[BOUTYM]

I'm thinking of switching to a hybrid water heater and wondering if anyone is using one of these things and if you've realized any savings. I can get a $750 rebate for an AO Smith 50 gallon from the electric company.

 

[hillcat]

Do you mean like a heat pump water heater? We have one of those. Definitely some savings. They can be noisy at times. It dehumidifies at times, so consequently can chill the temp of the room (our basement) it's in. The rebate was key for us too.
I remember something about having to install it within a short time frame (can't remember why) and not transporting it on its side. Or maybe it was that you could transport it on its side but only for a short time? HaHa! Not quite sure.
We also have a couple of heat pumps or what they are now calling mini-splits. They are much better at AC than heating. Pretty good at dehumidifying it's like having the AC on high and water/moisture will be covering exterior of windows and walls as nature tries to replace what you have displaced.

 

[BOUTYM]

Heat pump/Hybrid is usually used to describe the same thing in water heaters around here since a hybrid water heater has a heat pump. I hear the fan(s) can be noisy but how noisy is key. I got the idea for a few reasons. First and as you mentioned they tend to dehumidify which would save me some costs in having to run a dehumidifier. Second the cooling of the basement wouldn't be a huge problem for me and at times welcome. Last it would be in the same room as the boiler so could benefit from the added heat the boiler puts into the room.

 

[BOUTYM]

I've been reading that on average the noise is on the order of 50-60 dB which isn't too bad.

 

[twood71]

just seen a pic of a install dam, that appears to be ridiculously complicated?
first look at it and it looks like a solar system bank?

 

[BOUTYM]

just seen a pic of a install dam, that appears to be ridiculously complicated?
first look at it and it looks like a solar system bank?

What kind of unit? There are external units where the condenser is placed outside and there are stand-alone where it looks like a regular water heater only taller. The externals are used typically in areas where the heater location would fall below about 40 F on a regular basis to stop ice from forming on the coils. If a basement rarely if ever sees temps lower than 40 F a stand-alone will work.

 

[Thermodyne]

Heat pump electric is cheaper to run than straight electric.

But neither come close to the operating cost of gas. Problem with gas is that the powers that be are pushing for all gas water heaters to be precipitating units. And that makes for some high install costs.

 

[BOUTYM]

Heat pump electric is cheaper to run than straight electric.

But neither come close to the operating cost of gas. Problem with gas is that the powers that be are pushing for all gas water heaters to be precipitating units. And that makes for some high install costs.

Gas lines were put in here about a year ago and I was tempted to switch but the construction costs didn't justify the savings. Besides, with electric I can still have hot water with an electric heater and a generator when the zombies shut down the gas supply (or the Dems but I digress).

 

[Thermodyne]

Gas lines were put in here about a year ago and I was tempted to switch but the construction costs didn't justify the savings. Besides, with electric I can still have hot water with an electric heater and a generator when the zombies shut down the gas supply (or the Dems but I digress).

Ya the gas needs to be hooked up already for a water heater to pan out.

But at least the gas is close if you ever need to redo the furnace.

I replaced an oil burner with a heatpump and precipitating gas back up with a 1000 gallon propane tank. Took five years to use up the first 800 gallons of propane. I should have made the switch 10 years sooner. Some years I was paying $500 for a tank of oil and using 3-4 tanks a year. That 1960's oil burner was anything but efficient. It would run for 20 minutes just to heat up the cast iron heat exchanger. Then when the stat turned it off at what ever it was set to, it would keep the fan blowing for another 20 minutes to cool it back down. So it was always switching back and forth from chilly to too hot. With that heat pump it just stayed right were it was set.

The house I'm in now has a gas furnace, but the house is too big for a single unit. Its 10f cooler on the first floor than on the top floor. So if the center floor is set to 68, the lower is under 65 and the upper over 72. One thing about it, it keeps the ole lady out of the man cave all winter.

 

[BOUTYM]

Ya the gas needs to be hooked up already for a water heater to pan out.

But at least the gas is close if you ever need to redo the furnace.

I replaced an oil burner with a heatpump and precipitating gas back up with a 1000 gallon propane tank. Took five years to use up the first 800 gallons of propane. I should have made the switch 10 years sooner. Some years I was paying $500 for a tank of oil and using 3-4 tanks a year. That 1960's oil burner was anything but efficient. It would run for 20 minutes just to heat up the cast iron heat exchanger. Then when the stat turned it off at what ever it was set to, it would keep the fan blowing for another 20 minutes to cool it back down. So it was always switching back and forth from chilly to too hot. With that heat pump it just stayed right were it was set.

The house I'm in now has a gas furnace, but the house is too big for a single unit. Its 10f cooler on the first floor than on the top floor. So if the center floor is set to 68, the lower is under 65 and the upper over 72. One thing about it, it keeps the ole lady out of the man cave all winter.

There were quite a few people around here switching to gas even if they recently replaced their oil burners. Claimed they were saving money. Obviously not big picture thinkers. Not to make this political but oddly enough these people are all liberals. You do the math.

A more important question though is can you ever really get a house warm enough for women? And I always have to wonder what women did in the days when there was no such thing as a space heater to put under their desk.

 

[Thermodyne]

A more important question though is can you ever really get a house warm enough for women? And I always have to wonder what women did in the days when there was no such thing as a space heater to put under their desk.

They stayed home, close to a wood burning stove, with 47 layers of undergarments on. And they were not happy! Ever notice the looks on their faces in those old photos.

I actually have mine trained, not to mess with the heat. If I notice its been turned up, I'll flip the master switch off. When she askes if the heats working I'll pretend to check it and then ask who was messing with it. Then after a proper amount of time passes, turn it back on.

 

[BOUTYM]

They stayed home, close to a wood burning stove, with 47 layers of undergarments on. And they were not happy! Ever notice the looks on their faces in those old photos.

They have expressions similar to my wife's when she found out I bought the new zero turn.

 

[twood71]

And they were not happy! Ever notice the looks on their faces in those old photos.

True!, I can remember asking my mom why Grandmaw and My Aunt's never smiled in their pictures next to wash boards and butter churns'

 

[BOUTYM]

Did you see the movie? You died if you smiled getting your picture taken.

 

[norm9278]

They stayed home, close to a wood burning stove, with 47 layers of undergarments on. And they were not happy! Ever notice the looks on their faces in those old photos.

I actually have mine trained, not to mess with the heat. If I notice its been turned up, I'll flip the master switch off. When she askes if the heats working I'll pretend to check it and then ask who was messing with it. Then after a proper amount of time passes, turn it back on.

Genius!!!

Sent from my coal burning bag phone using Tapatalk

 

[BOUTYM]

So I go to pick up my new water heater yesterday at Lowes. I didn't particularly want one from Lowes or HD but it's the same model sold in appliance stores and I got a better price at Lowes than anyone else would give me. As expected with Lowes this wasn't to be a pleasurable shopping experience. The first thing and what always happens with buying online and doing a local pickup is that they never have the stuff waiting when I go to pick it up. Most often I will go get it myself and drag it to customer service (this tends to really throw them off their game which I'll admit is somewhat entertaining even if irritating). With the water heater I couldn't do this because the one I wanted was on the top shelf sandwiched in with some other boxes and I figured they'd probably throw me out if I grabbed a lift and went after it myself (something I've threatened to do before if they didn't get their asses moving). After a few minutes of searching for someone that wasn't on break to get this thing (they all always seem to go on break just at the moment I need something) they produce this guy that on a good day probably didn't do much in the way of logical thought. Rather than stay at customer service and leave this guy to his own devices I figured I would follow him and 'supervise' this operation.

On the way there I tell him he's going to need a lift. This falls on deaf ears and after studying the situation he decides he's going to need a lift and disappears. A few minutes later another guy shows up clutching a piece of paper and asking if I'm the one needing the water heater. Yep! He also does some studying and decides he needs a lift. So off he goes and returns a few minutes later. This is where the fun really starts.

He positions and then jumps on the lift. Once at the top he sees that he is about 3 inches short of where he needs to be to slide this thing off the shelf onto the lift. Do we come back down and move the lift. Oh hell no! Let's try to put a square peg in a round hole. He's wrestling this tall 200 lb box and trying to squeeze it past other boxes against the side of it. I watch as he is intent on trying to get this thing onto a lift that is blocking what he's trying to do. I mention that just maybe he should come down and move the lift forward a tad to make this easier. He rejects my idea and continues his attempt at something that just ain't gonna happen the way he thinks. We've now wasted about 5 minutes with this nonsense.

His next idea is to tip the box over onto the lift since it won't slide past the rails on the lift. So now he has this heater partially wedged between the other boxes on the shelf and the lift rail laying on it's side. After much maneuvering and molestation of the box he gets the thing laying on it's side after removing the outside safety rail from the lift. Down he comes, catches the next lower shelf with the bottom of the box, tips the heater nearly upside down and almost loses it over the side. He stops, repositions the box and continues down. At the bottom he rolls the box off the lift onto it's top so now it's upside down on the floor. He then starts to pull the box back over on its side and it gets away from him and falls to floor. He grabs the top, sits it upright and says "There ya go".

The fiasco continues from there but what comes out of all of this is I once tried to get a part time job at both Lowes and HD and never got a call back. Could it be that I'm too smart to work at these places?

 

[duuude]

I am fortunate that I have some good people at my local Lowes and Home depot... BUT, those days when you cant find anybody to help get old fast..

 

[hillcat]

I remember something about not leaving the water heater on its side for more than like 15 mins. (when transporting) for my particular model.

 

[BOUTYM]

I've read they are not supposed to be on their side and certainly not upside down but it's said that if they are left on their side not to run them unless they've sat upright for 24 hours to let any oil drain back to where it should be. Regardless, given the abuse this one suffered I refused to take it and made customer service arrange pickup from another Lowes. That process was yet another fiasco as expected.

Customer service called the other Lowes and seemingly got it arranged. I got there and they knew nothing of it because the person the original store talked to had left for the day and didn't say sh!t to anyone about it. This of course did not surprise me in the least because I've had this happen more often than not. After 30 minutes they get their sh!t together and someone retrieves the unit. The girl at customer services asks one of the guys there if he can help me load it. Right in front of me he tells her he doesn't want to do it. She takes him off to the side and I don't know what she said to him but he makes the decision to help. He pushes the cart to the front doors and tells me to pull up to the front. Since this fuk didn't want to help to begin with I decide that he's going to do some work and tell him I'm not pulling up to the front and to follow me. It's a busy Sunday afternoon and Lowe's parking is packed so I'm parked with my trailer WAY out in the far reaches of the lot. No need to state how much he appreciated that.

 

[twood71]

fun story lol

Did you end up getting an extended warranty? I'm considering going back and getting the 5 year replacement warranty on these 2 fancy washer and dryer pairs I picked 2 weeks ago. Was needed.

They told me I had 30 days to decide if I wanted the extra warranty.