Midea, an appliance and HVAC-equipment manufacturer, announced its heat pump water heater (HPWH), a residential water heater that meets the highest levels of energy efficiency certification, NEEA Tier 4 and CEE Advanced Tier.
Midea said its heat pump water heater is almost four times more efficient than traditional water heaters that use either fossil fuels or energy-intensive resistance heating. According to Midea, the HPWH can output about 4 kW of heat per 1 kW of input, whereas electric storage water heaters convert 1 kW of heat input into about 1 kW of heat.
Midea HPWH uses air-source heat transfer technology to efficiently move thermal energy from the surrounding air into water.
Heat pumps are a cleaner alternative because instead of generating heat, they transfer it, which reduces energy use. Homes traditionally use methods such as electrical resistance heaters and gas-fired water systems to heat water, which are not energy efficient and thus, are high in both cost and carbon emissions.
Air-source heat pumps were found by German researchers to have among the best eco-efficiency of different types of heating systems for two-story dwellings.
Midea’s heat-pump water heater may qualify for federal tax credits, covering up to 30% of the project cost with a cap of $2,000 annually, and for the Home Energy Rebate Program, which has an $8,000 rebate cap for heat-pump installation costs.
(See also: With or without PV, air-source heat pumps are among cheapest residential heating sources)
A key focus of the transition to clean energy is the conversion of HVAC systems from gas or fossil fuel-sourced systems to all-electric heat pumps.
In 2023, as part of Biden Administration’s Investing in America program the Department of Energy announced $250 million in federal funding opportunity to incentivize the domestic heat pump manufacturing in the U.S.
“Electric heat pumps offer a cheaper, more reliable option for heating and cooling that isn’t prone to dramatic price swings and helps to strengthen the nation’s energy independence,” U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, said at the time.
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How come no one questions that the heat is just taken from the “surrounding air”? In winter, where do you think the heat in the surrounding air come from?? It’s necessarily being taken from another source of heat! Probably electric, as in electric coils in your furnace or even your existing hot water heater! This gizmo is only useful in summer or in Mexico. And guess what? They already have hot water heaters on their roofs that consumed 0 energy! Give me a break! Unless the damn thing delivers it’s cold air output to a fridge or freezer, and absorbs the heat given off by it, it seems that the concept an aberration. Why doesn’t anyone ask the hard questions anymore?
You can vent them if you want so it doesn’t use inside air.
They aren’t asking them in every article because they have been answered so many times before.
A current heat pump can function down to -25 C (-13 F). If you are living in an environment that is regularly below these temps you are an outlier. Newer models can function down to -20 C.
Our basement in our home near SLC never goes below the mid 60s F temp nor ever rises above the high 60s even when the outside temp is over 100. The reason is that just a few feet below the floor of our basement is the water table. We will shortly need to replace our natural gas water heater and have been thinking of a 90% plus efficiency instantaneous gas water heater but this might be a better choice depending on the cost and whether or not they have a stainless steel tank. Because that is why most water heaters need to be replaced every six to ten years is because of corrosion making the storage tank begin to leak.
When advocates discuss heat pumps they tend to neglect the part where any required differentials are made up by electric consumption to drive the heat pump itself. On a very hot day a heat pump can be fairly effective at converting hot air into hot water and dispersing cool air into the house, and to a certain extent reversing that process in winter. However, there are limits. In my experience heat pumps will not run cheaper than natural gas unless you have a free source of electricity, i.e. solar, all of which adds up to significant investment…as opposed to a $600 gas water heater.