Heat Pump Hot Water Heater vs Gas Hot Water Heater
What type of water heater is best for your family and budget? We
explored hybrid heat pump water heaters or gas water heaters and explained the
advantages and disadvantages of each type of water heater.
If comfort is more important, a gas water heater is your best choice
because it heats up faster and can be used at any time.
However, if saving money (and energy) is more important to you, then a
hybrid heat pump may be the best choice.
What is a heat pump water heater?
Heat pump water heaters use the same technology as room heating and
cooling heat pumps. They use electrical energy to transfer heat instead of
actually generating heat.
In most cases, the system can be retrofitted to an existing thermos.
However, the installation cost is still higher than other systems. Although the
heat pump water heater also uses electricity, its operating efficiency is much
higher than that of a standard hot water bottle. The system can also set night
rates to reduce electricity bills.
Like standard hot water tanks, the hot water tank needs to be heated to
60C regularly to prevent Legionnaires’ disease. Since this system uses air from
outside the house, it cannot work effectively in extremely cold temperatures.
This means that heat pump water heaters are not suitable for colder areas in
New Zealand, such as the central North Island and most of the South Island.
They cannot be used if you have hard or corrosive water that contains a lot of
dissolved minerals and metals, and where there is groundwater.
The cost of installing a new heat pump water heater is about 4000-8000
US dollars. The operating cost of a heat pump water heater is approximately
US$150-650 per year, depending on the electricity bill and the average outdoor
temperature.
Advantages of heat pump water heater:
1) Very low operating cost
2) You can use the night electricity price for power supply to get a
cheaper price
3) Can be retrofitted to existing thermos
4) It can keep warm for several hours when the power is off
5) Suitable for households using medium to large amounts of hot water
Disadvantages of heat pump water heaters:
1) Relatively expensive early installation cost
2) Best results in hotter climates, not recommended for colder areas in
New Zealand
3) Cannot use hard water
4) The water needs to be heated to 60C regularly to prevent
Legionnaires' disease-much higher than the temperature commonly used at home
5) The amount of hot water is limited to the amount stored in the
cylinder, which means you may run out of hot water.
What is a gas water heater?
Gas water heaters usually operate on natural gas. They burned the gas to
heat the water in the insulated water tank to the temperature set by the
thermostat. The efficiency of gas water heaters is lower than that of gas
continuous flow systems, but they will work when there is a power failure.
Advantages of gas water heater:
1) No electricity is needed, so heating continues during power outages
2) Can be placed outside the house to free up space inside the house
Disadvantages of gas water heaters:
1) The operating cost is relatively expensive
2) Greenhouse gas emissions do cause climate change (although the
burning gas is relatively clean)
3) You must pay a fixed fee for the gas supply
