My $600 heat pump water heater is a money pit right now

I spent about $600 extra on a heat pump water heater over a standard one, thinking I'd save on electric bills. Eight months in and the compressor fan just died, costing me $200 to fix before I even saw any real savings. The installer told me these units are finicky in my basement because it doesn't stay warm enough year-round for the heat pump to work efficiently. Has anyone else had reliability issues with these things, or did I just get a lemon?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_fisher4128d ago

Ugh, that's frustrating. Ive heard the cold basement thing is a real problem for these heat pumps since they pull heat from the air to work. Down in a 50 degree basement yours was probably running the backup electric heat strips a lot more than you expected, which kills the savings and puts more stress on the compressor. That fan failure might be a sign you need to either insulate your basement better or just accept the thing is gonna run extra hard in the winter.

karenw2328d ago

Pulling heat from the air" lol yeah my basement is basically pulling heat from a cold rock right now. Totally agree with @claire_fisher41, maybe I should just throw a space heater down there to keep the water heater warm, that'll really save money lmao. My wallet is loving this whole "going green" experience.