With a 2 year old and a baby on the way I don't think I could do that. If it were just me sure I'd give it a try.
Heat pump water heater?
- Thread starter Mustang71
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I have not read this entire thread, so I am a bit confused.
We have a ground source heat pump, a Water Furnace brand, that uses well water and discharges into a dry well. It also pre-heats the 80 gallon electric hot water heater, more so in the summer, then winter.
My understanding of a ground source heat pump is that 52* well water runs through one section of the system heating the refrigerant to 52* (or whatever the well water temp is.) and the water is discharged. The refrigerant goes through a compressor, which in effect increases the refrigerant temperature. The increased temp of the refrigerant is transferred to the forced air part of the system. The hot water is also preheated to some degree as an optional add-on system. In summer the process is reversed.
Our system consists of a small hp pump for the well, and two large bladder tanks for storage, for longer well pump on/off cycle times. There is an 80 gal. electric hot water heater, presumably for the same reason, longer cycle times. I am not convinced there is a hot water cost savings due to the large volume that needs to be kept hot.
From what I'm reading in this thread...our system is not at all what you guys are talking about. Our system is about twenty years old with original hot water heater.
We have a ground source heat pump, a Water Furnace brand, that uses well water and discharges into a dry well. It also pre-heats the 80 gallon electric hot water heater, more so in the summer, then winter.
My understanding of a ground source heat pump is that 52* well water runs through one section of the system heating the refrigerant to 52* (or whatever the well water temp is.) and the water is discharged. The refrigerant goes through a compressor, which in effect increases the refrigerant temperature. The increased temp of the refrigerant is transferred to the forced air part of the system. The hot water is also preheated to some degree as an optional add-on system. In summer the process is reversed.
Our system consists of a small hp pump for the well, and two large bladder tanks for storage, for longer well pump on/off cycle times. There is an 80 gal. electric hot water heater, presumably for the same reason, longer cycle times. I am not convinced there is a hot water cost savings due to the large volume that needs to be kept hot.
From what I'm reading in this thread...our system is not at all what you guys are talking about. Our system is about twenty years old with original hot water heater.
You have some sort of geothermal heating mixed with a heat pump. I don't know much about geothermal since I don't work for a company that does it. You are using the earth's heat to heat your water and house.
We are talking about a stand alone water heater that has a heat pump on it and uses the water in the tank to "cool" the refigerant.
Sounds like you have a very cool system.
We are talking about a stand alone water heater that has a heat pump on it and uses the water in the tank to "cool" the refigerant.
Sounds like you have a very cool system.
I'm sure it is a standard 80 gallon electric hot water heater. How it is hooked up I do not know.
NSMaple1
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Yours gets heat from the ground. Thread topic ones get heat from the air.
Geothermal is not cheap now a days and my pond runs dry every summer so it's not for me. A lot of green new build homes , not around here but where I work, use Geothermal or solar panels but those houses go for 500k and up I have the 70s 1700 sqft ranch for under 100k with 5 acres. I would like a wind mill though.
Our geothermal system runs off the house well. No pond needed.
As said previously, we have two large bladder tanks and a low hp well pump. The system kicks on, and slowly uses water from the bladder tanks, when pressure drops, the well kicks on and runs for some time. This is because the low hp well pump and the large storage tanks. The idea is to cycle longer periods of on/off. We have had ours heat pump over twenty years with a small amount of maintenance. No natural gas, no propane bills.
We went to the local Parade of Homes to get ideas before building. One contractor asked to bid the job even though I planned to build it, saying he could build it cheaper because he worked with his subcontractors on a regular basis. I gave him the plans and a spec sheet detailing specifics. The specifics being what brand and model of windows, shingles, insulation type, 9' poured foundation walls (not block), ground source heat pump, 2" x 6" stud walls, 1/2" plywood roof sheathing (not OSB), etc.
He did give me a good looking dollar number for a bid.
However...he did not stick to the spec sheet.
2" x 4" stud walls, air-to-air heat pump, different insulation, double hung windows (not casements), etc.
The heat pump he bid, was thousands of dollars difference in cost... and not efficient in in our temperature zone for parts of the year.
Do your own research what ever you choose.
As said previously, we have two large bladder tanks and a low hp well pump. The system kicks on, and slowly uses water from the bladder tanks, when pressure drops, the well kicks on and runs for some time. This is because the low hp well pump and the large storage tanks. The idea is to cycle longer periods of on/off. We have had ours heat pump over twenty years with a small amount of maintenance. No natural gas, no propane bills.
We went to the local Parade of Homes to get ideas before building. One contractor asked to bid the job even though I planned to build it, saying he could build it cheaper because he worked with his subcontractors on a regular basis. I gave him the plans and a spec sheet detailing specifics. The specifics being what brand and model of windows, shingles, insulation type, 9' poured foundation walls (not block), ground source heat pump, 2" x 6" stud walls, 1/2" plywood roof sheathing (not OSB), etc.
He did give me a good looking dollar number for a bid.
However...he did not stick to the spec sheet.
2" x 4" stud walls, air-to-air heat pump, different insulation, double hung windows (not casements), etc.
The heat pump he bid, was thousands of dollars difference in cost... and not efficient in in our temperature zone for parts of the year.
Do your own research what ever you choose.
We've had our Heat Pump Water Heater (pulls heat from the air) for about a year and a half. Ours is the Stiebel Eltron Accelera 300E 80-gal version w/electric strip heat for backup. We originally had the regular Accelera 300 but it had been damaged during shipping. The company was great to deal with. They replaced it with the newer model (300E) that is even more efficient, quieter and has a control panel on the side of the unit to make it easier to adjust settings.
Ours is in the unconditioned basement, which is great for dehumidification and keeping things cool. Basement temps range from about 55 in the winter to about 65 in summer, so it never has to struggle find heat. We'll be adding a spare freezer a few feet away from the water heater, which should create a mutually beneficial setup with waste heat from the freezer being consumed by the water heater.
This is on a new house, so we don't have a standard water heater in the same space to compare it to. But based on our energy usage, and with 4 people in the house, it shouldn't take too long to pay for itself. But coming in from working outside on a hot day, it sure is nice to walk in past that cold, dry air blowing at face level.
Ours is in the unconditioned basement, which is great for dehumidification and keeping things cool. Basement temps range from about 55 in the winter to about 65 in summer, so it never has to struggle find heat. We'll be adding a spare freezer a few feet away from the water heater, which should create a mutually beneficial setup with waste heat from the freezer being consumed by the water heater.
This is on a new house, so we don't have a standard water heater in the same space to compare it to. But based on our energy usage, and with 4 people in the house, it shouldn't take too long to pay for itself. But coming in from working outside on a hot day, it sure is nice to walk in past that cold, dry air blowing at face level.
I have public water there are 4 wells on my property 2 hand dug and 2 drilled but not used anymore so I have no idea if they actually have water in them. My pond goes dry but there's a pond about 500 feet away that doesn't which is odd. I am pretty interested in the heat pump water heater and I am a professional hvac installer and also know there's a lot of over priced useless crap out there.
Geothermal is cool but not for me at this time.
Geothermal is cool but not for me at this time.
Wouldn't it be neat if you could bury the closed loop type geothermal black poly pipe down a hand dug well?
I have one out front that I no longer use. It's 45ft deep and 5ft in diameter with a couple of feet of water in it last time I checked about ten years ago.
Some type of oblong capsule shaped tank could also be dropped down the well and then back filled. It would make for some cool water for summer air conditioning.
Sure would mine are stone lined I've only looked in them a few times and there was water in them. I have boarded them off tho so my son doesn't fall in one but someday maybe this summer I'm gonna put a hand well pump in it and use it for something useful. They are cool though.
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