should still work. These are more ideal for warm climates and new builds where you could strategically place heat generators (or hot areas of the house like Matt mentioned) and these units side by side.
The Sanden one sits outside, so it works independently of your home heating system. There is a minimum outside temperature for it to work, but it's pretty low. It could be a good choice for moderately cold climates.
I really want to use one of these in combination with an on-demand electric hot water heater. Infinite hot water!
Matt, this is one of the best videos. Good info.
I have a sanden that runs my domestic hot water and my hydronic heat
I’m impressed with that unit. How’s it been for you?
fishoil123 how long has it been working in your house ? And which size tank did you install and if you don’t mind, which state ? I’m in Southern Maine , trying to decide which system I want to put in my house.
dont know for $25 month.....i would like to see a comparison where a unit in the attic helps keep down overall cooling costs.
$25/mo x 12 mo/yr = $260/yr, x10 year life = $2600. More when energy prices go up.
Last week I just installed a Rheem 65 gallon unit in a crawl space which required a little excavation (and pad) to allow for proper top clearance. It appears to be operating as promised. I’ll share a few comments on my install...
The compressor does make some noise which is a consideration if you’re locating the unit in a living area. We hear a faint humming from the crawl space. Rheem’s install manual also recommends a floor isolation kit to minimize vibrations.
If you’re converting from gas, you’ll need a 240V/30 amp line.
Rheem has a nice EcoNet app that allows owners to monitor daily/weekly/monthly electricity consumption and schedule the temp & mode (heat pump, energy saver, high demand, electric). Scheduling itself is a big energy-saver and I’m not sure why the EPA doesn’t mandate temperature scheduling on all WHs.
I’ll underscore the rebates Matt mentioned. My county is on an electrify move. In San Francisco, I believe gas appliances are (or will be) banned in new construction/significantly renovated buildings. Between all the rebates (including an electrical panel upgrade rebate), the unit was effectively free.
Unfortunately, I could not find any manufacturer that shared data on energy efficiency based on temp of intake air. Obviously, there's an optimal temp to operate these units and efficiency falls off as the temps vary from the optimal. Our crawl space is usually in the 50-60's - I'm not sure the benefit of ducting an intake line to 70 degree air.
Rheem’s customer support is one of the best I’ve encountered. They are knowledgable and answer the phone. The install is straightforward but the unit is a bit heavier.
Anyone with a heat pump can attest, your BTUs and efficiency drop with temperature in the winter. That's why geothermal is so much better in heating dominated climates than an air/air heat pump.
I'm thinking about an hybrid solar/electricity for my water heater. Great video, thank you!
How do they compare to the tankless hot water heaters?
Electric Tankless require a huge amount of amps to get their instant hot. Like 60+ amps for one large enough to run a whole house. That is a ton if you are operating off of a 150 or 200 amp electrical service. They need fat electrical wires as well.
Plus they run heating elements to make their hot water, which are inefficient vs. heat pump heating water. I would venture a guess and say that even considering the tank losses, a hybrid would be more efficient than an electric instant on water heater. I like the space efficiency of a tankless electric though and I have properties with both hybrid tank and tankless electric. I can tell you I have noticed that even though my tankless is a 60 amp unit, turning a faucet on during a shower is noticeable in the shower as a loss of heat. I don't particularly like the electric tankless. It is a shame, as I wanted to like it.
@@chuckdickey3250 Thank you.
Instant hot water heaters are like dragsters - run hard when needed - and then sit still when not needed. One BTU is the amount of heat energy required to raise one pound of water by 1ºF. Water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon so we can calculate that one gallon of water requires 8.33 BTU to raise the temperature 1ºF. It does not matter to the water where the energy comes from or how it is applied. We are just trying to find the most cost effective way to do it.
D Scott tankless should only be used if the lady of the house has a big jacuzzi or soaking tub and she uses it everyday. Or. You have many children and parents use a lot of hot water. If you have an average size family 3 or 4 including the parents.
They normally cost much more to install and when you turn on a faucet that is clear across the other side of the house. It takes longer to get hot water to this faucet. So with a tankless you waste more water. You can install a recirc system. Then if that is not set up correctly it will cost much more to run..
You need a very honest plumber to get all the information to make a good decision. Most want to sell you you one just to make the money that they cost to install.. once they get it installed you never hear from them again.
You also should know. They need to be serviced by a licensed plumber every couple of years or the warranty is void. So once again a honest plumber is needed. Or you’ll get screw on the service. They are costly though.
I have talked many of my customers out of a tankless water heater. I could have made a lot of money by talking them into one. I just do work that way!!!
Where I am at they have started to remove tankless and change back to Hot Water Tanks because of serious scaling issues and burning up fast.
Hot water when I need it after the kids, is worth the extra 200 bucks or so a year for me.
Most of these heat pump water heaters have a hybrid mode that will use resistance elements to keep up when there's higher demand. There was a study that showed even running in that default mode, they are still 2x as efficient as a resistance electric water heater.
@@mattv5281
I agree
Mine seems to be fine running hot water, I've left mine at 120 degrees heatpump only, some suggest hotter to not run out.. though mine has heating elements.
I use a heat recovery water heater system on my old hot water heater. Its been 10 years and my hot water has been unplugged with no problems.
My A/C heats my water and makes my A/C more efficient win win I am in Florida and that helps
Exactly, is this a desuperheater? He could do a show on AC powered hot water heaters 👏🏽
I also recommend installing a de cal water filter system to protect all these new pieces of equipment . Test the water first to ascertain the hardness . This is for people watching from different areas around the world . They are very good , started fitting these units for domestic hot water .
Could you do a video about the ZeroEnergy Heat Recovery Water Heater found at Home Depot? It exchanges heat from the HVAC line to pre-heat your water before it goes to the water heater so the water heater has less work to do. I'm just curious how effective that is considering the costly installation.
Andre Gilbert for california, i think it is better to preheat the water heater using the heat from the house attic and the heat coming out from the clothes dryer. new houses should be built using this concept.
I don't know about that specific device, however we had a "hot water recovery unit" heating water from the excess heat from out air conditioning in a home I grew up in in south Florida. My dad would turn off the hot water heater when he turned on the A/C in the summer months. From my experience, it worked great back then. We had a single standard electric hot water tank hot water heater. The A/C would run and produce excess heat that was captured via a small heat exchanger installed near our outside A/C condenser. When the A/C was running, the hot water was really hot. If you were showering, you would have to adjust the water tems during a shower pretty freqently due to the amount of really hot water entering the tank.
They have ways around this now. These devices are recommended to dump recovered hot water into a non powered standby tank. (Typically a hot water heater hooked up to plumbing but not electricity) this takes the hot spikes and absorbs them and then feeds your main water heater tank with a more consistent temp of water. They also put restriction in so that no water over 140 degrees can go to the water tanks. This prevents huge spikes.
These are great devices and also good for heating pools and other stuff for free, plus makes your A/C run more efficiently since the waste heat is absorbed a bit more efficiently. It is amazing the amount of heat that is produced in the process of making cool air. Regardless, a/c contractors don't really like installing these and it can cost a good bit to find one willing to do it. It is a simple job, but they generally don't deal with them much. I called around in my area and got lots of weird responses. The other issue is that this could void your a/c warranty. It should not, but anything unexpected in the system is an excuse for a manufacturer to say no way.
I suggest a more simple method instead that could cost nearly zero. Look into a 'batch hot water heater' this is a tank painted black that you turn on its long edge (for best sun exposure) and place in an sunny area. This preheats water entering your home and into your hot water heater. I have this at my house. It was easy to setup and requires just some plumbing pipes and a tank. No pumps or anything mechanical needed. I used a free scratch and dent (new but damaged) water heater I got from a local plumber. I took the shell off and got to the steel tank, painted it black and set it outside in the sun. I then plumbed my supply water to it and then out from it and into the hot water heater. I use it all summer to preheat my water and then use ball valves to bypass it and drain the outside tank in winter.
For the love of a divine being...when you install a new water heater, break loose that anode rod and re tighten with some Teflon tape on the threads or something. When you go to get it out of the unit a few years later, you might not be able to.
It can help to fill the tank first then let out some water to depressurize it. The weight of the water will help hold the tank in place. I recommend an 18"+ breaker bar as well
You have to be careful that there is still an electrical path between the rod and steel portion of the tank. Anode can't be an anode without current flow.
My sailboat specifically states not to use Teflon tape on the anodes because it make break the electrical connection rendering the anode useless.
Yep. those rods are basically welded in after awhile. Copper anti-seize. Skip the tape.
I am considering HPWH for my next build. Yearly temp where I live are negative 20F to plus 90F. Many where I live, including myself, heat with wood 6 months year. Excess hardwood around here and it goes to waste if not burned. Basement wood stove heats whole house. Super well insulated and sealed tight. Basement temp in winter 80-85F (on the warm side) and dry in winter and 65F and slightly damp in summer. HPWH seems like like a pretty reasonable option in that setting. Will strongly consider for my next build summer 2024. With that being said LP is the heat source of choice out in the sticks where I live and having a years worth of propane and 3 years worth of wood stored on site doesn't hurt my feelings. Love my Rinnai tankless LP heater. LP runs my dryer, stove, hot water, backup heat. Go through 300 gallons LP a year which to me at $2.00 gallon is a pretty good deal. 2000 square foot house. And yes, believe it or not, there are often energy rebates on wood stoves.
This might be the perfect solution for a humid spray foamed attic in Texas. Would be interesting to see just how much humidity it's capable of removing.
Just wanted to mention how I set mine up to get more usable hot water out when demand is high. I set the AO Smith to 149F (max) and use a mixing valve to supply 115F to the house which allows the 50 gal unit in heat pump only mode to supply much more hot water because it's being mixed with some cold water. This has worked really well for about 3 years. I ran a separate supply bypassing the mixing valve from the water heater to the dishwasher and washing machine for the 149F water.
I swear Matt's voice gets higher every time he says "on the Build show".
The plumbing companies are pretty resistant to installing hybrids. In Austin TX in 2022, I asked 4 major plumbing houses and they say, it is not really a plumbing fixture, it is an appliance. We have done a few of them but not many. We recommend tankless and navien is the go to today. With many people putting water heaters in the garage, the venting issues on gas are more complicated. Hybrid seems to be a natural I will continue to try to find someone who installs them regularly.
great video, love to see if anything has changed in two years
Watch your decibels if you put something like this in your house. dBA is an incomplete specification. If there is a loud narrowband frequency it'll drive you nuts if you're noise sensitive. Ask the manufacturers for a more complete sound spec sheet. They may have one.
I'm pretty sensitive to noise, and my Rheem Platinum 80 gal heat pump heater is very quiet. It also runs me about $80 a year to run- 80 gallon unit, 2 people. It's in the basement, and you have to put your hand on the outlet to know for sure if it is actually running.
The rheem seems to be a good bit quieter than the AO Smith. The AO smith is buzzy.
@@superlitecarsracecarreplic1944 Agreed. The Rheem is incredibly quiet.
Perhaps I'm missing something...you spend 4 times more ($500 or $2000) to save $100 a year, on a product that has a 10 to 12 year life span? I understand wanting to be energy efficient, but at what cost ? Could that $1500 be spent on something with a greater return perhaps ?
When he started talking about scheduling showers to save energy then in the same breath mentioned his solar array i pretty well checked out... Cheap electric water heaters are cheap energy storage tanks, but if ur running out of places to put money why not have a water heater that cools your garage ...
With thats said i still appreciate the video... The build show is my go to for good direction on getting sh#% done on a next level standard
I think you missed a lot- watch the video again. He said you save $300/year and the local and federal rebates nearly cover the initial cost of the unit (cost $1300, rebates total $1100, net cost $200). So in less than a year it pays for itself and continues to save for 10+ years.
@@maverick763 so like most of the "green" products, it only makes sense if your neighbors help pay for it.. Your rebates are paid by your neighbors.....the government only takes from some and gives to others...No thanks...
wags99999 wrong again. Utilities and governments invest in these clean and green technologies because they reduce the strain on infrastructure which costs far more than a few hundred dollar rebate to fix. I think you’d do well to sign up for a macro and micro economics class as well as some renewable energy classes. Misconceptions like you just expressed are part of why we’re getting bogged down in reducing our global carbon footprint.
You read my mind, Matt. Great video.
In a cold weather climate I'm not sure how much the actual cost would be for the 'all-in-one' units. If you are pumping cold air into the house you are trying to heat for 8 months of the year it becomes counter productive. I'd love to see more like the sandon unit, i know LG has a unit that will integrate Hot water into their heat pumps; the idea is on a hot day instead of dumping the heat outside it is dumped into a hot water tank.