Will a Heat Pump Water Heater be Any Good in a Cold Climate?

The efficiency of heat pump water heaters is peerless because they use a small amount of electric energy to move heat in the surrounding areas rather than directly convert electric or any other fuel into heat. Most of them also have electric resistance heaters that kick in only when the hot water use is too much for the heat pump heater to handle by itself. The dual heating system is the reason they are also called hybrid water heaters.

In a cold climate, the performance of a heat pump water heater is not going to be as good as it could be. Here are some the reasons for that.

One of the ways in which hybrids can become less effective in cold is about energy use. This type of water heater runs a fan and a compressor to extract the heat in the air and the colder the air, the less effective the process. As a result, the unit must run for a longer time and perhaps constantly to maintain the temperature in the tank. That is going to add to electric bills and dent your quest for saving energy.

An often disregarded fact about heat pump water heaters is their cooling effect on the surrounding space. As the heat energy is sucked away from the air to make the water warm, the temperature of the room is going to fall at least a few degrees. This is not so bad in the summer and could even turn out to be an advantage if you would like the room to be cooler but it can become a problem in the winter. Keeping the heat pump close to the living spaces of your property is certainly a mistake because of the cooling effect. It will raise your home heating expenses and defeat its own purpose. Even the basement may not be such a great place to put a heat pump in the winter. The temperature on the lowest inches of your living space is greatly affected by what goes on in the basement so you do not want it to be an ice age down there unless you are into wearing very thick socks. A heavily insulated floor can solve this issue and placing the unit in a remote location can be even better.

Another issue about using heat pump water heaters in cold temperatures is about recovery times. Even if you get the best heat pump water heater in the market, you will find out that it does not work quite as fast as the traditional hot water heaters and it will be even slower if the air is cold. It is very unlikely you will ever run out of hot water but you might have to turn on the electric heating feature, which will not be that good for your bills.

Despite the above complications, hybrids are the most efficient water heaters in the world. You can save a small fortune with these units as long as you know how heat pumps work and their strengths and weaknesses.