As if a new washing machine wasn’t enough …
I just learned that our state is heavily incentivizing the replacement of gas water heaters with electric, heat pump water heaters. I didn’t even know that was a thing until now. Of course I’d heard of heat pumps, for cooling and heating a home, but water? Sure enough, they are real.
Not only are they real, but they are really efficient compared to ordinary electric water heaters, or even our gas unit. So there’s a lot to like about them, and it’s easy to find their advantages.
Our current gas water heater is 21 years old. We flush it every year or two, so it might continue working fine for many more years, or it might go out unexpectedly any day. I figure if we can get reimbursed for most or all of a new, more energy efficient (and cheaper to run) heat pump water heater, why the heck not?
But are there disadvantages? These are all I’ve come across so far. If I’m missing something, I’d really like to know about it, since I’m not confident a contractor will point it out.
o They’re noisy (not an issue, as it’d be in the garage).
o They require additional maintenance, besides an annual flushing (didn’t sound like it was much).
o Requires adding a dedicated 220V, 30A circuit (also subsidized, to some extent).
o Requires creating a way to remove condensate.
Before getting quotes to see just how much it would actually cost us out-of-pocket, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something that would nix the whole deal. Anyone have one of these, and like or hate it?
Ken