Meet Your Next Water Heater
We’ve had two primary means of heating water for generations: combustion and electric resistance. In addition to natural gas or propane and electric water heaters, a third choice has emerged and its efficiency is far superior.
How does the efficiency of a water heater impact your utility costs? The Energy Information Administration chart below shows 17% of the energy used in a single-family detached home goes to water heating. For the average family, that’s hundreds of dollars per year.
The Energy Information Administration conducts audits of residential energy use. They publish information approximately every ten years. It takes that long to collect such an immense amount of data, analyze the data, create reports and publish the information.
How much could you save in a year? Heat pump water heaters are up to 75% more efficient than other means of water heating. You could slash your water heating costs to a quarter of what you’re paying now. That could be hundreds of dollars per year depending on the size of your household.
What allows heat pump water heaters to perform so efficiently? Heat pump water heaters have a small pump mounted on the top of the unit, above the water tank. The heat pump moves heat from the surrounding air into water in its tank. Moving heat is much more efficient than creating it. A heat pump water heater can use less energy than operating a 100-watt light bulb and the process is similar to that used by your refrigerator or a deep freezer… just in reverse.
This product from Rheem is an example of a heat pump water heater available from multiple manufacturers.
The following chart, also from the EIA, shows the fuel used in homes over the last 70 years. We stopped burning coal in homes 40 years ago and have relied heavily on natural gas and electricity. Burning natural gas releases carbon dioxide (CO2). A heat pump water heater can significantly reduce your household contributions to carbon emissions so it’s an attractive solution to people concerned about climate change.
Yes, you could argue that it runs on electricity that’s generated by a power plant that burns coal or natural gas. That might be the case though many utilities offer a rate plan that opts out of power generated by burning fossil fuels. These rate plans are typically a bit more expensive though they generate power through renewable resources.
You might find that a heat pump water heater reduces your bill (much) more than the increased cost for a renewable energy rate plan. So, you might save money and significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
Our next blog post will take a more in-depth look at some strategies you can use to realize even more efficiency. Leave a comment below to let us know if you were aware of heat pump water heaters. Have you installed one? If so, what are your thoughts?