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Hybrid Water Heater

The mixing valve is an amazing water saver! I sell them to most of my customers.
They used to be on the shelf at any box store, but they are hard to find lately.
I set the water tank temp to 140 and the added benefit is, zero chance of legionaries disease.
 
Yeah, I have 3 girls in he house, and I take LONG showers... never run out with my 30 gallon electric...
the mixing valve is magic.
 
The current Rheem/Rudd product has a round 8 inch lip on it to simply attach a duct to on the intake and the exhaust. No adapter needed.

Not a big fan of the mixing valves. Especially on a residential water heater with a thermistor and digital display. The water here is hard enough that the mixing valves only last a few years before gunking up. That and the life of a water heater is partially determined by how hot it is run such that increasing the temperature only increases the cost of owning a water heater over time-I would just install the correct sized water heater and be done with it unless it’s a temporary situation.

Any heat pump is more efficient if the discharge/high side is a lower temperature. This just goes for lower pressures for the compressor to pump against. Might as well just spend a few extra hundred bucks on the larger hybrid water heater instead of on the extra power to run it hotter, mixing valve and time to change it out early when it dies. JMHO

Now a solar water heater using solar thermal panels should have a mixing valve for safety.

I’m sure legionaries disease is possible at 120 degrees, but it does not seem people are getting it. There are quite a few set to 120 degrees. Manufactures have some low temperature limits built into the water heaters also-unless it’s an old one or a basic electric one I suppose.
 
Good points, however, consider that hotter tank temp can result in less water flow into the tank if the temp mixing is done in the valve, not at the faucet. We set our valve output temp around 108 for hot showers, without running the cold water.

tank temp can affect longevity, but not nearly as much as temp fluctuations. Cold, then hot then cold etc, results in condensation, expansion, contraction etc. A constant temp tank Will far outlast one cycled with cold water constantly.
A larger tank gets a ton of cold water filling it during use. The mixing valve keeps far less cold water from entering the tank.
 
I have been using an Geospring for the last 3 or so years and has been great. I noticed a big difference in my electricity bill after few months with mine.
 
I have been using an Geospring for the last 3 or so years and has been great. I noticed a big difference in my electricity bill after few months with mine.
General Electric sold off their Geosping division recently so the last heat pump water heater I used was a Ruud. The Ruud contained the Econet device so you no longer have to buy that separately. Over the past six years I have bought one Geospring, one Ruud and two Rheems. The Geospring lasted six years before the compressor gave out.
 
General Electric sold off their Geosping division recently so the last heat pump water heater I used was a Ruud. The Ruud contained the Econet device so you no longer have to buy that separately. Over the past six years I have bought one Geospring, one Ruud and two Rheems. The Geospring lasted six years before the compressor gave out.
Oof! 6 years! That sucks...
Warranty cover repairs?
 
General Electric sold off their Geosping division recently so the last heat pump water heater I used was a Ruud. The Ruud contained the Econet device so you no longer have to buy that separately. Over the past six years I have bought one Geospring, one Ruud and two Rheems. The Geospring lasted six years before the compressor gave out.
Thanks for the info I have noticed that GE stopped selling them and I bought mine I think year before they were not offering them anymore. Guess its been about 3 years now. So that means I may have another 3 years on it? Kind of sucks I bet it will not be covered under any warranty anymore either. So what have you found to be a good one? What kind of environment is yours in normally?
 
Yours may last longer. Mine had a small leak in the area of the heat pump which may have shortened its life. Rheem and Ruud are essentially the same and those units have been going strong. The wifi interface has been integrated and the Ruud I purchased a few months ago did not have the integrated 8 inch lip. They both use the EcoNet phone apps.
 
I bought the Richmond 80 gallon, 15 amp version from Menards since the 11% off made it about 1650 and the Rudd was going to be a little more. The unit has a date code of March of 2021. They must make them as needed.

It’s loud. I’m not sure I would want to run all the noise complaint calls on one of these if I sold it, but we have it programmed to run 127 during the day and 117 at night-works ok unless I give the kids a bath at night. Some flex duct on the exhaust and insulation in the floor joist might help. Sure wish the compressor was boxed away instead of in the air intake air flow.

Does not seem to make the basement much cooler, but it is not funky down there even with spring rains.
The manual mentions a condensate pump with 2 gallons per day capacity, I should measure it since it does not look like much.

The energy guide label on this one says 105 dollars to run a year at 12 cents a KW. So far this seems about right. The EcoNet app tells me we use between 2-4 a day.
 
I just discovered what a Hybrid Water Heater is.
If you have solar, then that is by far the best way to go to save money in the long run.

I can't believe just how much less energy it uses as it is grid-connected. It is a heat pump. A refrigerator, in reverse.

I had no idea they even existed! It's my next project.
I know what I have now is at least 7 years old. :)
If I can make an 80 Rheem fit where my gas one is now, it's going in!


Just make sure you have enough headroom, they are pretty tall and they still need to have some clearance above them. They also require an additional condensation line. I put them in every home I built in Florida, mostly in the attic. It is 1/2 ton free A/C unit in your attic.
 
Just make sure you have enough headroom, they are pretty tall and they still need to have some clearance above them. They also require an additional condensation line. I put them in every home I built in Florida, mostly in the attic. It is 1/2 ton free A/C unit in your attic.
Luckily my AC is 6 inches from the water heater, so the condensate line is already there. I have about 2 feet clearance above my water tank now, hopefully, that is enough.
 
At some point my 20odd year old electric will fail, and I am considering a hybrid.
Since I keep my tank so hot, I dont know if the hybrid can maintain the temp.
But if it can, my plan is to locate it in my utility room adjacent to the kitchen, and have a zone setup to exhaust evaporator air into the house in summer, and outdoors in the winter.
 
At some point my 20odd year old electric will fail, and I am considering a hybrid.
Since I keep my tank so hot, I dont know if the hybrid can maintain the temp.
But if it can, my plan is to locate it in my utility room adjacent to the kitchen, and have a zone setup to exhaust evaporator air into the house in summer, and outdoors in the winter.
The hybrid also has the heating strips so they can assist but still provide decent efficiency.
 
At some point my 20odd year old electric will fail, and I am considering a hybrid.
Since I keep my tank so hot, I dont know if the hybrid can maintain the temp.
But if it can, my plan is to locate it in my utility room adjacent to the kitchen, and have a zone setup to exhaust evaporator air into the house in summer, and outdoors in the winter.
When you decide to buy one, go for the one that has available a vent kit. This kit will allow you to place the hybrid WH anywhere inside your house.
It has an inlet ( like an air return on HVAC) and vent outlet. The vent kit lets you install it whenever you want.
The rule of thumb is if you don't use the vent kit, you need to have at least 700 sqft "breathing room" inside your heated and cooled area for this type of WH to operate properly. Depending on where you live, if it gets too cold in the winter, you can just change the mode to an electric mode only, and then in the spring change it back to a hybrid or heat-pump mode only.
All of the heat pump WH that I installed has a digital display, you can change the temperature up and down by 1F so the accuracy is excellent, some of them connect to your wifi and you can control them through an app.
I hope this helps!
 
Heat pump assist hot water heaters can be more efficient but there are some caveats.

Their water heating recovery time from hot water usage is slow. They have conventional electric heating elements to achieve faster recovery but that defeats their benefit. If you have four or five people taking showers in the morning a heat pump unit may not be the best choice. At minimum, get one with a large tank.

The warmer their environment location the better. They will lose efficiency in a cool basement location.
 
The issue with many of these “energy efficient” appliances is service after the warranty expires. Non-standard/proprietary repair parts are crazy-expensive and some manufacturers only sell them through authorized distributors making if difficult or impossible for DIY work. I learned my lesson 20 years ago with a wiz-bang evap cooler that had an inverter-controlled motor to run the fan. Yes it had variable speed and was super quiet, but when the damn inverter blew up out of warranty, the replacement was $950 and only available through Johnson Controls. A brand-new cooler was $2800…
 
Not sure anything is really on sale anymore.
I bought the 80-gallon version from Menards to get the price down. I would probably just purchase the 65-gallon version as the 80 gallon is really only 72. The 80-gallon 15amp one I have has a Energy Usage tag on it saying $105 per year energy usage. This is about right and makes the solar panels seem exspensive.
The EcoNet feature does not work out well for me at all. I ran to the basement to reset it several times a week until I just gave up on it.
It would be nice if the compressor was in an insulated chamber with some sound deadening material. I suspect that my metal ducts in the basement pick up the noise and change it to a deeper hum. Maybe one day I will come home with a couple of boxes of flex duct to quiet it some.

We have yet to run out of hot water and after 6 months I've gotten used to the noise so would buy it again in the 65 gallon version.
 
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