A heat pump water heater is one of those things you should never lack in the house. We all want to enjoy hot showers especially during the cold season when all we want is to get some warmth. There is no good sleep like sleeping after taking a long hot shower. These pumps utilize electricity to gather heat from the surrounding to the heating system. This is unlike other heaters that generate heat directly. This means that these pumps are more efficient than the conventional electric heaters. This pump works the same way the refrigerator does but in reverse. You can buy a standalone heater that has been integrated with an in built water storage with resistant heating elements back up system.
A heat pump water heater has an initial cost that is higher than the conventional water heaters. How, on the brighter side, they require less operating costs which is music to the ears of the owner. With such low operating costs, the owner is able to offset the high cost of purchase and the installation prices. Before you can buy a water system, make sure you consider the following things:
Size and the first hour rating
Before getting the heat pump water pump, make sure it can serve all your water needs while still operating efficiently. Some of the information you need to size up the sizes are;
Is the pump water heat tank less or is it the demand type water heaters? You need to know the maximum temperature possible at any given time and at a given flow rate of water. For a demand water heater, you need to be able to determine the rate at which the water flows and the temperature rise you are going to need for your water to heat the way you want it
Is it a solar water heating system? This needs you to determine the total collection area and the storage volume of the water that you will need to meet all your household needs.
Energy efficiency
For you to maximize on the energy and cost savings, you need to know how efficient your heater can be. The energy factor here is all about the water heater’s efficiency as compared to the amount of water you need to heat for the house and the units of fuel consumed in a single day. some of these things you need to put into consideration are:
Recovery efficiency– how well is the heat transferred from the energy source to the water
Standby losses– what is the percentage of the energy loss per hour from the water storage tank as compared to the heated water in the storage tank
Cycling losses– how much heat is lost as the water circulates from the water storage tank through the inlet and outlets pipes.
The water heater is more efficient if the energy factor is higher. However, high energy factor does not mean that the operating costs of the water heater will be lower especially if you are considering the fuel sources.
The fuel type to be used and its availability
You need to consider they fuel type you are going to use before you get the water heater. Again, you need to check the availability of the fuel before you can acquire the pump. Some of the most common fuel types are;
Electricity
This can be used with almost all heat pump water heating systems including the tankless coil and the indirect water heaters. Electricity is available almost everywhere meaning it’s easily accessible and available
Fuel oil
Fuel is also available in most areas. It can be used in indirect water heating systems, conventional storage water heaters and the indirect combination of both space and water heating systems.
Other sources of energy that can be used are propane, solar energy, natural gas and geothermal energy.
