The house I live in has an existing oil-based boiler for both heat and hot water. The hot water tank (50 gallons) will likely need to be replaced in the next few years as it is more than 10 years old, probably approaching 15. I am on well water without a water softener, and I assume that the previous owners never did any sort of maintenance with the current hot water tank. (A neighbor mentioned that there is some sacrificial part that can be replaced every so often to extend the life of the tank.)
I keep reading that the hybrid heat pump water heaters are incredibly efficient, and I hate having to burn oil during the warmer months just to heat my showers. My plumber tells me that it’s a really efficient system and that I should keep it intact as long as I can. He also seems a bit old school in his opinion and preferences, as he scoffs at the idea that I would eventually like to replace the whole boiler and system with a heat pump system instead.
Is there a good place to learn about how my existing system works, and any way to compare to possible savings (or pitfalls) of switching to a new system? Are there other options, such as tankless hot water heaters, that I should consider? I gather that recovery time with a hybrid heat pump water heater will be much slower than the existing system, so should I also calculate for a larger system (65 or 80 gallons)? Two adults live here full time but we frequently host guests and family gatherings, and we sometimes need enough hot water for 10 or so adults to shower. There are three full bathrooms in the house and one day we may add a fourth.
These days, they make heat pumps that work in freezing conditions. Plus, a lot of the heat pump water heaters have the heat pump directly on top of the unit, so if your water heater is in conditioned or semiconditioned part of your house, it shouldn’t ever reach temperatures where it runs into inefficiencies.
Heat pumps are some of the only appliances that have more than 100% efficiency. They’re practically magic, and I think everyone that can afford them should get them. Of course, for house heating, you should still have a backup furnace (my heat pump has an electric backup)
I guess my info was outdated, thanks for the correction.
Unfortunately they use a stupid amount of electricity and cost a lot to run. Source: installed 2 Mitsubishi heat pumps last year in northern Maine. Electricity delivery rates are insanely high here.
Sure, YMMV. But I replaced an oil fired furnace with one. Back in 2021, I had to spend about $900-1000 every three or so months in the winter. My heat pump comes out to about ~$60 a month, or $180 for the same timeframe at the same time of year. My area has relatively cheap hydro @ ~$0.15/kWh (USD) and it was a no-brainer. Even if my electric was $0.60/kWh, it would still have been cheaper in the long run. Note that I only have one of course, so it’s different than your setup, but mine is also a Mitsubishi.
I can’t imagine what it would cost to fill my oil fired furnace tank these days. After doing some research, it seems that heating oil prices in my area are around $5.90(!), meaning to fill my 500 gallon tank, it would be nearly $3,000. Of course, I never ran it empty, but it would still have been around $2k these days… for three or so months. That’s insanity. The heat pump has already paid for itself multiple times over by this point.
It’s important to note that while they sure do use a lot of electricity, they’re extremely efficient. In most cases, they can double (or triple) the amount of heat energy output than energy consumed. Resistive electric heating can’t do that, neither can natural gas, oil, or any other form of whole home heating (except maybe if you’re lucky enough to have geothermal heating, but it could be argued that geothermal is also a form of heat pump).