Bummed I'm late to this one. Way too many blue posts on the 1st page with no clue how heat pumps work.

These water heaters are actually pretty cool. The larges sizes usually have their own condenser but I've also seen commercial applications where the water heater was tied into the building VRF.

Yes they work but is it worth it economically for the average homeowner.

Data says no.

New home construction maybe.

Where are you getting your data? What is the cost you are using? For the vast majority of folks these can replace existing units in a retrofit without much change at all... they are slightly larger but that is a con for some installs. That's about it.

The cost is likely 2k or more for the unit
Plumber will be 650 to 1200 depending on who you use.
3k and 300 a year in supposed savings.

Ok, well now I know what you think.

The cost is $1000 more than similar electric. The plumber costs are a wash. You can measure the electricity to see the usage. Never mind the fact that these run on 120V so that alone should tell you the power consumption is significantly less.

Agree completely about the power consumption being less. That was never in question.

I'm simply speaking about how long it takes to recoup the initial cost based on the savings.

jt2hunt said:

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Agree completely about the power consumption being less. That was never in question.

I'm simply speaking about how long it takes to recoup the initial cost based on the savings.

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You are correct that it can take awhile and will vary based on each owner. In an ideal world each buyer would decide for themselves. But the ****ing government cannot let that happen.

PlaneCrashGuy said:

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Bummed I'm late to this one. Way too many blue posts on the 1st page with no clue how heat pumps work.

These water heaters are actually pretty cool. The larges sizes usually have their own condenser but I've also seen commercial applications where the water heater was tied into the building VRF.

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You mean heat pumps can somehow heat above the air temp around them? I've been assured here they cannot.

GAC06 said:

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PlaneCrashGuy said:

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Bummed I'm late to this one. Way too many blue posts on the 1st page with no clue how heat pumps work.

These water heaters are actually pretty cool. The larges sizes usually have their own condenser but I've also seen commercial applications where the water heater was tied into the building VRF.

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You mean heat pumps can somehow heat above the air temp around them? I've been assured here they cannot.

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By people that don't know how their refrigerators or A/Cs work

GAC06 said:

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PlaneCrashGuy said:

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Bummed I'm late to this one. Way too many blue posts on the 1st page with no clue how heat pumps work.

These water heaters are actually pretty cool. The larges sizes usually have their own condenser but I've also seen commercial applications where the water heater was tied into the building VRF.

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You mean heat pumps can somehow heat above the air temp around them? I've been assured here they cannot.

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Just wait until till I tell you that they can also cool below the air temp around them.

PlaneCrashGuy said:

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GAC06 said:

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PlaneCrashGuy said:

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Bummed I'm late to this one. Way too many blue posts on the 1st page with no clue how heat pumps work.

These water heaters are actually pretty cool. The larges sizes usually have their own condenser but I've also seen commercial applications where the water heater was tied into the building VRF.

---

You mean heat pumps can somehow heat above the air temp around them? I've been assured here they cannot.

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Just wait until till I tell you that they can also cool below the air temp around them.

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jt2hunt said:

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Yes they work but is it worth it economically for the average homeowner.

Data says no.

New home construction maybe.

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****BINGO****
We have a winner.
And, in all likelihood, not even all new construction, as there are likely new construction situations where there is a better solution.

My understanding is that the new rules are to encourage their use in new construction, where installation, plumbing, and even utilization of waste heat/excess cooling can be optimized by design.

Without such rules, contractors would opt for the cheapest solution in the short term, regardless of long term energy costs. A new home buyer would obviously be benefited by a heat pump water heater.

Gas water heater more efficient, no competition.

Unsure that's true. It's absolutely not true for HP vs Propane heating a pool. I don't know just how much cheaper natural gas is over propane though.