Review: Rheem HP50RH Water Heater - Page 2

blahname · 09-09-13, 12:30 PM

Fair enough. Well done for your domestic hot water then sir. Looks like technology is finally catching up to what the people want!

NiHaoMike · 09-09-13, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blahname

Do you mind me asking a dumb question about that water heater - the heat pump is directly on top of the tank?

Wonder if it might be possible to separate the two without too much piping hassle, or if I would need to maybe circulate outside air past the unit.

I've been looking for ways to heat hot water to circulate under my floors, but haven't found anything fantastic so I'm still hauling wood every year to the woodstove.

The condenser is probably going to be copper tubing bonded to the outside of the inner tank, which you cannot easily remove. You might as well just modify a window A/C.

blahname · 09-09-13, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiHaoMike

The condenser is probably going to be copper tubing bonded to the outside of the inner tank, which you cannot easily remove. You might as well just modify a window A/C.

I would agree with you, and would like to do something like that myself, but only if it's a 220/240V A/C. 120V units are easy enough to find, but have their efficiency issues.

Know of any cheap higher voltage A/C units?

NiHaoMike · 09-10-13, 12:20 AM

Maybe modify a used central A/C?

hikerjohnson · 09-19-13, 09:28 AM

Because I said I would, see below for the electrical usage of most of my household appliances. Note that a lot of them are not constant, but rather cycle on and off, so I am not accurately capturing long-term usage.

In other news, I did in fact install an electric meter on the water heater, I'll post up the energy consumption end of this month, when I have a full month's data to talk about.

Daox · 09-20-13, 11:47 AM

What were you using for hot water before the heat pump water heater was installed?

hikerjohnson · 09-23-13, 09:20 AM

I had an electric heater, which was perfectly good, but I couldn't resist the price subsidies on the new one coupled with the promise of lower electric bills.

I do not have any meaningful data about what exactly my hot water bill was prior to installing the new pump, as I did not have the heater sub-metered until this month. There is an all-electric setting on the water heater, but I am loath to engage it, and spend more money, just to answer an academic question. I might do it someday anyways.

hikerjohnson · 10-02-13, 10:10 AM

One month update!

As of this morning, 32 days since I installed the meter, the water heater has used 91kWh of electricity, for an operating cost of approximately $0.42 per day, and roughly one shower per day. Not too shabby, eh?

I have no idea what the straight resistance heating cost would be, and I don't intend to find out.

Where I lived previously, I had worked out that a shower on my instant propane heater cost me about a dollar, though in its defense, it had a 50 foot uninsulated copper run between the heater and the showerhead.

Daox · 10-02-13, 10:33 AM

Honestly, that seems a little high to me. But you probably have more people in your house than I do. My hot water heater is an on demand electric unit. It draws 9.6 kW when on. Therefore, my ~10 minute shower uses ~1.6 kWh. Hot water use is next to nothing besides my shower. So, your 2.8 kWh/day seems a bit high to me. I do have a pretty low flow shower head though, a Niagara Conservation Earth 1.25 gpm (which I love). I suppose with a 2.5 gpm head that would make more sense.

hikerjohnson · 10-02-13, 01:00 PM

I may have been inaccurate just calling out the one shower; we are a 2-person household, and one of us takes significantly longer showers than the other; we also use a dishwasher on about 2 days out of three. We do have a 1.5 GPM showerhead, which is surprisingly nice.

09-10-13, 12:20 AM	#14
NiHaoMike Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 14 Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts	Maybe modify a used central A/C? __________________ To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her...

09-20-13, 11:47 AM	#16
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	What were you using for hot water before the heat pump water heater was installed? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-02-13, 10:33 AM	#19
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Honestly, that seems a little high to me. But you probably have more people in your house than I do. My hot water heater is an on demand electric unit. It draws 9.6 kW when on. Therefore, my ~10 minute shower uses ~1.6 kWh. Hot water use is next to nothing besides my shower. So, your 2.8 kWh/day seems a bit high to me. I do have a pretty low flow shower head though, a Niagara Conservation Earth 1.25 gpm (which I love). I suppose with a 2.5 gpm head that would make more sense. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

09-09-13, 12:30 PM	#11
blahname Lurking Renovator Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 10 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Fair enough. Well done for your domestic hot water then sir. Looks like technology is finally catching up to what the people want!

09-19-13, 09:28 AM	#15
hikerjohnson Submarine Renovator Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southern Maine Posts: 35 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Because I said I would, see below for the electrical usage of most of my household appliances. Note that a lot of them are not constant, but rather cycle on and off, so I am not accurately capturing long-term usage. In other news, I did in fact install an electric meter on the water heater, I'll post up the energy consumption end of this month, when I have a full month's data to talk about.

09-23-13, 09:20 AM	#17
hikerjohnson Submarine Renovator Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southern Maine Posts: 35 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	I had an electric heater, which was perfectly good, but I couldn't resist the price subsidies on the new one coupled with the promise of lower electric bills. I do not have any meaningful data about what exactly my hot water bill was prior to installing the new pump, as I did not have the heater sub-metered until this month. There is an all-electric setting on the water heater, but I am loath to engage it, and spend more money, just to answer an academic question. I might do it someday anyways.

10-02-13, 10:10 AM	#18
hikerjohnson Submarine Renovator Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southern Maine Posts: 35 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	One month update! As of this morning, 32 days since I installed the meter, the water heater has used 91kWh of electricity, for an operating cost of approximately $0.42 per day, and roughly one shower per day. Not too shabby, eh? I have no idea what the straight resistance heating cost would be, and I don't intend to find out. Where I lived previously, I had worked out that a shower on my instant propane heater cost me about a dollar, though in its defense, it had a 50 foot uninsulated copper run between the heater and the showerhead.

10-02-13, 01:00 PM	#20
hikerjohnson Submarine Renovator Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southern Maine Posts: 35 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	I may have been inaccurate just calling out the one shower; we are a 2-person household, and one of us takes significantly longer showers than the other; we also use a dishwasher on about 2 days out of three. We do have a 1.5 GPM showerhead, which is surprisingly nice.