The tech costs more than conventional options upfront, but federal tax credits, new 120V models and strong savings have made them more appealing than ever.
It’s also more energy efficient and therefore less environmentally burdensome in a lot of cases to use natural gas to generate electricity and transmit that electricity to your house to power a heat pump, than it is to directly pipe gas into your house and burn it even in a high efficiency appliance. This is because a heat pump literally gathers ambient energy from the environment and can typically concentrate 4x as much heat per unit electricity input than the electricity itself can provide if directly converted into heat.
Basically, they’re the closest thing we have to one of those fake overunity machines where a motor turns a generator that’s powering the motor.
That’s another important point: if you are using a heat pump water heater, the source for your heat is the air in your house. If you have a gas furnace and a heat pump water heater, all winter long you are heating your water with gas, and using extra electricity to do it.
Heat pump water heaters make perfect sense in the summer, though. And they’d make even more sense on the top floor of your house than in a cool basement.
I haven’t seen those offered in my area, but In that case, I’ll have similar criticism in about 6 months, when I have to run a separate AC unit to pull heat out of the house. It’s almost like the water heater should be able to use either internal or external air as a source.
This is example highlights the benefits of heat pumps as the heat from the gas furnace is waste heat from something functioning on an entirely separate purpose that will occur independently from the water heater. In turn this situation benefits the heat pump as it is actually more efficient to scavenge the wasted heat from the gas furnace. It is super odd that your post is suggesting that it is not efficient because it is using “extra electricity” when the efficiency is from reduced running costs(money) and not hype fixating on just electrical usage. On the flipside, a gas water heater will use extra gas to heat the water, too! This is just silly
A furnace puts BTUs into the house. A heat pump furnace pulls BTUs from the atmosphere and pushes them into the house; a gas furnace extracts BTUs from fuel and puts them into the house. An electric furnace extracts BTUs from electrical energy, and puts them into the house.
The heat pump water heater pulls BTUs from the house and pushes them into the water. They use internal air as their heat source. They do not draw heat from the outside atmosphere; they draw heat from the furnace-heated air inside the house.
The two systems are not “separate” or “independent”. The heat pump water heater is daisy chained to the furnace. Both use the same, household air for opposite purposes: one sinks heat into the house, the other sources heat from the house.
And how is it a bad thing that it is making good use of the heat around the furnace to heat up water? You do realize that the electricity in the heat pump also is making some heat on its own.
All that energy can be harvested for a hot shower or bath instead of having a heat pump outside in the colder temps running at a lower efficiency. On top of that, the furnace will not always be running throughout the year, and the warmer months will be more beneficial to have the heat pump than a gas water heater.
I am assuming that the heat pump water tank and gas furnace are in the basement, or garage. not inside the well insulated house…
On top of that, the hot air is directed out of the gas furnace to the house, while the air surrounding the gas furnace is lost heat that can be scavenged by the heat pump. They are independent and work for separate reasons.
I am assuming that the heat pump water tank and gas furnace are in the basement, or garage. not inside the well insulated house…
Ah. That’s the issue. Your assumption is faulty.
Water heaters have water lines leading to them. Anywhere the temperature regularly falls below freezing, the water heater must be located inside the heated structure, not exposed to the elements. Otherwise, the plumbing could freeze. The basement may be colder than the rest of the house, but it is still part of the heated structure.
If your basement, garage, or whatever room contains your water heater is not within the heated structure, you are living well south of Ohio.
The Washington State Building Code Council voted to update the state energy code to require all-electric water heating in new multifamily and commercial buildings.
Until recently, all of my installations had been in basements here in upstate New York. There are several obvious advantages to locating a heat pump water heater in a basement.
It’s definitely not something the south states are alone in installing water heated tanks in basements or the garage.
Where sub-zero temperatures are regularly experienced, you cannot install a water heater or other plumbing in an unheated space. The cold water supply lines will freeze and burst.
It’s rare for northern homes to have water heaters in garages. In the few cases where they are, the tank is installed in a heated alcove or closet within that garage.
-20F winter nights and exposed plumbing do not mix.
Washington basements are heated.
New York basements are heated.
Ohio basements are heated.
Do you understand this now? Do you understand that northern water heaters need to be installed in heated spaces? Do you understand that northern basements are heated spaces?
Did you read the articles where they are talking about heat pump water heaters? There is even a mention of placing the tank on the roof. This is a dead end conversation. I am not going to argue about this as it does not help or will convince people up north how to install their water heaters. Its a moot topic and this should just die. I said my piece and you said yours. I am still convinced that having the gas furnace and heat pump combo is a good way of going about the whole setup.
It’s also more energy efficient and therefore less environmentally burdensome in a lot of cases to use natural gas to generate electricity and transmit that electricity to your house to power a heat pump, than it is to directly pipe gas into your house and burn it even in a high efficiency appliance. This is because a heat pump literally gathers ambient energy from the environment and can typically concentrate 4x as much heat per unit electricity input than the electricity itself can provide if directly converted into heat.
Basically, they’re the closest thing we have to one of those fake overunity machines where a motor turns a generator that’s powering the motor.
That’s another important point: if you are using a heat pump water heater, the source for your heat is the air in your house. If you have a gas furnace and a heat pump water heater, all winter long you are heating your water with gas, and using extra electricity to do it.
Heat pump water heaters make perfect sense in the summer, though. And they’d make even more sense on the top floor of your house than in a cool basement.
There are multiple kinds of heat pump water heaters.
For the one I have, only the tank is inside. The full heat pump is outside, and water is piped between it and the tank.
I haven’t seen those offered in my area, but In that case, I’ll have similar criticism in about 6 months, when I have to run a separate AC unit to pull heat out of the house. It’s almost like the water heater should be able to use either internal or external air as a source.
This is example highlights the benefits of heat pumps as the heat from the gas furnace is waste heat from something functioning on an entirely separate purpose that will occur independently from the water heater. In turn this situation benefits the heat pump as it is actually more efficient to scavenge the wasted heat from the gas furnace. It is super odd that your post is suggesting that it is not efficient because it is using “extra electricity” when the efficiency is from reduced running costs(money) and not hype fixating on just electrical usage. On the flipside, a gas water heater will use extra gas to heat the water, too! This is just silly
A furnace puts BTUs into the house. A heat pump furnace pulls BTUs from the atmosphere and pushes them into the house; a gas furnace extracts BTUs from fuel and puts them into the house. An electric furnace extracts BTUs from electrical energy, and puts them into the house.
The heat pump water heater pulls BTUs from the house and pushes them into the water. They use internal air as their heat source. They do not draw heat from the outside atmosphere; they draw heat from the furnace-heated air inside the house.
The two systems are not “separate” or “independent”. The heat pump water heater is daisy chained to the furnace. Both use the same, household air for opposite purposes: one sinks heat into the house, the other sources heat from the house.
And how is it a bad thing that it is making good use of the heat around the furnace to heat up water? You do realize that the electricity in the heat pump also is making some heat on its own.
All that energy can be harvested for a hot shower or bath instead of having a heat pump outside in the colder temps running at a lower efficiency. On top of that, the furnace will not always be running throughout the year, and the warmer months will be more beneficial to have the heat pump than a gas water heater.
I am assuming that the heat pump water tank and gas furnace are in the basement, or garage. not inside the well insulated house…
On top of that, the hot air is directed out of the gas furnace to the house, while the air surrounding the gas furnace is lost heat that can be scavenged by the heat pump. They are independent and work for separate reasons.
Ah. That’s the issue. Your assumption is faulty.
Water heaters have water lines leading to them. Anywhere the temperature regularly falls below freezing, the water heater must be located inside the heated structure, not exposed to the elements. Otherwise, the plumbing could freeze. The basement may be colder than the rest of the house, but it is still part of the heated structure.
If your basement, garage, or whatever room contains your water heater is not within the heated structure, you are living well south of Ohio.
https://www.coffman.com/news/water-heating-washington-standard/
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/where-does-the-heat-pump-water-heater-go
It’s definitely not something the south states are alone in installing water heated tanks in basements or the garage.
You’re still not comprehending.
Where sub-zero temperatures are regularly experienced, you cannot install a water heater or other plumbing in an unheated space. The cold water supply lines will freeze and burst.
It’s rare for northern homes to have water heaters in garages. In the few cases where they are, the tank is installed in a heated alcove or closet within that garage.
-20F winter nights and exposed plumbing do not mix.
Washington basements are heated. New York basements are heated. Ohio basements are heated.
Do you understand this now? Do you understand that northern water heaters need to be installed in heated spaces? Do you understand that northern basements are heated spaces?
Did you read the articles where they are talking about heat pump water heaters? There is even a mention of placing the tank on the roof. This is a dead end conversation. I am not going to argue about this as it does not help or will convince people up north how to install their water heaters. Its a moot topic and this should just die. I said my piece and you said yours. I am still convinced that having the gas furnace and heat pump combo is a good way of going about the whole setup.