Hello, Fools. Our water heater died on Christmas Eve morning, and we’re now trying to decide whether to replace it with an identical model or go with a hybrid heater. One estimate we have is $6,200 for a 65-gallon hybrid, including installation and electrical, vs. $3,500 for a standard 75-gallon heater. We’ll get more than $2,000 in credits from Uncle Sam and the local power company with the hybrid. Plus, we’ll save money each year on electricity, and it comes with a 10-year warranty vs. a six-year warranty for the standard water heater. Both versions are made by Bradford.
We live in Northern Virginia (the pricey D.C. suburbs), and will get two more estimates today.
Anyone have any opinions about hybrids, or whether the estimates we’ve received are in line with what we should expect to pay?
Yes, the estimate is about in line with what I see other people getting. I have a heat-pump water heater, but installed it myself. The job is no more or less complicated than setting up any other, but the installation price is higher for some reason.
Yes, I save bigly on the electric bill, and though I can’t do a perfect computation, I would expect it paid for itself within a few years.
Frankly, the difference in warranty alone is worth the price, and the rebates and (eventual) savings are just gravy.
I researched and thought about this for about 3 months as a preemptive application of technology. (I am a tech freak.). Did nothing.
For me the fundamental issue is the filter system. You have filters on your HVAC system – very good ones compared the the window screen type things on heatpump water heaters. Dust and dirt will collect on the expansion coils - that will decrease efficiency and lower the rate of heat transfer. The filters I found come out of the top of the tank which is near the ceiling for us.
Our water heater is in the garage. If I lived in say Florida or a southern Georgia and had a water heater inside my house, yes I would go hybrid. I am over 80 and climbing a ladder to change the remove the filter so I can clean it and climb again to reinstall - nah. And my 5 foot tall wife likely will outlive me by 20 or more years.
So until they get a system that is as effective and easy to change filters as the HVAC, I say stick with the big tank of hot water.
These quotes are absolutely ridiculous! You can buy a typical large hybrid water heater at HomeDepotLowes for under $3000, sometimes even under $2500 on sale (last week, for example). And any reputable plumber will charge about $500 to install. If you need new electric lines, and you likely won’t, an electrician will charge $500-800 to run the new line.
Also, hot water heaters are quite easy to replace and it is usually under a 2 hour job for a pro and perhaps a 3 to 4 hour job for a typical DIY homeowner. The most difficult part is moving the thing because it is quite heavy.
I just replaced mine. 500 dollars for the hot water heater, I brought it up to code so I put on two earthquake straps and an expansion tank for another 100 dollars. It took me about 4 hours with all of the upgrades. The hardest part was putting the tank up on the pedestal by myself. (It’s natural gas so you want it raised up in case you have a gas leak, keeps it from exploding) If you have someone to help you it would be an easy job to do.
When I was a teen, my dad and I finished our entire basement. ALL work except one small thing was done by us (took a bit over a year). The one small thing that we didn’t do ourselves was the installation and verification of the flue above the gas fired recirculating hot water baseboard heater. We had a pro come in, connect it, verify it, and certify it as safe.
I think I’ve told my hot water heater story here a few times previously. In 2015, I found a really good deal on a closeout hybrid hot water heater. It was an 80 gallon unit and was on closeout because the manufacturer was closing down. I think it was under $400 including shipping from Oregon to Florida! I had it installed by someone who was already doing work in my house at the time. It has saved me $20+ a month since the spring of 2015. It has some quirks (for one, the display is mostly dead so I can’t really control it anymore, and two, every once in a while it’ll alarm and I have to manually turn the alarm off) and will need to be replaced pretty soon. Here are some photos of it before being installed.
I agree, but I have seen many other people giving similar numbers. My theory is “they’re buying an upscale water heater, so I’m giving them an upscale price.” I wouldn’t know how else to explain it.
Yes, it’s a pretty trivial job for an advanced DIYer, even easier now that Shark fittings exist and you don’t have to sweat solder the pipes.
Mine is a single filter atop the heat-pump portion of the heater, about 5 feet off the floor. (It is not on a pedestal.) Even with a pedestal I would be able to reach it with a 2 step step-stool, and it requires nothing more than twisting a gizmo and extracting the filter. Can’t imagine why they would make it any more difficult than that, but different manufacturers play different games, so maybe others are much harder. Dunno.
For reference, I had a 50 gallon hybrid water heater installed in July 2023. It cost me $4,400. Mine is installed in a clean, fairly dry basement.
To get the capacity I went downstairs to read the label. Which led me to discover it was beeping, and showing a code that the heat pump is not functioning. So thanks for the timely (for me) question that caused me to go down. I had the same code about four weeks ago. It cleared by throwing the breaker for a bit and rebooting it. Which I just did again, and for the moment the code is gone.
The only other issue (or maybe the same issue?) is that sometimes the water is not very hot, and not because it is being over used. I measured it carefully one such time; 100 degrees.
ECC is the code, and yes, it is under warranty. When I texted the plumber the first time - one man operation - he was away on vacation. I forgot about it after that, until today. I really want to get past all the holidays before having to deal with it (and other things).
I would think water hardness is a major consideration. Hard water deposits solids when heated. Can foul heat exchangers. If you have hard water water softener required for premium installation.
Mine is user settable in the app, I run it about 120, IIRC.
Why would that be any different from any other water heater? (I am told to drain and refill the WH once per year, which I have yet to do 4 years later. Guess I should, eh?)
With electric hot water heater, the sediment can build up so much to cause the heating element to over heat and burn out. Gas hot water heaters tolerate hard water better, but they do make a rumbling sound as the solids accumulate. I don’t know about hybrids, but I suspect trouble from the heat exchanger getting encrusted with solids.
And yet you will be hard pressed to find a typical electric water heater with more than a 6 year guarantee, and the standard for a hybrid heater is 10 years. I’m thinking the manufacturers don’t have the same concerns that you do.
Gee, I’ve never collected on a water heater guarantee. Have you? I do know people who replace the electric heating elements to keep them going. But 20 plus years seems typical for gas water heaters these days. The one I have now is 29 years old and doing fine.
No. I’ve also never turned back in a car for the Lemon Law. So what? My individual experiences are irrelevant, it’s when you get to scale and have thousands of data points that it becomes meaningful. Manufacturers have those. If they thought 10 year guarantees for a water heater would be a competitive advantage, they would - unless they expected to payout on those guarantees, in which case they wouldn’t. (Tip: they haven’t.)
By contrast, hybrid water heater manufacturers have decided a 10 year warranty is appropriate. Again, I think they know more about it than you. Or me, for that matter.
Mine heater is set on the front panel. It was at 120 when the not-so-hot water incidents began. I raised it to 125, but have not noticed any difference. If I was unclear - not unusual - the not-so-hot water issues is intermittent, not a constant condition.
