Hot water heat pump systems are great for saving energy, but there’s a major problem dogging them like an overly friendly labrador that has been rolling in fish guts. Most warranties stink! I can only think of four brands commonly sold in Australia with warranties I consider close to acceptable.
But have no fear, because I’m here to save you from blindly blundering into buying a heat pump with a warranty so short it could slide under a snake with its umbrella up. When I’m done, you’ll be able to see exactly what kind of warranty risk you’re blundering into. To help you out I’m going to make a ranked list of heat pump warranties from best to worst. You can be sure I’ll do a good job of it because everyone agrees I’m a huge… maker of ordered lists.
But I’m not going to get too carried away. The Clean Energy Regulator lists heat pumps from over 100 manufacturers, which is around 80 too many for me to go into. But many either aren’t available or have only been sold in small numbers. To keep things manageable, I will only rank the heat pumps on our comparison table in the SolarQuotes guide Hot Water Heat Pumps: Choosing The Right One. The 16 brands on the table include all the major heat pump manufacturers currently selling in Australia.
Short Warranties On Heat Pump Parts
A major heat pump warranty problem is rather than having a single warranty period, many manufacturers divide their systems into sets of components and slap a different warranty length on each set. And you can be damn sure the shortest warranty will be on the parts most likely to break down. As an example, a manufacturer could provide a 5 year warranty for the storage tank, 2 years for the sealed heat pump system, and one year for everything else. Some warranties may provide replacement parts longer than they cover labour costs, while some specifically exclude covering any labour costs for replacing some components.
Below are the 16 brands from our heat pump comparison table, showing the shortest warranty period offered for a part or for labour costs for residential installation. The Thermann brand appears twice because it has considerably different warranties between its split and all-in-one models. Brace yourself — you don’t have to go far down the list for things to get ugly:
Update 12th March 2025: I have adjusted the order of this list because it was kindly pointed out to me that towards the end of the Aquatech warranty it says they only cover external valves for 1 year after clearly stating at the start “…covers all system parts and tank in full, with any labour charges for 2 years.” Very sneaky. Hydrotherm was also moved down for doing exactly the same thing.
- Apricus All-in-one: 6 years
- Haier Monoblock: 5 years
- Reclaim/Panasonic: 5 years
- Ecogenica: 2 years
- Emerald: 2 years
- Solahart Atmos Eco: 2 years
- Thermann Split: 2 years
- Aquatech X6: 1 year
- Enviroheat: 1 year
- Evoheat: 1 year
- Hydrotherm: 1 year
- iStore: 1 year
- Quantum: 1 year
- Rinnai Enviroflo: 1 year
- Stiebel Eltron WWK: 1 year
- Rheem Ambiheat: 1 year
- Therman All-in-one: 1 year
- Sanden: 0 years
Of the 18 listed, only 3 provide warranties covering everything, including labour, for 5 or more years. The best the next 4 can manage is 2 years, and then there are 10 that cover everything for only a single year — a length of time not nearly long enough for a pricey household item that should provide years of trouble-free service. The very worst on this measure is the Sanden heat pump that offers a 1 or 2 year warranty on valves that’s only for parts with provision made for labour.
If you want a decent warranty, the top 4 are the only options. With any others, you run a real risk of having no warranty cover if it fails after only 2 years.
Some of the brands featured on the SolarQuotes heat pump comparison table.
Heat Pump Warranty Components
Before I consider full warranties rather than just their shortest parts, I’ll describe how warranties that don’t cover everything equally — which is most of them — generally break heat pump parts into three categories:
- The tank: This is often called the cylinder because that’s what shape it is. It’s where the hot water is stored. It can eventually suffer from corrosion and sediment buildup but doesn’t have any moving parts, so should last a long time. Usually, they’re a steel tank lined with vitreous enamel — which is another way of saying glass. They can also be made of stainless steel without a glass lining, but these are rarely used in Australia because water with high mineral content corrodes them. Tank warranties usually won’t include parts such as the sacrificial anode, thermostat, electric resistance heating element if there is one, and the Pressure and Temperature Relief (PTR) valve. (Sometimes called a T&P valve.)
- The “sealed” components: These can also be called the heat pump components and are the refrigeration parts that draw heat out of the air and use it to warm water. They normally include the compressor, heat exchangers, and piping between them. These parts are sealed to prevent refrigerant fluid inside leaking out. Electrical components and electronic controllers may be included here.
- Everything else: This is typically external valves and anything not included in the first two categories.
Warranties Ranked From Best To Worst
As promised, I’ve made you a ranked list. Deciding on the order unavoidably required personal judgment, but if you don’t like the arrangement, please feel free to take some scissors to your screen and put them in any order you prefer.
The warranties listed are all for residential use. Where they appeared identical I simply put them in alphabetical order. The Thermann split and all-in-one systems appear in different places due to significantly different warranties. The brand names link to their warranty documents. For components, I’ve generally used the same terms as the warranty document:
Update 12th March 2025: I moved Aquatech down the list because it was pointed out to me that what they say at the end of their warranty is different from what they say at the start. Hydrotherm does the same, but the problem wasn’t large enough for me to move them lower.
- Reclaim/Panasonic: Glass lined tank 10 year parts with 5 years labour. Heat pump and controller 7 years parts and labour. Valves 5 years parts and labour.
- Apricus All-in-one: 6 years parts and labour for entire system.
- Hydrotherm: 6 years parts and labour except for external valves which have 1 year parts and labour.
- Haier Monoblock: Tank 7 years parts with 5 years labour. All other components 5 years parts and labour.
- Sanden: Glass lined tank 5 years parts and labour + 5 years pro-rata parts and labour. Heat pump 6 years parts and labour. Tank valves and connectors 1 or 2 years parts only with no labour costs covered.
- iStore: Tank, refrigeration, and electrical components 5 years parts and labour. Sacrificial anode, PTR valve, air filter and consumable items 1 year parts and labour.
- Solahart: Tank 5 years tank parts with 3 years labour. Sealed system 3 years parts and labour. Other components 2 years parts and labour. The 180HDC model has an extra 2 years parts only tank warranty.
- Rheem Ambiheat: Tank 7 years parts with 3 years labour. Sealed system components 3 years parts and labour. All other components 1 year parts and labour.
- Rinnai Enviroflo: Tank 7 years parts with 3 years labour. Refrigeration components 3 years parts and labour. Other components 1 year parts and labour.
- Thermann Split: Tank 10 years parts with 2 years labour. Heat pump unit 6 years parts with 2 years labour. Other components 2 years parts and labour.
- Aquatech: 5 years parts with 2 years labour, except for external valves which are covered for 1 year parts and labour.
- Emerald: Split system tank 7 years parts with 2 years labour. All-in-one tank 5 years parts with 2 years labour. Other components 5 years parts with 2 years labour.
- Ecogenica: Tank and heat pump 5 years parts with 2 years labour. Ancillary components 2 years parts and labour, which include the PTR Valve, Tempering Valve, Isolation Valve, Pressure Limiting Valve, General Power Outlet, and 3-pin plug.
- Thermann All-in-one — Tank and condenser 5 years parts and labour. Refrigeration 2 years parts and labour. PTR valves 1 year parts and labour.
- Stiebel Eltron WWK: Tank and condenser 5 years parts and labour. Refrigeration and electrical components 2 years parts and labour. PTR valve 1 year parts and labour.
- Evoheat: Tank 6 years parts with 1 year labour. Compressor and other components 5 years parts with 1-year labour.
- Quantum: Tank 5 years parts and labour. Refrigeration components plus fan coil and motor and electrical components 2 years parts and labour. PTR valve 1 year parts and labour.
- Enviroheat: Tank and compressor 5 years parts with 1 year labour. Electrical element 1 year parts and labour. Sacrificial anode, PTR valve, and ECV 1 year parts and labour. Installer supplied valves and fitting – no warranty.
Note that while warranties may say they cover labour, this normally only applies within a certain distance of a service centre. When only replacement parts are offered they sometimes won’t deliver them and instead expect you to pick them up yourself.
As you can see, the warranties for these appliances, which can cost thousands of dollars are, for the most part, dismal. But I have some good news.
Australian Consumer Law Helps — But Shouldn’t Have To!
If you have a heat pump hot water system with a warranty of only 2 years or less on the parts most likely to break down, the situation is not as grim as it seems. This is because Australian consumer law provides plenty of protection. You’re covered by Consumer Guarantees that always apply regardless of what the written warranty says. One of them is, “Goods must be of acceptable quality”. This means anything you buy as a consumer must be:
- Safe, durable, and free of defects
- Have an acceptable appearance and finish
- Do everything similar products are commonly used for
For obvious reasons, I’m going to focus on the “durable” part. But before I get carried away, I should tell you I’m not a lawyer and anything I say on the topic is advice of the unprofessional kind. Consumer Affairs or Fair Trading in your state or territory should be able to give precise advice if required.
Consumer law says products must work for an “acceptable” amount of time. If it doesn’t, the business that supplied it must provide a remedy that doesn’t leave the consumer out of pocket. This could be a repair, replacement, or refund. For heat pumps, it’s usually a repair, but it could be one of the others. Not being out of pocket includes not having to pay for labour or delivery costs.
There is no set definition of how long an “acceptable” period of time is. It all depends on the product and how much you paid for it. So if you buy a heat pump with a warranty of 2 years but most other systems in its price range have 5 or 6 year warranties, then I’d say, at an absolute minimum, you should not be out of pocket if your heat pump breaks down within 6 years.
Avoiding key heat pump install mistakes can minimise the chance of problems that require warranty support in the first place.
Express Warranties Make Things Interesting
Determining what an “acceptable” period of time for a product to last is can be difficult, but many manufacturers simply say on their sites how long you can expect their heat pumps to last. Interestingly, the expected lifespans they give are always much longer than what they’re willing to cover in their written warranties.
A basic principle of Australian Consumer Law is businesses aren’t allowed to lie. This means if a company says you can expect their heat pump to last 10 years then the “acceptable” amount of time it should last becomes at least 10 years. This is called an express warranty and refers to any additional promises a business may make about a product or service that aren’t in the written warranty.
If a manufacturer sells you a product they say should last 10 years but it breaks down after 7 and the written warranty only covers 5 years, then under Australian consumer law you should be able to get a remedy at no cost to you — provided whoever gave you the express warranty is still around.
Keep Records Of Express Warranties
To avoid a situation where you try to use an express warranty but the provider is a bastard and denies they ever gave you one, I strongly recommend keeping records of any express warranties given in product documents. Here are some I’ve found for the heat pump manufacturers on our comparison table:
Aquatech: On this FAQ page they say, “The expected life of a quality heat pump is approximately 10-15 years.”
Emerald: As FAQ answer here, they state, “The life expectancy of an Emerald hot water heat pump is 10 to 20 years.”
Enviroheat: They mention on this page that the deemed life of a heat pump hot water system for STC purposes is 10 years, and above this state, “Over a ten year period approximately 30,000 kWh worth of energy is saved”. This makes it sound like you can expect the system to last 10 years.
Evoheat: On this page they say, “If a hot water system lasts its expected 15 year lifespan…”
Haier Monoblock: While they don’t give an “expected lifespan” the figure of 160,000 cycles for the tank given on this page makes it sound like it will last a very long time. If it’s cycled once per day that would come to 438 years.
Hydrotherm: Under Cost Saving FAQ’s, “The expected lifespan of Hydrotherm systems are approximately 10-15 years.”
Sanden: From the Sanden FAQ page, “The Sanden Hot Water Heat Pump is designed to last 15 years.”
There are some manufacturers that clearly have a good understanding of Australian consumer law and refrain from giving any express warranties in their online information that goes beyond what’s covered by their written warranties. But there are others that are either very confident about the reliability of their heat pumps in a way that’s strangely not reflected in their written warranties — or they don’t realise the consumer law liability they’re taking on.
Don’t Risk It
My final advice is — don’t buy a heat pump with a lousy short warranty and then expect Australian consumer law to bail you out if required. While there are plenty of people who’ve had expensive bacon saved by it, consumer law can only help if the businesses involved are still around. Anyone making or installing lousy heat pumps may be out of business — or possibly out of the country — by the time you want to make use of consumer protection.
I instead recommend going with one of the heat pumps that has a more robust warranty than most. Not only are you less likely to have a problem, but both the installer and manufacturer are more likely to be around if you need to make use of consumer guarantees in the future. If you do run into warranty issues, don’t forget to leave a hot water heat pump review to let others know.
Do your own research on the warranties and other features of heat pumps using our comparison table, and consider the results of our installers choice awards for Australia’s best heat pumps. If you’re ready to get a heat pump for your home — we now offer up to three quotes for heat pumps from great installers.
About Ronald Brakels
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great article and certainly a trap for the unwary!
I think it is time that government required written warranties to meet the requirements of the consumer law, and suppliers be fined if they dont. Let them be on the fuzzy side of the law for a change.
While it is great to have a law requiring goods to last an amount of time that you would expect it to, not just a skimpy written warranty period – it isn’t worth anything if you have to go to court to have it enforced, the dodgy brothers mobs know most will just give up if they push back.
Not a trap at all, just a poorly researched article from someone that knows nothing about heatpumps, has never taken one apart, certainly hasn’t read any reviews on product review or the fine print.
All heatpumps are good heatpumps! If I assume they are all of good quality and run for the same length of time in running hours before they fail then heatpumps with more heating power that heat the water faster will last longer.
For Vic
Low power = 2.0kW = 2 people
Medium Power 2.7kW = 3 people
High power 4.0kW = 4 people
This is a good start.
If you get a 4kw heatpump and only have 2 people it will last almost twice as long and if you get a 2.0kW heatpump and put 4 people in the house its going to have its life halved.
High output heatpumps with more power get longer life in calendar years because the need to run 1/3 less than a medium size or half as long as a small power unit.
Classic is the “designed for Australian conditions” 2.0kW heating power unit at 300L of tank capacity will take 9+ hrs to reheat a tank from scratch in winter.
I suppose those are “designed” for Darwin.
I’m awaiting a re-write of the list as the order is incorrect due to the fine print for some models placing them unfairly further up the list
Disclaimer – I work for Istore
Interesting to compare the heat pumps that installers prefer to the heat pump warranty coverage table. As far as I can see only the Panasonic unit appears in the top tier of both surveys.
Maybe the installers preferred data should be combined with the warranty coverage information?
these Heatpumps are installed by installers not manufacturers,
they don’t always buy the same valves and some retailers carry some parts and not others
EG
SANDEN – this is correct and typical as sanden doesn’t supply these parts
Tank valves and connectors 1 or 2 years parts only with no labour costs covered.
– their stainless tanks aren’t warranted in WA at all!
vs
Apricus All-in-one: 6 years parts and labour for entire system.
vs
Haier Monoblock: Tank 7 years parts with 5 years labour. All other components 5 years parts and labour.
**Except they don’t supply any valves and hence won’t wear any responsibilty for those parts or labour either as they werent supplied in the first place
vs
Quantum: Tank 5 years parts and labour. Refrigeration components plus fan coil and motor and electrical components 2 years parts and labour. PTR valve 1 year parts and labour.
and
iStore: Tank, refrigeration, and electrical components 5 years parts and labour. Sacrificial anode, PTR valve, air filter and consumable items 1 year parts and labour.
PTR is included with supply of the unit but is manufacturerd by a 3rd party whos warranty is less.
life of the anode is impacted by use case and local water quality.
the most expensive part of any warranty is the labour component, some manufacturers even ask you to find your own guy to fix it and they will reimburse!
I’ve given up on most warranties now, but on costly stuff, you need to do the paperwork.
What I’m seeing, and I hope that it is not deliberately done by manufacturers, is that in many cases, and I’m not sure about these heat pumps, but I’ve seen it in fridges and air conditioners, there are sneaky fuses almost hidden from the untrained eye.
The modern fridge today can run into being the same price as these heat pumps, and anything made today has electronics to run it. PCBs are everywhere, but when you have something that gets warm, it’s inviting all sorts of creatures to seek shelter. Vermin and insect investation is not covered by any warranty what so ever, and to even get repairs done is all but impossible. Why aren’t PCBs placed in an air-tight sealed container, high up? Just in the last few years, I’m starting to see some very bad manufacturing practices, and when I do contact the companies customer support people, it doesn’t get good.
If a business wants to sell a product in a place like Queensland, it’s got to have a decent level of critter resistance. I think some manufacturers will only learn after they get bitten enough times by Oz consumer law.
Just 1 of many reasons why a resistive and solar diverter is better probably never use the warranty !!
Utterly agree. Our excess solar heats our resistive HWS all year through our catch and we are in Victoria. Look at the difference in price between a heat pump and resistive hws Can buy 3 or 4 for the same price as a heat pump. It’s a no brainer if you have solar. Our plumber states he has taken out more heat pump he’s than he has installed and advises against them in a solar powered house A lot less to go wrong. Easily repaired.
a resistive water heater has the same requirement for vales and they are covered by the same 12 month warranties by their manufacturers
Finn – a pressure cycle for a hot water tank happens every time you open and close a tap as its got 500kpa of mains pressure and when you open the tap on the other side, that pressure goes to zero.
how many times do you turn on the hot tap in the house each day?
on to get hot to bathroom in the sink, off then on in the shower, off for me on for her on for kids etc etc. a typical household will be more like 50 times a day!
The Australian standard requires testing for 160,000 cycles just for a pass.
I note you mention some brands that aren’t sold with any valves whatsoever and thus their warranty looks better until the plumber installs the valves which are needed for its operation and don’t carry a 5 year warranty but rather one of just 12 months like the others you criticise for having short warranties.
A standard quickie installation kit used for the installation of many different heatpumps for its ease of use and high quality parts is warranted by its manufacturer and not the manufacturer of the heatpump.
https://www.wattsau.com.au/our-story/brands/avg.
Disclaimer i work for IStore
Hi. Ronald here. It was my post. There’s a decent chance Finn would know what a pressure cycle is. But even if I knew all about pressure cycles, consumer law is based on what a reasonable person would conclude. All the Haier page mentioned was “cycles” and the 160,000 figure is likely to lead a reasonable person to conclude the tank should last a long time. If the hot water is turned on 20 times a day, that still comes to around 22 years worth of cycles.
From Apricus’s warranty document specifically ref
https://apricus.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Apricus-AIO-Apricus-Warranty-Booklet-Issue03-Jan2025.pdf
10. Apricus Australia does not warrant any installation
work conducted by the installer of the hot water
system or component(s) in domestic use.
11. This Warranty only applies to the Apricus Australia
domestic hot water system and its components, or
component(s) in domestic use and does not cover
any plumbing or electrical associated parts,
including but not limited to any parts supplied
by any person installing the Apricus Australia
domestic hot water system or component(s)
in domestic use.
Exactly the same here couldn’t have said it better !!
Given my limited but unpleasant experiences with heat pumps, I’d suggest adding more solar and keep using resistive HWS until the technology and reliability improves significantly.
Given my original Rheem was purchased 15 years ago, the reliability certainly doesn’t seem to have improved much at all.
IF manufacturers believed they had a reliable product, they would offer far better warranties.
Sorry to hear about your unpleasant heat pump experience. In their defence, they have gotten a lot better than they were in the past. Or at least, a lot of them have gotten a lot better. I’ve also heard good news on reliability from Europe where heat pumps have to work harder than here, so hopefully we’ll see further improvements and longer warranties.
That said, you’re definitely right that good rooftop solar output plus a conventional electric hot water system is a good combination. My friend has 20 kW of solar and runs a conventional hot water system that switches on during the day and it basically never tastes grid electricity. But they also run their heat pump pool heater off it as well and that thing is a monster for energy consumption. If it used conventional electric resistance heating their solar wouldn’t be enough.
A typical warranty for a Air Conditioning unit is 5 years. There should be a reasonable expectation that the heat pumps on these units should have the same warranty.
Here in SEQ I’d be hard pressed to buy one of these units, given that my 8kW solar system can heat 2 resistive element HWS from solar alone nearly every day.
Hello Ronald,
I understand Reclaim have two versions, the Panasonic you have listed and the “WiFi” enabled unit which has a ten-year warranty.
My reading of https://reclaimenergy.com.au/products/warranties/ is that the WiFi unit with a glass-lined tank would have a ten-year warranty on the compressor (parts & labour) and a ten-year warranty on the tank (potentially requiring anode inspection/replacement).
Quote from their footnote: “Reclaim Energy covers 10 years parts and labour for the Wi-Fi Heat Pump compressor”
Do you agree, and does this need to be listed separately as the “best” warranty?
Yep, looking at the Reclaim warranty the Wireless version with a glass lined tank looks it covers everything except the tank and external valves for 10 years parts and labour. Interestingly, the tank is 10 years parts and 5 years labour. I would recommend Reclaim bite the bullet and put a straight 10 year warranty on everything. They’d likely have to charge more, but the sales they get from people seeking peace of mind or who have been bitten by badly made heat pumps could be well worth the sales they lose from the price increase.
I’ve already put Reclaim at the top of the list for full warranties for the Reclaim/Panasonic heat pump, so I won’t bother to point out people can do even better. But maybe some day I’ll talk to Reclaim and find out why they are comfortable offering long warranties and write about that.
works until you get an EV then the gap in consumption between resistive element and a heatpump for a 4 person household drives a car 17,000kms a year. the emissions is another story and those you simply leave for your grandkids to sort out. Build nuclear they say! …..Meanwhile 20% of Australis domestic energy demand is heating water and Peter Dutton proposes $600B worth of nuclear power plants that will make up 4% of our demand.
please get the book the big switch by Saul Griffith.
Hello Karl,
While I understand what you’re saying and don’t disagree, is it 8n the wrong comment thread?
It seems to me that with the decrease in the cost of PV it would be better value to just use a resistive storage system and just supply it with excess solar rather than exporting it?
Hey Brad the problem with that idea is that our grid is only on average 30% renewable. Having enough PV in Melbourne to provide 11kWh worth of heat for a typical 4 person household with an specific energy yield of just 1.3kWh / kWp installed on your roof means that you would need ~9kW of panels on your roof to make that energy for June and July. For May and August you would still need 7kW panels to make enough hot water. This would compound the problem of too much solar in summer that you think you’re trying to solve with a Resistive electric tank in the first place. Alternatively you dont generate it yourself and buy it from someone else for 4 months of the year – that involves building $600B nuclear power stations (i’m against) or knocking down forests to install wind turbines (which i’m all for in a world where folk think REHWS is a great idea. (it isn’t). Solar is also more expensive from an emissions perspective and from a cost perspective than simply using less energy in the first place regardless of the required use case. Hot water is an amazing luxury that most of humankind never enjoyed. Now its responsible for billions of KGS of CO2 emissions daily…..
Two points.
The ranking does not mention (and, it has the same warranty as the Haier Monoblock models) (and, it is also, conspicuously, not included in the comparison of HPWH’s table) the Haier split system model; HP300S2-F7.
2. Whilst comparisons are discussed between HPWH’s and Electric Storage Water Heaters (ESWH’s?), no comparisons, including energy efficiency, cost efficiency, and, recharge (?) time, are discussed for comparing HPWH’s and Gas Storage Water Heaters (GSWH’s?), or, the (I believe) most efficient water heating system (that we have) – water heating through a large Solar Water Heater (SWH?) feeding into a large GSWH.
The size of our SWH is no longer available, I believe, and, the GSWH is a large Rheem Stellar, currently set to heat to 75degrees centigrade.
One of the problems with switching to a HPWH system, apart from the lesser quantity of available hot water, is the banning of hot water, that comes with replacing the hot water system that we have – solar water heaters are effectively banned, now, in WA, with the WA state government coercively outlawing the use of clean energy for water heating (replacement of solar water heaters, requires unjustifiable water temperature limiting), and, changing the type of a water heater (it does not apply to replacing a water heater with the same type or model of water heater, apart from solar water heaters), also, requires unjustifiable water temperature limiting, so as to discourage the switching to heat pump water heaters.
Our gas storage water heater can heat the water to 75 degrees centigrade (and, in a Perth, WA, summer, our solar water heater can heat to an even hotter temperature, to kill bugs in the pipes), but, switching to a heat pump water heater, limits the water temperature, to warm water, rather than hot water.
Hi Bret,
Are you talking about new hot water installations requiring a tempering valve?
Or Solahart using a simple waxstat to prevent them boiling & blowing off 300 litres of water?
I referred to the regulations requiring tempering valves.
My understanding is that replacement of a water heater, with one of the same type (or an identical one) is exempt from the requirement for a tempering valve, except for solar water heaters – in WA, any new solar water heater, including replacing with an identical model, requires a tempering valve, but, for example, when our Rheem Stellar water heater was replaced under warranty, that did not require a tempering valve (that was according to the plumber contracted by Rheem – our regular plumber at the time, told me that it would require a tempering valve). If the storage water heater had been replaced by an instantaneous gas water heater (some models can take water output from a solar water heater), that would have required a tempering valve, being a different model/type of water heater to the one to be replaced.
If we switch from a gas storage water heater to a HPWH, that would require a tempering valve (to discourage people moving from gas for water heating, to HPWH’s), as the state government policy is for people to burn as much gas as possible.
I still do not know, and have not been able to find, an efficiency comparison between HPWH’s and gas storage water heaters, such as the Rheem Stellar, or, an estimated efficiency comparison between HPWH’s and the setup that we have; SWH -> gas storage water heater. And, that would be made more complicated by the capacity of both the solar water heater and the gas storage water heater, that we have. And, due to the oppressive regulations, when the solar water heater fails, we are effectively banned from replacing it (if we would be able to replace it, it would have to be with a smaller one, as I understand that solar water heaters of the capacity of the one that we have, are no longer available).
So, the state government policy is to actively discourage householders from switching to HPWH’s.
Hi Bret,
Tempering valves are only required for bathrooms technically, but they generally supply the whole house.
Preventing children & the elderly being scalded and burnt isn’t government persecution, especially as solar HWS can deliver water that’s well over thermostat temperature… literally boiling hot.
For answers on efficiency head over to My Efficient Electric Home & search there. Karl Jensen will have a few facts for you.
It takes the following time to do 3rd degree burns to skin. 68 degC 1 second, 64 2 seconds, 60 deg 5 seconds, 56 deg 15 seconds, 52 one minute , 51 three mins and 48 deg 5 mins. Australian standards that require tempering valves exist because people have been severely injured by hot water.
there are no bugs in the water your body can’t deal with in Australia.