pasadena_commut
Well-Known Member
Our gas water heater will be 30 years old this year, and the manufacturer (American Water Heaters) lists it now as "obsolete", so there are no replacement parts available. Other than anode rods, which are generic. Consequently I am looking into replacing the WH. We only have two gas appliances, the furnace and the current water heater, and I would like to replace them both with heat pumps. This is southern California, so it only gets below freezing for a day or two a year. Maybe even less going forward with global warming. Once those are both electric the economic case for solar panels will be more favorable, even if we don't sell any excess power to SCE.
The water heater is in a utility closet with the furnace in the middle of the house. There is a dedicated 15A circuit to that closet, but the furnace maximum current draw is just under 9A, and 6A isn't enough for any heat pump WH. So we will need another circuit into that space ("ka-ching" says the electrician.) We probably could get by without a backup heating element, as we don't use very much hot water. The other problem is air flow, which is essentially absent in that closet. It has a wire screen "ceiling" to the attic, but is closed on all 4 sides and the floor. I don't think it will be enough circulation to keep an integrated HPWH happy. However, the attic is straight up about 4 feet, and putting the heat pump there would work, except possibly on the coldest days of the year. In the summer the attic is well over 100F during the day for months at a time. Moving some of that heat into the tank would cool the attic a little, which would be a plus. So putting the heat pump up there and the tank in the closet below it might be good. Other than the whole "I can't find anybody who sells a heat pump water heater with a remote heat pump" issue! Does such a thing exist?
My dream set up has a single heat pump outside which can move heat both to the furnace replacement (minisplits or whatever) and into the water tank. While I have seen some experimental or startup company rigs like that, nothing yet from a major manufacturer like Rheem.
On a somewhat related note, the integrated HPWH units are quite tall. I can just barely change the anode on our conventional 40 gallon gas WH because the distance from the top to the ceiling is just enough to pull the rod out. How much vertical clearance do the integrated HPWHs need to be able to change their anode rod?
Thanks.
The water heater is in a utility closet with the furnace in the middle of the house. There is a dedicated 15A circuit to that closet, but the furnace maximum current draw is just under 9A, and 6A isn't enough for any heat pump WH. So we will need another circuit into that space ("ka-ching" says the electrician.) We probably could get by without a backup heating element, as we don't use very much hot water. The other problem is air flow, which is essentially absent in that closet. It has a wire screen "ceiling" to the attic, but is closed on all 4 sides and the floor. I don't think it will be enough circulation to keep an integrated HPWH happy. However, the attic is straight up about 4 feet, and putting the heat pump there would work, except possibly on the coldest days of the year. In the summer the attic is well over 100F during the day for months at a time. Moving some of that heat into the tank would cool the attic a little, which would be a plus. So putting the heat pump up there and the tank in the closet below it might be good. Other than the whole "I can't find anybody who sells a heat pump water heater with a remote heat pump" issue! Does such a thing exist?
My dream set up has a single heat pump outside which can move heat both to the furnace replacement (minisplits or whatever) and into the water tank. While I have seen some experimental or startup company rigs like that, nothing yet from a major manufacturer like Rheem.
On a somewhat related note, the integrated HPWH units are quite tall. I can just barely change the anode on our conventional 40 gallon gas WH because the distance from the top to the ceiling is just enough to pull the rod out. How much vertical clearance do the integrated HPWHs need to be able to change their anode rod?
Thanks.
