I posted in February about installing a new hybrid hot water heater. Although the initial price was almost $1000 higher, it is supposed to cost less to operate.
6 months later, I have some data. Comparing kilowatt-hours consumed in 2011 with 2010, my average monthly bill is $43 less than it would have been at last year’s usage. So I would expect in a year to save about $515, paying for the extra cost of the heater in less than 2 years.
Of course every year is different, and this is hardly a scientific study. And it doesn’t include the coldest winter months when a heat pump is less efficient. But it is interesting, none-the-less.
Later this month or early next month I will have my solar panels installed, so that will make it harder to track the savings from the water heater as everything will be changing.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Dale // Oct 12, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Do you think you will change your hot water use times – showering, laundry, and dishwasher – to daylight times, or won’t it make any difference?
2 Daryl // Oct 12, 2011 at 6:42 pm
It shouldn’t matter. If we create more electricity than we use with the solar panels, we just get a credit from the power company that gets applied to our night time use or the next bill, if there is a surplus.