Hot Water Heater

Thinking of buying a high efficiency hot water heater but I have heard that they have problems, any recommendations or experience information would be appreciated.

Question why do you want to heat hot water. Me I have a water heater not a hot water heater. Yes one of pet peeves and I hate seeing it termed wrong.

As for those new water heaters I have heard both good and bad

Gas or electric?

Probably save more power with a 1/2 gallon under the sink water heater . Saves running all that previously heated water down the drain while waiting for hot water from the heater .

If you have propane + kids , check out tankless water heaters , Teenagers like long hot showers + if power goes out , you still have hot water .

When I hear high efficiency hot water heaters I think a GAS unit right?? If so I have heard bad stories concerning their circuit control boards. However, even if a conventional electric hot water heater they seem to be improving in efficiency over the years.

Much of the inefficiency in old school tank type hot water heaters is heat loss a) To the environment and b) A lot is attributed to heat loss in transmission from the tank to the faucet. All the time you're waiting for hot water at the faucet cold water is entering the tank grrrrrrrrrrrr. Those inefficiencies and heat losses can be reduced by instant on demand hot water heaters (no inefficient heat loosing storage tank) and also as mentioned by placement of the heater right at say the kitchen sink or bath areas. Now if a guy had an instant on demand hot water heater say in the kitchen and another such unit in the bath Id say that will save energy versus conventional tank units located further away.

John T

He could be talking about an electric heat pump water heater.

Rich
Heater

I assume you are talking about the electric hybrid/heat pump water heaters. I bought a 50 gallon AO Smith unit two years ago when I built my new house here at the farm. The unit can run in 3 modes, heat pump only (most efficient), hybrid mode which is heat pump unless you have a big draw then the elements kick in too or electric elements only. Mine sits in the furnace/utility room in a full basement of a ranch house so plenty of "heat sink" available for it. The room is walled off from the rest of the basement and walls are insulated so the "air conditioning" effect of the heat pump running doesn't cool the rest of the basement.

My unit did have a failure of the heat pump unit back in December right a little under the 2 year mark. Basically there was a coil leak and all the refrigerant escaped. It defaulted to heating elements only so I still had hot water. This was the first failure of this kind that the AO Smith dealer I bought it from had ever seen. AO Smith replaced it under warranty with zero hassle I only had to pay like $100 to have the replacement installed as the warranty only covered labor the first year. I spent extra upgraded sizes as only the 50 gallon size was available 2 years ago but now 66 and 80 gallon are offered. They just charged me the difference.

I paid $1500 two years ago for the 50 gallon unit with a $50 rebate from my electric cooperative. If I had lived in town with the big power company, the rebate would have been $500 making the net price $1000. I know I'm saving electric over a traditional element only unit. I run mine in the middle mode given I have 3 boys and a wife and we all like long showers. If if was just a couple people, you probably could get away with running it in heat pump only mode and save even more. Actually, running multiple laundry loads back to back on warm or hot with the fast Speed Queen washer draws down the hot water faster than showers. I have also insulated most of my hot water pipes and that helps as well.

I had looked at getting a powered exhaust propane gas high efficiency unit but decided I didn't want the complications of another pair intake/exhaust PVC's to route through a relatively small space given the design my house/basement. I ended up with propane stove and furnace (with heat pump AC unit as well) but electric dryer and water heater. I also pre-wired for an electric stove if we ever want to switch later. So far I like mine even with the failure and would buy one again. Maintenance would be draining the tank at least once a year and checking the anode rod at least every 3 years and replacing it when needed just like any other water heater. Mike

(quoted from post at 12:10:13 02/22/18) Question why do you want to heat hot water. Me I have a water heater not a hot water heater. Yes one of pet peeves and I hate seeing it termed wrong.

As for those new water heaters I have heard both good and bad

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X-2

Dusty

saved me the trouble to type. Agree

LOL I never have been able to figure out why people call a water heater a hot water heater since once the water is hot here is no need to heat it again

(quoted from post at 19:36:09 02/22/18) LOL I never have been able to figure out why people call a water heater a hot water heater since once the water is hot here is no need to heat it again

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Once in a while we encounter booster heaters or hot water heaters that take it from 120 to around 180

Our tankless requires 120v power to ignite.

(quoted from post at 06:37:33 02/23/18) Our tankless requires 120v power to ignite.

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Mine also ... Even worst with no power it will not flow water on the hot water side,,, the real bad my new bath shuts off the water flow if it detects no water flow on the hot water side... I can't ever take a cold shower...

Other than that I like my NG Tank-less...

Never heard of a high efficiency "hot water heater". Perhaps you mean high efficiency "water heater".

I had an early gas tankless heater,it was great except one big problem. Our house was new and it was tight,when the gas furnace came on, the water heater back drafted and in the winter it froze the heat exchanger. the new ones are freeze proof,the heater comes on if it gets too cold. I replaced mine with an electric tankless one. I really do not like the electric one,inconsistent temperature and three 50 amp circuits to run it. I really do not think a $1000.00 water heater will ever pay for itself in savings,but if I want to tank a three hour shower I can.

It seems the higher the "efficiency" is also translates into the manufacturer "efficiency" in getting more of your money.

You might explore getting a "run-of-the-mill mid range water heater and "super insulating" the heater.

My problem with the heat pump water heaters are;

1) When I am trying to heat the house, they are pulling energy from the warm house to heat the water, so then I have to add more
heat to the warm house.

2) The real efficiency of the water heater system is the combination of the system used to heat the house times the efficiency
of the water heater.

3) The cost of the heat pump water systems would take years to repay in terms of energy savings (if at all).

Of course in the summer time, there would be some benefit of pulling cooling the space around the water heater.

Regards
Rich

(quoted from post at 07:49:59 02/23/18) I had an early gas tankless heater,it was great except one big problem. Our house was new and it was tight,when the gas furnace came on, the water heater back drafted and in the winter it froze the heat exchanger. the new ones are freeze proof,the heater comes on if it gets too cold. I replaced mine with an electric tankless one. I really do not like the electric one,inconsistent temperature and three 50 amp circuits to run it. I really do not think a $1000.00 water heater will ever pay for itself in savings,but if I want to tank a three hour shower I can.

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Are a $2500 one as far as that goes... Fact its outside its not going to damage my floor BTDT and could have brought 10 $2500 heaters... I will never have to craw under the house to fix a leaking pipe at the hot water heater are drag in/out another hot water heater... If y'all hot water heater haters don't like it well you can kiss my a$$ find sum'N else to show you are a smart a$$ about... Folks know what he's talking about Sheeees...

I am talking about a 40 gal heater that has a blower to exhaust the exhaust gases and can be vented with PVC pipe , no chimney

As I understand it, the problem with high-efficiency gas heaters is that they don't get hot enough to drive out all the condensation, leading to premature rusting. I've never had one, but a friend went through several that were "professionally" installed. I helped him replace the last one, and we saw that the previous heater had been installed without the water trap that goes between the vent blower and PVC chimney, so any water condensing in the chimney would run down into the heater. We installed it with the water trap, which we connected to a drain. So far he's had it two years so it's too early to see if that fixes the premature failure problem.

We installed several at work. There were ignition failures on some. They used outside air. Inside, the burner was an inverted basket with very small holes. They became clogged with debris pulled in from outside.

IME everything labeled "HE" is about like slapping a "NEW!!! IMPROVED!!!" label =on a detergent container. It will cost twice as much, work half as well and drive you nuts 10X faster than what you used to use.

Someplace I read where a guy loved going into big box stores and ask the younger clerks where the Cold Water Heaters are. The feedback from multiple clerks was quite entertaining.