The house I live in has an existing oil-based boiler for both heat and hot water. The hot water tank (50 gallons) will likely need to be replaced in the next few years as it is more than 10 years old, probably approaching 15. I am on well water without a water softener, and I assume that the previous owners never did any sort of maintenance with the current hot water tank. (A neighbor mentioned that there is some sacrificial part that can be replaced every so often to extend the life of the tank.)
I keep reading that the hybrid heat pump water heaters are incredibly efficient, and I hate having to burn oil during the warmer months just to heat my showers. My plumber tells me that it’s a really efficient system and that I should keep it intact as long as I can. He also seems a bit old school in his opinion and preferences, as he scoffs at the idea that I would eventually like to replace the whole boiler and system with a heat pump system instead.
Is there a good place to learn about how my existing system works, and any way to compare to possible savings (or pitfalls) of switching to a new system? Are there other options, such as tankless hot water heaters, that I should consider? I gather that recovery time with a hybrid heat pump water heater will be much slower than the existing system, so should I also calculate for a larger system (65 or 80 gallons)? Two adults live here full time but we frequently host guests and family gatherings, and we sometimes need enough hot water for 10 or so adults to shower. There are three full bathrooms in the house and one day we may add a fourth.
Heat pumps don’t work in freezing temps so replacing your entire system with a heat pump is a bad idea. Heat pumps are very efficient, so adding a heat pump to support your current system is a good idea.
And your plumer is right about it being efficient, at least as far as hot water for showers etc. during cold months. I’m not so sure how efficient that is during hotter months so using a heat pump for hot water during hot months would be efficient though.
Geothermal Heating is the most efficient but also the most expensive(15k-30k ish).
These days, they make heat pumps that work in freezing conditions. Plus, a lot of the heat pump water heaters have the heat pump directly on top of the unit, so if your water heater is in conditioned or semiconditioned part of your house, it shouldn’t ever reach temperatures where it runs into inefficiencies.
Heat pumps are some of the only appliances that have more than 100% efficiency. They’re practically magic, and I think everyone that can afford them should get them. Of course, for house heating, you should still have a backup furnace (my heat pump has an electric backup)
Unfortunately they use a stupid amount of electricity and cost a lot to run. Source: installed 2 Mitsubishi heat pumps last year in northern Maine. Electricity delivery rates are insanely high here.
I guess my info was outdated, thanks for the correction.
Heat pumps work just fine to about -10° and cold climate air to air heat pumps go comfortably to -30, and most maintain >100% efficiency to about -20.
Yet somehow Scandinavia manages just fine with their heat pumps
For the record, my heat pump system works just fine throughout the entire year, including the times in the depths of winter where it drops into the single digits or, in the case of this last winter, below zero on the Fahrenheit scale. (That’d be -17° C, for our Euro bros.) And no, mine does not have resistive electric backup heat.
Unless you live somewhere that drops to absolute zero this is bullshit.