Rheem Proterra Hybrid Electric Water Heater

Rheem Proterra Hybrid Electric Water Heater Podcast 60 - Click to Listen:

Tim Carter received the following email from Harlan not too long ago:

"Have you changed your opinion on hybrid (heat pump) electric home water heaters? They claim they use 1/3 the electricity and will pay for the price difference in about four years.

Yes, I'm concerned about the added "equipment" and its cost if needing repair as well as how much "heat" you are paying for in your home that it will extract by using it to help heat your water.

Guess I'm better off with natural gas but my main concern with them is the chance for an explosion as you occasionally hear about on the news. Thanks for your help, Tim."

I was really curious about the fuel-savings claim because, at first blush, one might think that it takes a given amount of energy to raise one gallon of water one degree Fahrenheit. We all discovered this to be true in high school physics class, remember?

I asked Harlan where he got the information about the energy savings and he pointed me to the Rheem Proterra Hybrid Water Heater page. Here's what I saw when I went there: