My Pellet Stove - Heat Pump Water Heater Experiment

[Wilbur Feral]

We have been working to reduce our energy usage using reasonable means that don't overly inconvenience us for the past few years, with an energy audit and air sealing, insulation and new exterior doors 5 years ago, the pellet stoves replacing almost all of our heat pump HVAC use in winter, insulating shades in some rooms, and a switch to LED lighting throughout most of the house. One item that I've been waiting to replace is the hot water heater, but at almost 14 years old and almost two years out of warranty, I decided it was a good time to switch it out as I've seen enough of them fail by flooding the basement. The current unit is an 80 gallon electric (4500 watts) that sits in the utility room and is much too large for a home with only two people in it, with good air circulation between the utility room and the finished basement office where the Whitfield Quest sits (have a Quad MVAE on floor above).

My theory is that I have excess heat potential in this room from the Quest that can be used by the new heat pump water heater, that it will help cool and dehumidify the basement in the summer, and a worst case scenario is that the new water heater can always just operate as a regular water heater if necessary (has the same heating elements as a regular heater, in addition to the heat pump, but uses them only if needed). The amount of heat absorbed is apparently not noticeable in most situations, so I don't expect we will even notice a change in air temps. Will likely install it on Friday after this storm passes tomorrow (will be busy running the snow thrower) and we get done hosting dinner on Thanksgiving day for a house full of people. Also, my wife has threatened my life if I endanger the house hot water supply the day before Thanksgiving!

Will keep everyone posted on how this works out, and plan to update this thread over time.

 

[bogieb]

Will be interested to read miore!

 

[JDenyer236]

We went with a heat pump water heater 3 years ago. Absolutely love it.

 

[kofkorn]

Loved ours until the condenser leaked about a week ago. Luckily GE is servicing the unit for free even though the labor warranty has expired. It's just under two years old at this point. Seems to be a pretty widespread issue with the GE units.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Bought the 10 year warranty for just that reason (only $99 total). I never buy those, bit for this, oh yeah...

 

[railfanron]

I'd like to know what one costs to run a month or year. I've been contemplating one for year or so. I have an old propane unit that the cost of operation is negligible.
Ron

 

[Wilbur Feral]

I'd like to know what one costs to run a month or year. I've been contemplating one for year or so. I have an old propane unit that the cost of operation is negligible.
Ron

based on the yellow sticker, about $220 per year, or $352 less than a normal electric HW w
Heater of the same size. A calculator could be used to compare to propane.

 

[john193]

I have the GE geospring. Running on heat pump mode. Two adults in the house. My electric bill jumped less than 15 a month. Probably closer to 10.

 

[Jocko1]

Got a harman p 61a pellet stove and a GE geospring and I cut my oil usage by 90 percent. You will hardly see an increase in electric bill. Geospring is great for a small family (4)

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Update: I installed the Geospring this weekend, and am very pleased thus far. Very easy installation with very good instructions. Ran it the first day in hybrid mode just to see what happened, and it made enough hot water for a nice shower within just a few minutes (exactly like a regular HW tank). Been in heat pump only mode since Sunday and with just two of us here it hardly breaks a sweat. My wife reports that after one load of laundry on sanitize setting, a long shower each, and running the dishwasher on "turbo" mode, the sink water was less hot than normal but usable, so that's a pretty good test for heat pump only, and close to our max use in a day. We'll switch to hybrid mode when guests arrive over Christmas for a few days, and see if that's sufficient (65 gallons first hour recovery). If I had a larger family (especially teens) I would consider an 80 gallon, which I think they make.

No louder than a typical small dehumidifier, and the exhaust air is not very cold (feels like a small fan moving room temp air) nor coming out at anything more than velocity of a small fan running on low-med. I cannot hear the unit from around the corner in the basement, and my wife's desk is on the opposite wall from the unit, with a ventilation grid in the wall. No complaints! Cannot imagine there is any appreciable loss of heat from this in the room, and certainly not enough to be noticeable to a pellet stove user. Basement room temp exactly as before, and no change in pellet stove settings, so just too little loss to notice.

No idea as to energy savings yet but will report back as bills come in. Went from 80 gallon tank previous owners had to a 50, so immediate savings there. But expect this little jewel to pay for itself in under two years, easily. Surprisingly, GE based their stated figures based on running in hybrid mode with a 135F setting. We are running at 120F (the default setting from factory, and plenty hot) and heat pump only, so should save even more than the projected $352/year. If getting hot water from natural gas may not be as efficient, but from any other source (except solar, also) I think these units are a great idea.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Interesting. We are on a reduced rate for electrical consumption for the HWH but at the 'mercy' of the electric company if they want to shut the power to it off via radio control. Never have but it's always a possibility. It's cheap but could be cheaper...lol

 

[chken]

I'd like to know what one costs to run a month or year. I've been contemplating one for year or so. I have an old propane unit that the cost of operation is negligible.
Ron

Depends upon your electricity rates, I believe the Geospring's rating is based upon 10cents/kwh, so you have to extrapolate.

 

[LuvMyPellets]

Just a warning to anyone with the GeoSpring! The condensate hose. Where the fitting is on the bottom of the tray. Be extremely careful around it. They are known for falling off for whatever reason-cracking-breaking and the entire bottom tray has to be replaced. That involves every component in the heater except the interior coils. Mine too was fixed out of warranty for the condenser and 2 days after the guy left I noticed the line lying on my basement floor. I got very lucky and managed to super glue the fitting back on. I knew that was not going to hold so I used some epoxy all around the outside of it and it seems to be very strong now and not leaking! The condensers were made in China-now all parts are USA made and it is assembled in Mexico.

 

[DBCOOPER]

Just a warning to anyone with the GeoSpring! The condensate hose. Where the fitting is on the bottom of the tray. Be extremely careful around it. They are known for falling off for whatever reason-cracking-breaking and the entire bottom tray has to be replaced. That involves every component in the heater except the interior coils. Mine too was fixed out of warranty for the condenser and 2 days after the guy left I noticed the line lying on my basement floor. I got very lucky and managed to super glue the fitting back on. I knew that was not going to hold so I used some epoxy all around the outside of it and it seems to be very strong now and not leaking! The condensers were made in China-now all parts are USA made and it is assembled in Mexico.

(broken image removed)
The GeoSpring is proudly designed, engineered, and assembled in our Louisville, KY manufacturing facility. It is the first step in GE's commitment to invest $1 billion and create more than 1,300 new jobs in the U.S.

 

[john193]

Just a warning to anyone with the GeoSpring! The condensate hose. Where the fitting is on the bottom of the tray. Be extremely careful around it. They are known for falling off for whatever reason-cracking-breaking and the entire bottom tray has to be replaced. That involves every component in the heater except the interior coils. Mine too was fixed out of warranty for the condenser and 2 days after the guy left I noticed the line lying on my basement floor. I got very lucky and managed to super glue the fitting back on. I knew that was not going to hold so I used some epoxy all around the outside of it and it seems to be very strong now and not leaking! The condensers were made in China-now all parts are USA made and it is assembled in Mexico.

do you have the first generation (teal with obvious separation between pump and tank) or the current generation (red and integrated pump and tank).

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Re: post above about condensation fitting: They must have updated this, as mine is a separate, 1/2" NPT tee fitting that screws into the unit, not one that is built into the tray. The tee is a 3/8" barb fitting, for typical 3/8" tubing. Alows it to point down easier regardless of where the fitting stops when you screw it in. Also, unit is made in Louisville, KY as noted above, per info in my box. Suspect you gave an older model.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Depends upon your electricity rates, I believe the Geospring's rating is based upon 10cents/kwh, so you have to extrapolate.

Manual says calculated at 12.5 cents per kwh.

Just checked US average rate because I track our electric use and compare pricing to US and PA avg rates. Most recent data is Sep, and US avg was 13.9 cents, while PA was (from memory) about a penny lower.

 

[jcbyrd24]

Another GE Geospring lover here, combined with the pellet stove I'm now using 50gal per year in oil instead of 6-700. The PS alone still left me at 200 gallons per year, the heat pump water heater dropped me from 200 gallons to the 50 gallon number and paid for itself in 2 years. I agree with the $15/month elec. bill increase number with 2 adults, but we have high electric rates ($0.16/kWhr). Love not having that boiler run in the summer (actually still isn't on yet this year) and the free dehumidification. Mine is the old style blue/gray so I'm waiting for the refrigerant leaks being 4 yearsold, but local service guys say GE will cover everything.

Oh, and my stove isn't in the basement, so I run straight electric November to March, the OP will do great if the PS and HPWH are in the same area.