Hot water Heat pump, anyone running them in their house?

[Supervstech]

I want to stress a few points touched on in this thread.

They dehumidify when they run, so basements are ideal locations for them.

The ones i have installed allow 10"ducts to be used to route the air where desired.

They are slow to recover when drained, so dont drain them. A "tank expander" or mixong valve kit goes a LONG way towards that goal. It lets you set tank temp at 145 or so, and mixes cold water outside the tank to desired temp, preventing as much cold water entering the tank. Most box stores sell the kit for around $90

If you want a solar dump load, the 4500W element can be configured for it.

 

[Danke]

I have a Rheem 80 gallon HPWH. It integrates with Homeassistant very well allowing you to create automations that can change operating modes and temperature based on almost any information flowing into Homeassistant. You can effectively make it a dump load whenever you need without any special wiring back to the inverter directly.

For the same money, I have nearly 300 gallons of hot water. Doesn’t suck out heat from my house and pump out cold air. And very low chance of breaking down.

 

[Supervstech]

For the same money, I have nearly 300 gallons of hot water. Doesn’t suck out heat from my house and pump out cold air. And very low chance of breaking down.

While it is true, they suck out heat in the winter... they ALSO suck out heat in summer!

 

[Danke]

They dehumidify when they run, so basements are ideal locations for them.

That’s just what I want in the winter, dry air…

And a cold basement.

 

[Danke]

they ALSO suck out heat in summer!

I’ll have a geothermal system for that.

 

[Supervstech]

That’s just what I want in the winter, dry air…

And a cold basement.

What part of the world are you in? Around here, basements are damp. Dehumidification aids comfort around here.

My point is to post points about the equipment.
Not convince someone with a far better system to use them.

 

[Zwy]

For the same money, I have nearly 300 gallons of hot water. Doesn’t suck out heat from my house and pump out cold air. And very low chance of breaking down.

I've debated on this for some time, my basement is like yours in Minnesota. Cold in winter. Mine is unconditioned in summer but we do have a inside footing drain on 75% of it and that helped considerably for summer humidity.

One could use the 4500W element for a dump load, yet use the heat pump function in summer I guess. Anyone out there do this?

 

[S Davis]

Most of the one piece units I have seen/ installed require a minimum amount of interior square footage, usually around 650sqft.

The newer C02 split unit’s struggle with low ambient temps, outdoor coils are sized to small.
I have a system I am repairing the heat pumps on that has two Sadan units and they both failed during the last cold spell.

 

[740GLE]

We’re going in year 9 of our GE GeoSprings 40 gal unit running in only heat pump mode from April thru November in our basement. We get about 5gal of condensate collected in a bucket every 10 days over the summer. Our basement is much more comfortable. It seemed to have no issues maintaining 130f when the 700sq ft basement is 50f. Two adults and a 2 year old. I will say I can empty it cold if we push it on the weekends with morning showers and large bath for the kid, but nothing is complain about.

We run a wood boiler for DHW in the winter months, it just sits idle in vacation mode.

 

[y0bailey]

We are on year 7 of our GE heat pump water heater, 50 gal. It's in our unconditioned NC basement and is awesome. I barely have to kick on the dehumidifier down there.

2 adults and a 4 year old and it lives in heat pump only mode at all times (unless we have company staying over, then I go to hybrid mode).

100% would buy again for this climate.

 

[dopeassjackson]

I owned a GE hpwh for 10yrs until the tank got a leak, my and my water fault. The tank got a leak. Then I got a rheem about 2yrs ago. This new one has all the wifi stuff and can track useage. We have 3 people in the house and it set to only heat pump (just like the last one) and dont go over 95kwh for a month with set to 125*. We wash with cold water and use a dishwasher that uses cold water.

Really all this data dosnt matter because there very environment dependant. For instance i heat with a wood stove in my living room and the hpwh is in my unfinished basement that can see 40*f.

The only reason why I bought a hpwh is because with rebates from my power company there about $100 more than a standard electric water heater.

 

[Zwy]

I did purchase the heat pump water heater, 50 gal Rheem and plumbed it in series ahead of the propane 50 gal water heater. I have the thermostat turned down on the propane and run the heat pump water heater between 130°F and 140°F using the app. I am impressed to say the least. I was looking for a dump load but this water heater uses under 6 Kwh even on a heavy wash day like this past Sunday with 3 loads of laundry and the dishwasher. I've only run the heating element just to make certain it worked.

Yesterday I had turned it off before we left for a doctor appointment 3 hours away. Battery was down to 26% and sky overcast when we left. I checked in SA during the drive and saw PV coming in so the sky had cleared. I turned the heat pump water heater back on remotely using my phone. I'm guaranteed a minimum water temp with the propane water heater and can turn the heat pump water heater off/on and change temp, even run the heating element if desired from anywhere.

Don't regret installing it, one of the best purchases one could make running a house off grid.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

so what i am hearing is sending me back to the drawing board. I was commenting in another thread about my hot water system i was mulling over and the plan was to buy two HPWH used and plumb them into a large insulated tank (450 gallon) but if they will not work in the cold, or if they barely work then I think i might be better off with resistance elements.

 

[Zwy]

so what i am hearing is sending me back to the drawing board. I was commenting in another thread about my hot water system i was mulling over and the plan was to buy two HPWH used and plumb them into a large insulated tank (450 gallon) but if they will not work in the cold, or if they barely work then I think i might be better off with resistance elements.

The hybrid heat pump water heater I installed has a heat pump but also has a resistance heating element. It can be set for heat pump only, high demand- which is resistance heating and energy saver which actually uses a combination of resistance element and heat pump. Are you certain the used HPWH do not have an element? Usually one is present for faster recovery.

 

[wattmatters]

Are you certain the used HPWH do not have an element? Usually one is present for faster recovery.

There are various options.

Here the better quality HPWHs do not have a resistive heating element. They use better refrigerants and typically have a separate compressor and tank. They are also expensive. Heat transfer is typically in the 4-5 kW range, which is at least as good if not better than a typical heating element here which are usually 3.6 kW (occasionally 4.8 kW).

Examples:

https://reclaimenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Reclaim-Controller-v2-SpecSheet-Issue04-Feb24-web-1.pdf

Specifications – Sanden Hot Water Heat Pumps

www.sanden-hot-water.com.au

Usually the units with a heating element are all-in-one models.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

The hybrid heat pump water heater I installed has a heat pump but also has a resistance heating element. It can be set for heat pump only, high demand- which is resistance heating and energy saver which actually uses a combination of resistance element and heat pump. Are you certain the used HPWH do not have an element? Usually one is present for faster recovery.

Unknown at this time. These used units are for sale on Yahoo auctions, so I am trying to find data from the maker. It’s time consuming as they all have a million questions before they will answer mine