Tried a heat pump water heater for 6 months, electric bill went UP 30%

Back in March I swapped my old gas water heater for a hybrid heat pump unit in Columbus. The whole point was cutting emissions and maybe saving cash. First two months the bill dropped like $12, then June rolled around and things got weird. The compressor runs constantly in my basement and it's been pulling 3.1 kWh per day with no hot water, no pool, just two people showering. My energy company says the backup resistance element kicks in way more than the brochure promised. I know they work great in warm climates, but am I just stuck with a cold, expensive basement in Ohio? Has anyone else seen this in a colder state? What did you do?

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pat78113d ago

The placement might be your real issue, not the climate. A lot of people stick these things in a basement because that's where the old tank was, but a heat pump needs a decent amount of air volume around it and some way to get rid of the cold, damp air it blows out. In a tight basement, that air just recirculates and makes the unit work harder, which drags in the resistance heat. I had a neighbor in Cleveland with the same problem, and he ended up ducting the exhaust outside and putting a small vent in the door. His electric draw dropped by almost half after that. Might be worth checking if your installer even looked at the air flow setup, because the brochure math assumes a big open space, not a 800 square foot crawl space.

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