Heat Pump hot water

[Newcastle George]

Has anyone had experience with a Heat Pump hot water system? Our 200l off peak system is 28yo and rusting at the bottom and there is a NSW gov offer to replace it for free with a heat pump system.

George

[supersparky]

I personally haven't had one George. But quite a few of blokes I used to work with did. They all said that they are quite good. More efficient than the single heating element type I believe. If your present system is 28yo, and going rusty I would call it a no brainer, if you can get it replaced for free. Does it (present unit) have a replaceable anode?

[Dot]

We got the free bee a few yrs ago but boy is it noisy, glad it is not under our window when the ?? compressor thing is going, bit like the air con units noise.

[Newcastle George]

Does it (present unit) have a replaceable anode?

Yes Dave, I have replaced it a couple of times.

George

[dream4red]

George, my experience is with my sister's one at Singleton. She hated it. Said the cold weather gave her luke warm water and the noise kept her awake often. If you are able to sit it a long way from you sleeping area, it may be a great thing, but not directly under your bedroom window. Luckily, Newie is not as cold over night as Singleton, so you may be spared the luke warm temps.

It's free, you have nothing to lose.

[Peter and Sandra]

George we replaced an old in the roof tank system that was 40 years old when we did the reno's and extension 6 years ago and on the advice of two plumbers we just fitted a standard off peak HWS as they said the heat pump jobs don't work well in cold weather, invariably give more problems as they get older and they both had removed quite a few and replaced them with a normal off peak one.
The view was that any money you saved with the subsidies offered in the initial installation and supposed running costs would be spent well within the lifespan of the unit and invariably the heat pump units were not long lived. Never mind the inconvenience of no hot water!
I did as they both suggested and fitted a more expensive and heavy duty heater/tank as used in conjunction with a solar hot water system.
Solar was also considered at the time but it's cheaper to run the heater off solar electricity than have a solar hot water heater.

[Newcastle George]

Peter, as we are currently sending excess solar to the grid every day at just 7c/kwh and mid winter our off peak hws used approx 9kwh/day, would that solar assist the heat pump if a timer was included so that it would heat during the day?

George

[jon_d]

Peter, as we are currently sending excess solar to the grid every day at just 7c/kwh and mid winter our off peak hws used approx 9kwh/day, would that solar assist the heat pump if a timer was included so that it would heat during the day?

Couldn't it still be done with an electric hws?

[Newcastle George]

Jon, I am considering replacing our 28yo off peak system for free, that's why I'm asking.

George

[supersparky]

George, as an alternative to off peak hot water, have you considered getting rid off you off peak system completely and using your excess solar power, through the day to heat your water.
We don't have off peak any more, just a timer on the HWS circuit that turns on around 9.30, turns off around 11.00 then on again early afternoon for an hour or so. We only have a 3kw system, I reckon you have a fair bit more.
Our quarterly power bill is usually around $450, but I do expect it to change with the upcoming price increases.