2024 Heat Pump Water Heater Buyers Guide

In this exciting episode, Matt talks about new ENERGY STAR certified products from high end brand names such as LG, SANCO2, American Standard Water Heaters, Bradford White, & More! Episode sponsored by ENERGY STAR.

6:27 - Residential Heat Pump Water Heater Performance in the Upper Midwest Reference Link

Choose an ENERGY STAR certified heat pump water heater for the biggest energy savings, plus find more savings with tax credits and rebates at the links below.

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Huge thanks to our Show sponsors Builders FirstSource, Polyguard, Huber, Rockwool & Viewrail for helping to make these videos possible! These are all trusted companies that Matt has worked with for years and trusts their products in the homes he builds. We would highly encourage you to check out their websites for more info.

[erichresko]

Very cool...sponsored by Energy Star instead of a manufacturer. Adds a lot of credibility for this topic!

[stevengruner]

I installed a GE Geotherm in my place back in 2009 for ~$600 installed after the rebate. and it's still up& running! Saved ~$40/month (fam of 4) over the outgoing old-school electric unit. Have saved $7200 in electricity costs so far.

[johnhorner]

Thank you for featuring these hybrid heaters again. They are by far the best solution for the majority of residential water heating needs. They are a much better choice than "on-demand" heaters due to the greatly improved efficiency and they blow away traditional storage heaters.

[benningtonmcelroy]

Another benefit is these water heaters are easy to run on generator power during an outage. My Rheem HPWH only draws around 300-400 Watts in heat pump only mode compared to the 4500 W of a typical resistance type. That frees up a lot of reserve capacity for other needs or allows you to get by with a smaller generator.

[johno]

I installed a Rheem in 2020 in my basement which is 55 degrees in the winter. It didn’t work so well at 55 so I connected an 8 inch insulated flex duct to a vent under my refrigerator (which is located on the floor above) and the intake on the Rheem. My air temperature at the Rheem intake went from 55 to 73. Our hot water is great all year now. I used 400 kWh a month with my old electric hot water heater. The Rheem uses 125 kWh a month! It’s set on heat pump only and we have plenty of hot water. Also, my house is power by solar so I use the electric savings to power our EV.

[johnpeters]

This is the best HPWH evaluation i have seen on youtube to date. Plumber for 49 yrs retired. I have a HPWH in myhome for 12 years now. Best in an unconditioned area and will make some noise but as mentioned they are getting quieter. Nice job Matt.

[TinkerTry]

Awesome to have Energy Star as the sponsor, love videos like this. I do wish the dB ratings some manufacturers could be trusted, as i’ve had 2 recent Rheem heat pump units where the newest model was much louder (and dB suddenly unlisted). I finally went with 45dB State. I do work near the unit in my open basement, and it’s right under our bedroom. so noise levels are very important to us. I realize most folks won’t care.

[happychips]

Did a Rheem HPWH with DWHR unit on shower drain a year ago. Very pleased with it.

In laundry room in basement. Ontario Canada.

Yes, about 12000 BTU/h cooling when running. Runs about 6 hours in our pretty water heavy using household. Did the 240V version so if heat pump needs service still would have hot water, but never used resistance yet.

Dehumidifier never runs any more.

Replaced a B vent gas water heater, and closing B vent cut high eff gas furnace run time even though it now fights a bit in winter with the HPWH.

Hang up the laundry on racks in same room as it is and laundry dries on them in about 6 hours winter or summer.

Only run the clothes dryer in the winter when we wash bed sheets or a lot of towels. that cuts gas furnace run time as well.

[JamesCusano]

The CDC recommends setting the storage (tank) temperature to above 140F and setting the flow (tank output) temperature to above 120F by utilizing a thermostatic mixing valve (or equivalent component), while OSHA recommends exactly 140F for the storage and exactly 122F for the flow - both agencies intending to optimize for sanitation against biological contaminants like legionella. The EPA recommends 120F for both storage and flow - intending to optimize for efficiency while at least preventing legionella growth (though it won't kill it.) Most water heater manufacturers leave it up to the consumer to decide how they want to optimize, but advise against settings over 140F for long term use due to the extra wear it causes on the system components. State and local plumbing codes determine the acceptable maximum hot water tap temperatures from an anti-scald perspective. In my area, 135-140F storage mixed to 120F flow and tap is very common, with the strategy being to kill in the tank and prevent growth in the lines while still meeting the anti-scald requirements.

[jacknoack]

we installed one in our house because of your videos! It took over a month just to get it because of shipping damage and finding someone to install it because few plumbers wanted to. Its been great with keeping the bathrooms humidity low and cool

[gsmith]

Matt, I put a heat pump water heater in my house eight years ago because of your recommendation all those years ago, and Ive loved it ever since. Thanks for the suggestion.

[davidhoover]

Very cool that your sponsor is Energy Star. I have a Rheem 3.55 and it does something I never expected. It delivers way more hot water in heat pump only mode than our 5, 500W water heater at our previous house. In hybrid mode once, I’ve felt it run out because we ran too much at once accidentally and it recovered the hot water while I was showering. It is powerful! That and it helps cool our garage that we air condition/dehumidify in Florida. Lots of benefits!

[TheXorionas]

In the EU, we usually take outside air in the winter time to heat the water and exhaust to the outside as well. Inside air is unchanged.
My personal setup has a 3 way valve for the air inlet and outlet (costs $40 total). I flip those in the summer months, now it takes inside air and dehumidifies and cools that and exhausts into the laundry room.

[stewartnagle]

I think they're easy to install, even if you're not a builder, which I'm not. The hardest part for me was getting it down the stairs into the basement, because they are HEAVY!

[pbertf]

Have electric panels, so when I needed to replace the water heater I went with a 50 gal heat pump water heater in my garage ! I was blown away by the efficiency, about 4 to 5 times better than regular water heater and I got to cool my garage ! win-win all the way !!

[kperkins]

Installed a Rheem heatpump water heater because of a previous video of yours. It cost about 600 more than the electric, according to my math I made that money back in under 18 months. But it's actually better than that because I'm using the AC in my garage way less now that the water heater is cooling/dehumidifying the space making it much more pleasant to work in during a good part of the year.

One thing I want to point out though is that a lot of ppl say things like "This wouldn't make sense because during the winter I'm paying to reheat the space" However, the units have resistance heat as well just like any old electric heater and most of the time a hybrid mode where the system decides what is most efficient. Thereby debunking the claim entirely.

Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for that video because it's been 3 years now and as far as I'm concerned I'm making money every month with the savings not to mention a more pleasant garage!

[Matt-nrnx]

Disclaimer: I am a DIY guy with a background in

We are a family of 4 in Minnesota. I put in a 80 gallon Rheem Proterra with a 120 degree mixing valve. The heater is set at 140 degrees. It is installed in a mechanical room that is less than the 700 cubic foot limit. It is vented (not per Rheem requirements) into a furnace supply duct that goes up one floor to a register in front of a sliding glass door. Before the T into the supply venting, there is a spring loaded back draft damper to prevent back flow of air from the furnace to the heater. Just under the damper is a T that allows the water heater exhaust to dump into the furnace room when the furnace is on. The furnace supply and return ducts in the furnace room do have 4" adjustable dampers to exhange the water heater exhaust air.

Here are somethings I have noticed. Since the unit ducting does constriction from open down to a 6" duct, there is some additional energy usage but not enough to rip it out. Average run time of the heat pump is around 1.5 hours. No condensation is noted on the ducting except when trying to heat a full tank. The heat pump does not have enough CFM to hold the damper constantly open so we do hear it open and close when the pressure drops enough for it to fall closed.

Would I recommend this set up to other? Yes. The only change I would do is getting the back draft damper installed horizontally instead of vertically.

[markmuir]

I wanted to install one of these in Southern California to replace a broken tankless electric heater. The heat pump was $2k, but the plumbers all wanted $6k-$8k for the install! I was going to do it myself, since the location was perfect, 240V @60A was already there, just needed a condensate line through the outside wall. But ended up just replacing the tankless heater myself for $120. Would’ve taken a VERY long time to recover that difference! Especially since I have solar.

[Rob-Erto]

Definitely the most work I've ever seen Matt do on the show. Great job 👍

[GeraldLeenerts]

Finally found the SanCO2, it is amazing. Didn’t go over what sets it apart from the other units, like a stainless steel tank or using CO2 as the refrigerant making it more efficient, but it’s a start.