Need Your input. How to get through the winters smarter.

Whats the recovery rate like on those heat pump tanks? Is it better than regular electric tanks? A few folks I know that have electric tanks and have a couple kids (40 gallon tank) run out of hot water fairly regularly.

I like the recovery rate of our propane unit, never ran out of HW, although we only have 1 kid and don't have too many high use times.

If it helps for usage estimates, per our tank gauge we have used about 50 gal of lp since sept/oct (filled then at about $1.80/gal), I think mostly for hot water. our dryer, cooktop and backup furnace are also lp, but dryer doesn't get used much in winter, clothes are hung up in basement to dry from stoker heat and the furnace only runs once a month or so for me to make sure it is still functional. cooktop doesn't get used heavily so I don't think that has contributed much to the 50 gal usage (oven is electric). Oddly lp price has come down since then in this area, mid winter price last week when church tanks were filled - $1.40/gal.

The recovery time depends on which mode you run the water heater in. I'll give a quick rundown -

1 - "eHeat" - Heat pump mode only - most efficient, slower recovery time than standard electric
2 - "Hybrid" - Primarily heats with the heat pump, but will turn on the standard electric elements during periods of high demand
3 - "Standard Electric" - Uses the heating elements only, same efficiency as a standard electric water heater
4 - "High Demand" - Runs the heat pump and the elements at the same time. Least efficient, but you shouldn't run out of hot water!

I live by myself, so using eHeat mode works fine, and I don't have to worry about running out of water. My brother and his wife installed one of these water heaters, and they tried eHeat mode and ran out of hot water a couple times. They run it in Hybrid mode now and haven't run out of hot water since making that change.

Another interesting feature is that it has a built in vacation timer, you can set how long you will be gone, and it will turn back on the day before you return.

Here is what my electric use was like with a standard electric WH


Here it is with the hybrid WH

My only consern is how it will work when installed in my un heated basement? I could run a warm air duc from up stairs.
But at least the unit has the standerd element for a back up.

What is the temperature in your basement?

Id have to check. Id guess low 50s upper 40s. I havent had a problem with pipes freezing yet.

http://www.geappliances.com/search/goog ... 029792.htm

You'd still save considerable energy over standard electric.

Ya im pretty much sold on the heat pump. If i went the coal boiler route I still need a back up in the summer via electric or keep my oil boiler .

LDPosse wrote:Here is what my electric use was like with a standard electric WH

electric_use_2-23-11.jpg

Here it is with the hybrid WH

electric_use_1-25-13.jpg

Did you extract this graphical feedback from a smart-meter?

Canaan coal man wrote:If i went the coal boiler route I still need a back up in the summer via electric or keep my oil boiler .

Not sure why you're saying this. There are threads on the forum that discuss members' experiences with using coal boilers in the summer for DHW. In our current house and our previous house that's what we used, and it has been effective, reliable and economical.

Mike

I have a on demand propane water heater for my hot water. As of right now I don't burn coal ( getting a stove this year), but I have been burning wood fulltime for the last 6 + yrs. I haven't bought any oil since the price jumped to 4 dollars a gallon.

There are a couple nice features about my h2o heater , first it only runs when I call for hot water, and it is programmable . My daughter ( 9) takes a shower and sets the heater to 104. I never have to worry about her getting burned. Also I am not heating the water to 120 - 140 then adding cold water. Yes I know it runs on propane and eletricty, but I have to admit I really love it, Oh and I Never run out of hot water!

Just food for thought.
Good luck in your endeavor

Jeff

lsayre wrote:Did you extract this graphical feedback from a smart-meter?

I'm not sure if I have a smart meter or not.... I've had the same meter on my house since I moved in here in 2006.... Did they have smart meters at that time? My meter still has the silver disc that spins around, not sure if that makes a difference or not.

My first assumption is that if your energy company can feed back to you your energy usage by the hour, you have a smart meter.

Usually smartmeters have a digital display only, with no silver spinning disc. I think in '06 the only places that had them were Berkley, CA & Cambridge, MA ...

If the energy company can monitor and record your electriity usage by the hour without a smart meter, that's news to me.

Look into a Keystoker, works for me. I use my old oil boiler in the summer for DHW. The KA-6 the rest of the year for DHW and heat.