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[return to "Pretty soon, heat pumps will be able to store and distribute heat as needed"]
1. jandre+Cr3[view] [source] 2026-02-02 20:48:13
>>PaulHo+(OP)
I've been keeping an eye on heat pump water heaters for awhile, but right now they mostly make sense in warm climates. The big problem is they're still specialty products and marked up like crazy, but also they tend to use cheap components which makes them loud and prone to failure. If you run A/C for the majority of the year then they pay themselves back reasonably quick, barring early failure, but in colder climates they make your house work that much harder to keep the space warm.

The most optimistic hope is that the government mandate will force enough demand that manufacturers can enjoy some economies of scale and actually try to compete on price. I don't think this will happen anytime soon.

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2. gwbas1+KE3[view] [source] 2026-02-02 21:47:53
>>jandre+Cr3
You're about 20 years behind.

My heat pump is working great at 0F. It's 7 years old.

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3. baggac+3G3[view] [source] 2026-02-02 21:52:51
>>gwbas1+KE3
heat pump for house !== heat pump for hot water
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4. Youden+3O3[view] [source] 2026-02-02 22:21:29
>>baggac+3G3
I don't know what it's like where you're living but here in Switzerland it's completely normal to have one heat pump that does both. Here there's a lot of floor heating, which also uses water, so you usually just run one loop to the "boiler" (a water tank with a copper loop for the water from the heat pump to circulate through) and one through the floor and have a valve to switch which is running through the heat pump.

I have one of these: https://cta.ch/en/private/products/ah-i-eco-innen

I got it in October so most of the time I've had it has been <10C. It's produced 806.3 kWh of heating for hot water and 6587.2 kWh for the floor heating. It consumed 302.7 kWh and 1801.4 kWh respectively, for a COP of 2.66 and 3.66.

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5. jandre+Ip7[view] [source] 2026-02-03 20:10:04
>>Youden+3O3
That's a different kettle of fish entirely, largely because with the heat pump water heater they're pulling the heat from the inside of your house, forcing you to move it twice when it is cold out. With a combined unit you only move it once, as the other side of the unit is outside.

That's why they're so great for warm climates though. The water heater also cools your house, especially as that heat is then lost down the drain. Everybody in the south should be jumping on these.

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