Is HPWH reliability still an issue?

[FullySprinklered]

Man, it just aint a hurricane without Jim Cantore. He really gets into it. As a matter of fact, I wrote a little jingle about old Jim:
Sung to the tune of Octopus Garden by the Beatles.
Bom, bom, bom, bom,
" I like to see, Jim Cantoreeee
clinging to a palm tree by the sand."
"If you interrupt, he'll kick you in the nuts,
down there on the Charleston battereeee...."
The video is on U-Tube.

 

[ruthrj18]

Man, it just aint a hurricane without Jim Cantore. He really gets into it. As a matter of fact, I wrote a little jingle about old Jim:
Sung to the tune of Octopus Garden by the Beatles.
Bom, bom, bom, bom,
" I like to see, Jim Cantoreeee
clinging to a palm tree by the sand."
"If you interrupt, he'll kick you in the nuts,
down there on the Charleston battereeee...."
The video is on U-Tube.

How did I miss that? Just saw the kick, bravo for continuing on without a hitch!

 

[Sponsor]

 

[FullySprinklered]

Didn't miss a beat.

 

[ruthrj18]

Got the water heater replaced with a standard electric (Professional Classic 50 gal). Local supply house had excellent customer service. RHEEM was going to take another day or two to figure out how to handle the administrative issues of replacing a $1k heater with one that cost less than $400. When the supply house heard I had two little kids that were going to go longer without a warm bath, they just returned the heat pump water heater and sold me the standard electric. Very happy right now even after having to replumb everything, doesn't get much better than that!

 

[WorthFlorida]

The hybrid water heaters are being made so the manufactures can meet energy guidelines and because the competition has one, they need one to keep their customers.. They cost three times more but do not last. They need maintenance and yes, it's an air conditioner on top of the water heater. So you spend $1,000+ trying to save $7 off your electric bill and could spend hundreds more to fix it. There goes the savings.

Conventional electric water heater are reliable and have had decades to be perfected. Glad you went with what you did.

 

[ruthrj18]

Not to mention I figured out first hand that these things are disposable. When RHEEM diagonosed the issue as a failed compressor, it was deemed completely done for. No repairs can be made, it's done, DEAD. Return and replace.

Goes to show you, if the government is offering tax rebates as an incentive to buy a technology it's very likely not ready for prime time and you're going to be a guinea pig.

 

[Charles2]

I don't understand how the technology isn't ready for prime time. I mean, refrigerators last for decades without exploding.

 

[WorthFlorida]

I always have a problem to understand that a heat pump takes less energy to extract heat from the air than use of electric elements for a given BTU. The biggest complaint from forums is the heat pump alone cannot meet the demand of hot water use for most homes. The electric elements are needed to get the water to temp. I'm sure in the future the standard WH will be outlawed and HP will be the only option. Look at the incandescent light bulb, LED lamps are superior to anything ever before. Would the LED light be as it is now if it wasn't for government intervention? Thank China for low cost LED lamps.

When my home was built in 1990, a heat recovery unit was a standard option when buying this new home. The AC compressor side of the system had the heated high pressure side goes through a heat exchanger. It was about the size of an orange juice can. It contained a water pump that circulated water from the water heater. The heated water was pushed in through the bottom of the tank where the drain valve is and it circulated from the cold water inlet side. In South Florida the AC runs most of the time in the summer months and many neighbors and myself would turn off power to the WH and there was plenty of hot water. I have to say it worked quite good. The system did have thermo switches to prevent over heating the water to prevent burns. The power company FPL, would not connect their load control boxes to the water heater if you had a heat recovery unit on the water heater.
But overtime as the AC units became more efficient, many AC techs would not reconnect the heat recovery units. The refrigerants changed, parts wore out and the recovery unit would give strange pressure readings when everything worked perfect. Also, as water heaters were replaced, the lines were not always reconnected.

There still is a company making them.
http://www.doucetteindustries.com/Products/Residential/Aquefier-Residential

 

[Charles2]

There still is a company making them.
http://www.doucetteindustries.com/Products/Residential/Aquefier-Residential

That looks a lot safer outside the house than a compressor inside the house. Also no noise. Can it be installed in areas that freeze in the winter? How reliable are they?

 

[ruthrj18]

"I don't understand how the technology isn't ready for prime time. I mean, refrigerators last for decades without exploding."

That's nearly word for word what I was thinking when I bought that thing, minus the explosion part lol! I figured heat pumps have been around a long time. Why can't they work well on a water heater? You can actually see my justification on the Contractor vs Home Depot quality difference thread.

I'll have to sit around and wait to see if a recall gets issued for this model in the near future. I would love to know what the heck caused this thing to go boom.

 

[Dana]

That looks a lot safer outside the house than a compressor inside the house. Also no noise. Can it be installed in areas that freeze in the winter? How reliable are they?

It only works when the AC compressor is running, so I don't imagine it's worth very much when it's below freezing outside (unless you live in a deep-freeze freezer, and air condition any time it's above -10F outside. )

 

[WorthFlorida]

I do not think there is any shut off or water drain system usually installed bit it could probably be done. I would think depending on how far the compressor is to an inside wall such as a laundry room, or insulated garage it could be installed in a possible freeze area. However, most areas that get very cold during the winter months usually the AC doesn't run that much during the whole year, therefore, the pay back could be a long time. BUt if you live in the sun belt it is worth looking into.

My heat recovery was connected for about twenty years but I think the little pump motor, an sealed unit to the heat exchanger went bad years before. I remember hearing a bad bearing noise so I just disconnected the power to it. I eventually cut the water lines out. But to remove the exchanger would require and complete removal of R22 into a recovery tank, re-plumb the lines and fill up with fresh R22. Very expensive for R22. I figured when the AC be replaced I then would remove it all, but last week I sold the house.