heat pump water heaters

[jpsmith1cm]

http://www.rheem.com/Products/tank_water_heaters/hpwh/

Anyone install or service one, yet?

Just saw the ad in popular mechanics and am curious as to feedback.

[INTECHBILL]

I've installed a few, the last one my 18 year old daughter and I installed on our swimming pool , after 4 days of operation we were swimming on Christmas day in 95º F water - Most are sold in 5 ton with a scroll compressor with a water bundle wrapped around it, in a fiberglass cabinet, very simple electronics , with flow switch and pressure sensors.. Mine have all been a crappy off-cycle defrost with no reversing valve.., A very pricey unit even for wholesale.. I feel it could fabricate one myself for a lower price if I had the time..

[BrothersHeating]

What about the noise? Do they make alot of noise?

[jerryd_2008]

Rheem lies a bit. There is now a GE model that is energy Star approved with a better energy factor.. See:

http://www.aecc.com/energy_efficiency_ge.shtml

Here is a thread that discusses the new GE and Hybrid HWH issues: http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=461402

[Joe Cool]

I've installed a few, the last one my 18 year old daughter and I installed on our swimming pool , after 4 days of operation we were swimming on Christmas day in 95º F water - Most are sold in 5 ton with a scroll compressor with a water bundle wrapped around it, in a fiberglass cabinet, very simple electronics , with flow switch and pressure sensors.. Mine have all been a crappy off-cycle defrost with no reversing valve.., A very pricey unit even for wholesale.. I feel it could fabricate one myself for a lower price if I had the time..

I don't know why on earth anybody would want 95 degree water. That just doesn't sound very comfortable to me. Unless of course you just wanted to test it out and see what it is capable of.

The question that I have is how long does one of these things take to pay for itself verses that natural gas heaters that they have out there. I know they don't cost as much to operate but the initial money spent on a heat pump is a lot. I've seen these units advertised for $ just for the smaller ones. You could get a gas heater for about 8 hundred. But I'm guessing down in Arizona not a lot of people are hooked up to gas.

Also, how long do you expect those to last?

[INTECHBILL]

Basically these systems are made to sell whenever natural gas is not available or very expensive to run the gas line .. In comparison the heat-pump system will eat your lunch in electricity consumption .. being the biggest problem (DEFROST CYCLE) .. A heat-pump requires a thermal blanket on the pool, otherwise the heat recovery vs. cycle time will never match..The system will spend to much time in defrost and not enough time heating your pool...The system I installed on my pool runs on about 17.9 amps during a full load condition.. If you have gas available use that one... If I had a choice again I would have installed a gas system on mine with a LP conversion kit..

YES 95º F was NNNICE !

[uniservice]

Back in the 80s I installed some little ones in a chain of pizza parlors. They were like a little console unit that was installed in the kitchen next to the big ovens and preheated the potable water for the restaurant. They pulled a lot of heat out of the kitchen area and they were a great concept, except for the flour. They came with aluminum mesh filters for the condenser , and were plugged in no time, even tho the filters were cleaned daily. Manufactured some filter racks and installed pleated filters, and they worked better. Heard that they only lasted about 7 years before they became a nuisance to maintain.