I am looking to replace my water heater. Thinking about choosing between a gas water heater or an electric heat pump.
Upfront Cost:
Electric Heat Pump: Net cost $200-$300 after federal and local rebates.
Gas Water Heater: Net cost around $500 after federal and local rebates.
Assuming installation cost is the same.
Operational Cost:
My limited research based on SDGE rates (local)
Standard Gas Water Tank: $0.0107 per gallon
Standard Gas Tankless Heater: $0.0080 per gallon
Standard Electric Water Tank: $0.0614 per gallon
Standard Electric Tankless Heater: $0.0564 per gallon
Heat Pump: $0.0221 per gallon
Alternative calculation:
Standard Gas Water Tank: $0.48 cents of gas to heat up a full tank
Heat Pump depends on the time of the day:
Super off-peak cost = $0.66
Off-peak cost = $0.69
On-peak cost = $0.80
Given that it is cheaper to buy and cheaper to currently operate Gas water heater. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to install a Gas water heater? Any reason why people are moving to heat pump water heaters? I have no Solar.
Mine is gas. Our gas bill on summer is $20. 4 person household and my kids take 20 minutes shower. The only downside, depending how far your water heater to your bathroom, it will take awhile to get the hot water. You can avoid this by 1. install a recirculating system 2. put a bucket under your shower faucet and use the cold water for something else.
We got a tankless gas water heater, been super happy with it so far. Especially with the insane Edison electricity rates.
Like it was mentioned, the one downside is how long it takes the hot water to get to you that first time you turn it on if your shower/sink is far away from the source.
It also saves a bunch of space in your garage which is super nice.
We have a large closet, that only has a gas water heater with tank. If we install a tankless heater there, can we use the remaining closet for storage or is that considered dangerous?
Should be fine as long as the tankless has access to outdoor vent. You also need to install service valve kit & this kind of maintenance kit (you can get it cheaper at lowes - basically a bucket, 2 hose & waterpump + descaler solution) to clear up the lime buildup once a year. Very easy.
Should be fine as long as it’s not obstructed. I don’t know your pipe situation but you could try to move the heater to outside the closet and just have the full closet space to put stuff in. Again, if it’s a pain, probably not worth it.
One thing to measure is the inlet water temperature when choosing a tankless solution. I know this can be an issue in the NE or with well water. The colder the water enters the house the more the heater has to work and as a result may lower the GPM output or even max output temp.
