Water heating can be a real drain on your energy budget. In fact, it's the second-largest energy user for the typical household. Heat pump water heaters are your energy-efficient alternative to conventional units. As a standalone water heater, or as a combination water heating and space conditioning system, they can save you energy and money and reduce your impact on the environment.
Refrigerator in reverse
Heat pump water heaters use less energy than conventional units. How? By working like a refrigerator in reverse.
Refrigerators take heat from inside the fridge and move it to the surrounding air. Heat pump water heaters turn this around, taking heat from the surrounding air and moving it inside the tank to heat water. Because heat pumps move heat rather than create it, they can be much more efficient than conventional water heaters.
You can purchase a standalone heat pump water heating system as an integrated unit with built-in water storage tank and backup resistance heating elements, or you can install a system that combines space heating, space cooling and water heating. These combination systems pull their heat indoors from the outdoor air in the winter and from the indoor air in the summer.
Go green and save some green
The efficiency of a water heater is measured by Unified Energy Factor (UEF), which indicates the amount of hot water produced compared to the amount of power or fuel consumed. The higher the UEF, the more efficient the water heater. Heat pump water heaters are much more efficient than conventional units; a typical heat pump unit has a UEF of 2.7, compared to 0.70 for a high-efficiency natural gas storage system.
In addition, heat pump water heaters are good for the environment. Because heat pumps move heat rather than create it, there's no burning fossil fuels on site, and no greenhouse gas emissions. Heat pumps do use electricity, which creates emissions, but their high efficiency can reduce your overall environmental footprint.
Heat pump water heaters do typically cost more to install than conventional units. However, the savings can make it well worth the investment. New heat pump water heaters can reduce energy use for water heating by up to 50%, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, saving you money.
If you choose to install a heat pump water heater, purchase a unit that is ENERGY STAR® qualified for high efficiency performance.