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by ip26 1488 days ago
Because photovoltaic got so good & cheap, with no moving parts.

In most locales it’s now more cost effective to heat your water with photovoltaic panels & an electric water heater.

3 comments

Specifically, a heat pump water heater.
So I looked into them because of your comment, and they have a very big drawback of taking a very long time to heat the water. That wouldn't work for me, our water usage tends to be very "peaky" - my system can heat the water almost as fast as you can use it in a shower.

Maybe with a very complicated system with an extra large storage tank, and perhaps integrated with the home heat (so a single heat pump). I feel like the tech isn't quite ready yet, and I don't like being a pioneer.

It seems like a no brainier if you heat with electricity, but not quite ready yet for those who heat with natural gas. Right now it seems better suited for southern climates.

That usually is true if your electricity is generated by natural gas too and you're comparing it against a gas HWH

Rough math is

NG -> Electricty is 50% efficient thermally.

A heat pump can have a COP of 4.2.

100 * .5 * 4.2 = 210% efficient, thermally

A hot water heater powered directly by gas is ~100% efficient thermally.

Personally I do not care about efficiency: I can't sell energy I produce so the point is just heating the water and the load profile of a classic resistance and the load needs of my houses match normally to heat without the heat-pump (witch have a far limited life respect of a classic resistence)...

I use the heat pump mode only when there is little solar for few days where there is not enough overall energy production, otherwise being able to produce 120-130% of the overall consumption (of course ONLY when the Sun shine, so NOT independent as some sell just playing with absolute numbers) why care about efficiency? I can't use the extra energy anyway...

Not at industry scale, I don't think. At least according to these guys: https://www.absolicon.com/