silence7Heat-pump water heaters are a winner for the climate — and your wallet
Yes, but water heater tanks are by themselves inefficient as it stores heated water regardless of it being used.
If I ever get a house (millennial lol) I’d want to have a tankless water heater. That way supply meets demand exactly.
If I ever get a house (millennial lol) I’d want to have a tankless water heater. That way supply meets demand exactly.
Tankless is crazy LESS energy efficient than a tank heat pump water heater. Why? In tankless you’re having to CREATE THE HEAT. With heat pump tank you don’t. You’re citing the inefficiency of storing a tank of hot water, but the insulation on a decent (not garbage) hot water heater is really really good! The heat loss through the insulation is VERY small. You could turn off the water heater entirely and come back days or possibly weeks later and the water is still hot.
You still have to create the heat for a water tank, too …
KinNectarA heat pump pulls heat from the ambient air and accumulates it in the tank, unlike a conventional water heater which uses combustion or a resistance heater to generate the heat from an energy source. That is why heat pumps are generally much more efficient than other types of water Heaters, including on-demand Heaters which have a very high instantaneous load.
Heat pumps do have their weaknesses though, specifically they lose efficiency the colder the ambient temperature is, so if you live in the arctic circle this might not be the technology for you.
Can confirm, I hooked up an electric on demand for the time it takes for a single shower, it was stupidly expensive. It used way more power than a tank would to deliver hot water in a weeks time (math is fun). I boxed that pos back up and plan to sell it.