Getting Into Hot Water, Cheaply
Most of us forget about the water heater for a dozen or so years until it leaks. In the typical household, heating domestic hot water is the second highest electricity draw in the house--just after running the HVAC system.
Until recently, there hasn't been much groundbreaking work in the arena of heating potable water. The rules of the road looked like this:
Natural gas is most efficient;
Propane or heating oil a plausible option if costs can be managed;
Electric water heaters are convenient but inefficient.
Like many homes, mine had an electric water heater, and given its layout--no affordable path to converting to natural gas.
A couple of years ago, GE introduced its Geospring Hybrid Water Heater. It is electricity powered. It has a small heat pump above its 50 gallon tank. Its main feature is using that little heat pump to draw in some ambient warm air from the room and pump it into the tank, creating hot water. Its waste product--cool air, is exhausted right back into the room.
It is functionally a little air conditioner. This has a double benefit in summer (your HVAC system works slightly less). It is slightly counter-productive in winter because the furnace is working a little bit harder to heat room air to offset some of this extra cool air being dumped into the interior space. But this minor inefficiency is completely accommodated by the overall savings--it's still a winner.
The Geospring also has traditional heating elements that, depending on demand, can be turned on to improve performance--which is to say, improve the recovery time of the tank.
The original 2010-era Geospring model (GEH50DNSRSA, also known as the one made in China) over promised and under delivered. It was plagued with unreliable and noisy parts. In fact, it was so troubled that GE started giving some customers late refunds, make-goods, and even in some cases free upgrades.
The new 2012-era model (GEH50DEEDSR, also known as the one made in Kentucky) works out those kinks with its re-engineered, quieter fans, more reliable compressor and a streamlined user interface. Also, a few new tricks up its sleeve.
This new model is designed to be a member of the re-branded GE Brillion whole-house energy efficiency suite. Homes with an electric smart meter and a participating utility can pilot the GE Nucleus kit that intends to serve as Brilion's hub.
The Nucleus is a small box that coordinates signals from the smart meter and all smart-aware appliances in the house. The Geospring water heater has an Ethernet jack on the front meant to connect with a GE SAM, or Smart Appliance communications Module to coordinate electricity demand with Nucleus and the electric utility. Confused yet?
The gist is that customers with a smart meter and a variable pricing plan for electricity can direct the water heater to do its heavy lifting at hours when electricity is cheapest, saving the consumer money and the utility strain during peak hours. But most people don't have that option yet--no matter.
Absent the Nucleus or a smart meter, there are user options for:
100% "heat pump" -- slower recovery but maximum >62% energy savings;
"hybrid" -- an opportunistic combination of heat pump and traditional electric magnesium anode heating;
"high demand" -- a more aggressive version of hybrid that maximizes recovery time;
"electric" -- this is using your fancy gizmo as a traditional water heater (pointless unless there's a mechanical problem with the heat pump mechanism); and
"vacation" mode that drops water heating to a sensible 50 degrees Fahrenheit when you're away.
All these choices are just one touch of a button away.
Based on that 62% more efficient heat pump mode, the GE Geospring is among a rare group of electric-powered water heaters that earn the U.S. Energy Star rating.
My new Geospring water heater has been in place about four months now. The verdict? A lower electricity bill in each of the last four months compared to the same month a year ago.
I'll go take a nice warm (cheap) bath now.
