Hot Water Tank Efficiency

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

So I did some math today and it looks like this, some mistakes on it but I'm not rewriting it lol.

So that's the total KW usage of last year, they say that the hot water tank is an average of 18% of the bill, I used that in this figuring.

Long story short I'm looking at 8.5 years to make my money back on the heatpump tank at the home depot price. With the supply house I would guess that would be closer to a 6 year return on the investment after it's all said and done. But that's all based on my current usage, there's only two people living here right now, if kids come later the savings would be sooner. The heatpump tank is 3.3x more efficient than the current tank.

 

[CADplans]

That water heater is a "heat" - "pump",,,

Like a hydraulic pump moves oil,, a heat pump moves heat.

So, if you have a hydraulic pump,,, and the hydraulic pump empties the oil supply tank,,,
what do you have to do?,,, You have to get more oil.

When a heat pump removes the heat from your house to warm the water in the winter,,,
guess where the heat will come from to replace the energy the heat pump water heater grabbed.

You guessed it,, your heating system has to replace the heat the water heater grabbed.

I guess these would be a good concept where you only need to air condition your home?

 

[Zerk]

Scrapping a good item, spending money to buy something more efficient, is typically a bad idea . Unless you are doing it to save baby penguins, and not save money.

This comes up a bit with cars. People think just cause the new car will save them $50 month, it is worth spending thousands


4 year pay back sounds poor to me. Wait until dies.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

That water heater is a "heat" - "pump",,,

Like a hydraulic pump moves oil,, a heat pump moves heat.

So, if you have a hydraulic pump,,, and the hydraulic pump empties the oil supply tank,,,
what do you have to do?,,, You have to get more oil.

When a heat pump removes the heat from your house to warm the water in the winter,,,
guess where the heat will come from to replace the energy the heat pump water heater grabbed.

You guessed it,, your heating system has to replace the heat the water heater grabbed.

I guess these would be a good concept where you only need to air condition your home?

You are correct on that but If the basement is below 67 degrees or where ever that cut off is, it runs in normal mode so during the winter months it will prob just run mostly in normal water heater mode.

Yes in a warm climate this type of system would do very well, I'm thinking to fully utilize the cooling, it would need to be in a open space with a return near it and no supply, the non conditioned air would have to be pulled threw a door or something to reheat the space around the tank, that way it would work in sync with the A/C.

Put it in a closet and it would cool the space too quickly and just use regular mode until the heat loss from the unit reheats the air.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Scrapping a good item, spending money to buy something more efficient, is typically a bad idea . Unless you are doing it to save baby penguins, and not save money.

This comes up a bit with cars. People think just cause the new car will save them $50 month, it is worth spending thousands


4 year pay back sounds poor to me. Wait until dies.

A 4 year payback is pretty good actually, if you look at a new furnace and A/C that someone can spend 6-15k on, there return is often 10 years or more on a system that will last 15-25 years.

But there's also government tax rebates and a increase in property value, that can be calculated in the cost of replacement as well.

My electric furnace works just fine but granted I'm swapping that with a used NG 92% efficient unit that was pulled off a job site. It's sitting in my barn and is 8 or 9 years old I think. It will cost me plumbing in the concentric, gas line and a new A/C coil because the old one is too wide so I'm gonna cut it out and braze me in a new one that matches this furnace.

I like my heatpump but the emergency heat strips aren't efficient what so ever. The new heatpumps are good running down to 0 but I'm cutting mine off at 32. I feel below 32 I'm just trading dollars for hours on my equipment.

With my smarter Tstat I put in, I don't need a fossil fuel kit either, the stat is smart enough to keep the heatpump off while the furnace runs, only exception is defrost mode, the reversing valve clicks to A/C and the furnace has to run to compensate while the exterior coil thaws.

 

[Zerk]

A 4 year payback is pretty good actually, if you look at a new furnace and A/C that someone can spend 6-15k on, there return is often 10 years or more on a system that will last 15-25 years.

Who told you, those were a good idea?
4 year may be so-so. But 10-15 years is stuff I am not allowed to say about people.

Could you imagine if your 401k took 10-15 years to double?


Replacing something that works, typically just feels good.

Refrigeratorsee are big consumers. Spending $$$ your lamp is again words I am.not allowed to use.

Problem is people don't want to feel dumb, or admit it. So they don't admit it.

Most can't do math. The ones that attempt to, often get question numbers. Put to questionable use.

Remember I'm school how story problems kicked everyone's butt. Life is a story problem.

Average, means most people.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Who told you, those were a good idea?
4 year may be so-so. But 10-15 years is stuff I am not allowed to say about people.

Could you imagine if your 401k took 10-15 years to double?


Replacing something that works, typically just feels good.

Refrigeratorsee are big consumers. Spending $$$ your lamp is again words I am.not allowed to use.

Problem is people don't want to feel dumb, or admit it. So they don't admit it.

Most can't do math. The ones that attempt to, often get question numbers. Put to questionable use.

Remember I'm school how story problems kicked everyone's butt. Life is a story problem.

Average, means most people.

Financially investing it's not good, but the return in a home standpoint is a decent one.

I was always told that the worst two things to invest in are cars and houses lol. This proves to be correct.

I'm not going to replace my tank unless the return makes sense.

It's funny because I looked up what the cost of the supposedly high efficient hot water heater yearly usage is and its higher than the one I have! I'm like F that, until I came across the heatpump heater and liked the idea of it, but at the end of the day it's still a metallic tank that has a expiration date.

Rheem does have a nonmetallic tank that they claim will last forever and has a lifetime warranty on. But I wouldn't gain anything by switching to that tank, it's usage is about the same as mine if not a little more.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Marathon Water Heaters by Rheem

Rheem Marathon 5 Gal. Lifetime Warranty Electric Water Heater with Durable Design MR5245 at The Home Depot - Mobile

That one uses $50 a year more electricity compared to what I have now. But I found the technology to be interesting.

 

[Zerk]

Why do you think investing in stock market and investing in house is different? Either way you are taking chunk of money out of your savings to buy something.


If the return on a furnace is so far out that you could put that money in a mutual fund and be ahead, then you have more money.

You have to factor in taxes, installation cost, ect.

Like I said, buying another car to save gas, when you have one is often a bad idea. But it feels good. To someone who doesn't think much they are saving money every day.


The averase person can't do math. The heart wants what it wants.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Why do you think investing in stock market and investing in house is different? Either way you are taking chunk of money out of your savings to buy something.


If the return on a furnace is so far out that you could put that money in a mutual fund and be ahead, then you have more money.

You have to factor in taxes, installation cost, ect.

Like I said, buying another car to save gas, when you have one is often a bad idea. But it feels good. To someone who doesn't think much they are saving money every day.


The averase person can't do math. The heart wants what it wants.

I just looked, my tank is a Richmond and manufacture date is in 2012 so it's 4-5 years old. Unless I find a tank that blows mine away on efficiency, not likely to justify replacement, I still have 10 years of life on this one, maybe more.

Due to water issues I have had to replace the elements in it twice. That's been resolved since I replaced them this last time.