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My parents got a heat pump water heater (electric) a few months ago and it's great. Definitely the priciest option, but it sips electricity and also cools the a

My parents got a heat pump water heater (electric) a few months ago and it's great. Definitely the priciest option, but it sips electricity and also cools the area around it (basically operating as an "inside out refridgerator"). In this same remodel I also convinced them to get heat pump / AC combo unit to replace the old gas furnace. Again amazingly cheap (even compared to gas), but also higher upfront cost. This is in a coastal California region, so I'm not sure how well these heat pump solutions will work in colder places (ice would likely form on the heat pump near freezing, limiting its capability), but if anyone is looking to upgrade either a hot water heater or an AC unit, I cannot recommend the heat pump option enough (if you can get through the higher up front cost).

dashundchen 5y ago
Definitely works in cold areas. Most heat pump manufacturers offer separate models for cold climates below zero. The worst case is efficiency approaches resistance heating at 1.0, maybe with backup resistance heat strips. But a well designed system to match worst case load should rarely see this. For some reason they've really only been widely available in the US in the past few years.
- deviledeggs 5y ago
  > For some reason they've really only been widely available in the US in the past few years. I think it's cheap energy. In places like Japan they've been using heat pumps a long time
- MertsA 5y ago
  > But a well designed system to match worst case load should rarely see this. Well actually it'll see it quite often. Every time a heat pump goes into defrost mode it'll use resistive heating inside to hold over while it's working like a traditional air conditioner to thaw out the outdoor coils.
gricardo99 5y ago
Check rebate programs with your utility. Mine gives up to $1000 rebate for buying a new heat pump water heater

dashundchen 5y ago

Definitely works in cold areas. Most heat pump manufacturers offer separate models for cold climates below zero. The worst case is efficiency approaches resistance heating at 1.0, maybe with backup resistance heat strips. But a well designed system to match worst case load should rarely see this. For some reason they've really only been widely available in the US in the past few years.

deviledeggs 5y ago
> For some reason they've really only been widely available in the US in the past few years. I think it's cheap energy. In places like Japan they've been using heat pumps a long time
MertsA 5y ago
> But a well designed system to match worst case load should rarely see this. Well actually it'll see it quite often. Every time a heat pump goes into defrost mode it'll use resistive heating inside to hold over while it's working like a traditional air conditioner to thaw out the outdoor coils.

gricardo99 5y ago

Check rebate programs with your utility. Mine gives up to $1000 rebate for buying a new heat pump water heater