11–20 of 65 posts
They quote $2,500 10-year savings vs oil. I have my hot water piggybacked on the oil-fired condensing boiler unit that's also used for my central heating, and I doubt I burn more than $250/year total on the hot water side of the equation (in a 4-bed, 4-bath house).
A heat pump water heater seems like a no brainer way to improve efficiency. They're not yet common, but there are many more options available over seas than in America. This project seems emblematic of the challenges facing funding manufacturing initiatives in America. What's funded are the projects that appeal to tech investors, more of a focus on flashy presentation, luxury design, AI, and cloud app features, than…
Big problem in the US is that in many regions natural gas is cheaper than electricity, causing heat pump water heaters to be more expensive for the consumer. So everyone ends up burning more.
The last "intelligent" systems that made sense to me in the home are variable speed HVAC and micro grid / solar / battery stuff.
What is the value add to the customer of making hot water an app that can presumably stop working the next time AWS goes down?
The heat pump will pull heat from inside the house? This sounds terrible for efficiency in winter, as you will need to reheat the room
The heat pump will pull heat from inside the house? This sounds terrible for efficiency in winter, as you will need to reheat the room
Where does it day that? Would be great if it chose inside or outside based on target inside temp (e.g. cools indoor air in summer to heat water for washing and showers)
A heat pump water heater seems like a no brainer way to improve efficiency. They're not yet common, but there are many more options available over seas than in America. This project seems emblematic of the challenges facing funding manufacturing initiatives in America. What's funded are the projects that appeal to tech investors, more of a focus on flashy presentation, luxury design, AI, and cloud app features, than…
Big problem in the US is that in many regions natural gas is cheaper than electricity, causing heat pump water heaters to be more expensive for the consumer. So everyone ends up burning more.
A heat pump water heater seems like a no brainer way to improve efficiency. They're not yet common, but there are many more options available over seas than in America. This project seems emblematic of the challenges facing funding manufacturing initiatives in America. What's funded are the projects that appeal to tech investors, more of a focus on flashy presentation, luxury design, AI, and cloud app features, than…
Big problem in the US is that in many regions natural gas is cheaper than electricity, causing heat pump water heaters to be more expensive for the consumer. So everyone ends up burning more.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Big problem in the US is that in many regions natural gas is cheaper than electricity, causing heat pump water heaters to be more expensive for the consumer. So everyone ends up burning more.
That doesn't make a lot of sense. A modern gas-fired plant is ~50% efficient and heat pumps typically have a COP of ~3 for hot water, so if you take natural gas, burn it to convert it to electricity, then feed that electricity to a heat pump, you'll get ~1.5x the energy you'd get if you just burned the natural gas.
These things sound so obvious when you don't factor in the annoying little details like transmission of energy. System complexity also matters. There's this thing called "total cost of ownership" that paints a more honest picture regarding how these economics interact.
Using heat pumps to solve a problem looks fantastic in operational efficiency terms, but what happens if the control board breaks and the vendor decided to move on? Dumb, slightly less efficient appliances might actually be cheaper and better for the environment in total. If I have to create a pile of e-waste every 3 years just to save 10% on my energy bill for something that is already incredibly cheap in absolute terms, I think it could be argued I've made everything worse.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah this sounds disingenuous. I can also see my heater to 70C if I want, that does not increase its size...
It is a scalding hazard though. At 70°C skin burns occur in about a second or so. The thermostatic valve makes it so that the water that comes out of the water heater is at a more reasonable temperature.
However, the website has some weird vibes as well, like why would you say something like below?
> And some just want Dad Mode for when your teenager needs to finish that shower.