Rheem HP50RH Heat Pump Water Heater, 50 Gallon

• High 2.0 Energy Factor (EF)
• 3 operation nodes
• Premium resistored anode rod protection, extends tank life
• Standard 3/4" NPT inlet, outlet, and condensate drain connections
• Easily replaces a standard electric water heater

My propane water heater was consuming about 300 gallons of propane a year and costing me about $900 a year. This water heater is supposed to cost me about $230/yr in electricity. With the tax credit and fuel savings, this hybrid water heater will shortly pay for itself and provide great savings and more dependable energy costs -especially since the old water heater was eight years old.

It turned out that the plumber/electrician had little trouble running a new electric line from the breaker box to the furnace room in my house. Hooking up the water heater was straightforward.

The compressor heat pump only operates a few times during the day and even when it operates, it is a quiet hum or buzz (like my refrigerator). Home Depot offers a very long protection package. Very exciting and worthwhile investment especially since new "high efficiency" propane water heaters consume about 260 gallons a year and tankless water heater heaters consume about 200 gallons of propane a year.

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Our family recently moved into an all-electric house that was equipped with an obsolete, malfunctioning solar system. We needed to replace the solar system because it couldn't keep the water hot overnight, so we had to run the tank's heating elements for several hours a day. We were literally burning through money.

We looked into a regular electric water heater, which costs about half the price of this heat-pump water heater, but my experience with running heating elements on my failing solar unit made it clear that the elements run up a high energy bill. We installed this 50-gallon Rheem water heater six months ago and are extremely pleased.

Here's why this unit works so well for us.

Our energy company charges us on a graduated scale for kilowatts used. We have four rate levels, so for the first 600 kWh we pay an average of 15 cents/kWh. When we get above that the rate goes up to an average of 24 cents/kWh. Then the power company adds another 6 or 7 cents per kWh, just because they like to and the state lets them.

The impact of this on water heating is huge. If the heater uses only elements to heat the water, those draw a lot of power and the usage gets into the higher-tier rates real soon, and the electrons get real expensive really fast.

This came into play when we had a full house during the holiday season and set the water heater to operate using the elements to heat, rather than the heat pump. After our visitors left and we set the heater to the "energy-saving" mode, our energy bill dropped $80-$100. There were other variables in play at the time, but nearly all of the energy drop was in the water heater.

We think that this water heater provides value, even though it's more expensive to install. When we compared the price of this unit with a standard electric water heater, this cost about $1,000 more. We also had to beef up our circuit box, which cost about $350. But at a savings of $100 a month, we will get the initial extra investment back in 14 months. Then that $100 monthly saving is money in my pocket for the life of the water heater. (We didn't go with a tankless electric heater because the upgrade to our circuit box to make that functional would have been enormous. It didn't pencil out for us.)

Regarding the unit's ability to heat water, we have no complaints. We push the heat setting above the standard setting and the water is hot and doesn't appear to cost that much more than the recommended setting.

Also, there was a comment that 50 gallons is too small. We have four adults living in our house, and 50 gallons is plenty. It's like any other heater: If every one takes showers one right after another, someone's going to have a cold shower. If they're spaced out, everyone gets a hot shower. Rheem's literature on the unit explains how long it takes to reheat the water, and it's pretty good. Also, I bought a good, water-conserving Alsons 655CBX Fluidics Water Saving Shower Head, Chrome for one of our showers, and I'm sure that's making a difference. I paid a little extra for that, but that also will pay off in the long run on both my water and energy bills. (I advise against picking up any low-flow shower head at a big-box store on the promise it will save water. My Alsons uses a gallon less per minute than something you'd get at Home Depot, which can conserve 15-30 gallons a day more than an off-the-shelf model, or 450-900 gallons a month. The store clerks are clueless about this.)

One thing to keep in mind is that the water heater needs 800 cubic feet of space. Ours is in a laundry room with slightly less volume than that, but it opens up to another room so it has plenty of air to draw from. It also makes some noise, because it's the same technology as an air conditioner and sounds exactly like that. It runs for a while then turns off. It doesn't trip on a lot because the unit is extremely well-insulated.

I think this water heater is ideal for a home in a warm or mild climate, because it draws heat from the surrounding air to heat the water. However, it may be challenged in a cold climate.

P.S. I'm adding this comment one year after I installed this water heater. It has met or exceeded my expectations. I have halved my electricity usage, which has cut my electricity bill by two-thirds during some months because of the tiered rate. And, according to my utility company's website, my house rates lowest on my street for electricity consumed. Considering that other houses use propane to heat or cook, while mine is 100 percent electric, that indicates that this water heater is extremely efficient. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

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While it does work fine in 'normal' mode, it does not in 'efficiency' mode -one of the reasons for using such a water heater. I called Rheem and they sent out a replacement circuit board -but the problem was not solved. The problem is that as the water temperature drops (either due to water usage or just over time), the heater does not start up again until the water temperature drops to 80 degrees. This is regardless of ambient temperatures. Try to wash dishes or take a shower when the water temperature is 82 degrees and you wouldn't be happy with such a heater.

The manufacture's tech people tell me that it is working according to specifications. I don't think this is the case. And if that were the case, don't buy a water heater with such ridiculous specifications.

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Heat pump water heaters can be very efficient and reduce operating costs significantly. They have a compressor unit (refrigeration machine similar to what a household refrigerator uses) that absorbs heat from the surrounding air using a fan with a tube and fin coil on top. This model moves that heat to the water in the storage tank using a tube inside a tube coil on top of the unit, hot refrigerant gas is pumped through one tube and water from the storage tank is pumped through the other tube.

The compressor unit is a far more efficient way to heat water (over 100% efficient) but the heating capacity or recovery rate of the compressor unit is often lower than standard electric heating elements. Heat pump water heaters are equipped with standard heating elements as a backup heat source for times when demand (showers in the morning) is high and the compressor unit cannot keep up. The water heater will automatically switch to heating element operation when it sees the tank temperature dropping too far below the thermostat setting. When a heat pump water heater is using its backup heating elements it is no more efficient than a standard electric water heater (below 100%).

This unit has 50 gallons of storage. For a heat pump water heater to provide real savings it needs to have more storage so the compressor unit can store heat it absorbs during low demand periods and have it ready for your morning shower load. Added storage acts like a battery and improves overall efficiency (savings) by allowing the compressor unit to run more often than the backup heating elements. It also provides more hot water for more showers. The mistake many people are making today is they remove a standard 40/50 gallon electric water heater that can make 21 gallons of hot water an hour (using heating elements) and replace it with the same size (40/50 gallon) heat pump water heater that will only be capable of making 8-10 gallons of hot water an hour much of the time while using its compressor. They should be installing a 60 or 80 gallon model to maximize the efficiency and savings. The difference in cost between 40/50 gallon models and 60/80 gallon models isn't that much and well worth the investment.

I wouldn't pay attention to the Energy Guide (yellow label you see on many appliances) operating costs. Those costs are calculated based on outdated test procedures that do not factor a typical morning shower load; the time when a heat pump water heater is most likely to resort to heating element operation. The Energy Guide estimated operating costs work fine for standard efficiency products but they need to be revised before they will ever make sense for heat pump water heaters.