hybrid hot water heater

[pacnw]

I meant it as a joke "Hot water heater" implies you are heating water that's already hot. Guess it was a stupid joke lol

I got it.

It is a pet peeve of mine, too. Our dispatcher and most office personnel say the same thing- hot water heater. A few times I have replied back as you did, over the 2 way, and got dead silence back. They do not get it either.

[frodea]

Just like the ice is frozen. ha ha

[Joehvac25]

I got it.

It is a pet peeve of mine, too. Our dispatcher and most office personnel say the same thing- hot water heater. A few times I have replied back as you did, over the 2 way, and got dead silence back. They do not get it either.

Ha ha atleast I know there's one more smart ass like me out there.

[barriefurnacerepair]

I meant it as a joke "Hot water heater" implies you are heating water that's already hot. Guess it was a stupid joke lol

I did a "hot water heater" job for someone.....they kept using the same terminology.....I tried not to twitch every time I heard it.

[barriefurnacerepair]

I haven't done a hybrid water heater. I know they're available in my area. Apparently, the advantage of a hybrid is getting the efficiency of a tankless water heater without the "sandwich" and fluctuations inherent with such systems. A mixing valve doesn't always cut it which is why the mix is done in a reservoir on the tank itself. It's a tankless water heater with a gargantuan mixing reservoir - basically, a tankless water heater that isn't completely tankless, hence the designation of hybrid. That's my simplistic look at it.

There is still a large footprint for such a unit and at double the price, not convinced of the advantage. High demand (150+ Gallons first hour) and high efficiency is the market. The control is flow and/or temperature from what I've read. 2" S636 can be used as well.....200 lbs. Hardness is a big factor too.

[motoguy128]

Finally, the energy savings. Yes, we have lower electricity usage as a result of using this unit in place of the standard electric unit. But it is not shockingly better. I have not actually tried to measure the accurate savings, which would be a bit difficult as my family grew by one right before installation, but if I had it to do over again I would not drop over $1500 on the unit. If the price is below $1000, I would do it.

Neat little trick that helps add a little energy recovery to the heater; if your clothes dryer is in the same space, install a method of dumping the discharge (only if it is electric) in the basement after it has ran for about 10-15 minutes (to allow for the large amount of dampness to be discharged outside first). This requires manual intervention, so it is annoying to try and implement. Anyone with ideas on how to make this automated, please chime in!

BAd idea IMO> Unless you have very, very fine mesh screen on the discharge, all that lint will make a dusty mess of your basement. Lint traps don't catch the fine stuff. Even worse the fabric softner chemicals I believe can be hard on coils, if anything possibly coat them and reduce efficiency and capacity.


I alsways wondered if you could cost effectively core drill through a basement foundation and install just enough ground loop capacity for 2-3k BTU and use a larger tank. I have a tankless, but on average, I'm only using 1500-2000 BTU's to make hot water including a recirculation loop. That what desuperheaters put on out geothermal systems. Just a nice steady 2-5k BTU depending on compressor load.

[beenthere]

Without a reversing valve the evap would probably freeze up below 50

They don't run when the area/ambient is too cold. So they don't need to defrost.

[beenthere]

I did a "hot water heater" job for someone.....they kept using the same terminology.....I tried not to twitch every time I heard it.

I have a hot water heater. Good thing too, since it would really bite taking a shower if it waited for the water to get cold to heat it up.

[Joehvac25]

I have a hot water heater. Good thing too, since it would really bite taking a shower if it waited for the water to get cold to heat it up.

Lol that makes sense actually because I guess it only heats cold water initially.

[54regcab]

They don't run when the area/ambient is too cold. So they don't need to defrost.

Defeats the purpose IMHO. Deactivating the heat pump mode when incoming water temps are the coldest. Anybody who has a GAS water heater can attest to how little energy is used to heat water in the summer. $5/mo in gas use with warmer summer water temps?

IMHO tankless electric water heaters are impractical due to he heavy electrical load, some use (3) 60A breakers. Just don't let the HVAC heat strips turn on at the same time, or you will overload a standard 200A electrical panel in a hurry.

[kdean1]

So you already have hot water and are going to re heat it? Lol jk

I was thinking the same thing. Its just a "water heater."

[craig1]

IMHO tankless electric water heaters are impractical due to he heavy electrical load, some use (3) 60A breakers. Just don't let the HVAC heat strips turn on at the same time, or you will overload a standard 200A electrical panel in a hurry.

I'm going to laugh at all those people that bought electric tankless heaters when the utilities bring demand metering to residential customers. With all the "smart meters" going in, it only takes a click of the mouse to activate peak demand based billing. I bet it will be the norm in 10 years.

[beenthere]

Defeats the purpose IMHO. Deactivating the heat pump mode when incoming water temps are the coldest. Anybody who has a GAS water heater can attest to how little energy is used to heat water in the summer. $5/mo in gas use with warmer summer water temps?

With an average sized basement it seldom gets too cold for the heat pump to operate.

IMHO tankless electric water heaters are impractical due to he heavy electrical load, some use (3) 60A breakers. Just don't let the HVAC heat strips turn on at the same time, or you will overload a standard 200A electrical panel in a hurry.

I think most people that have on demand electric tankless heaters will be scrapping them in the next few years.