Any experience with Stiebel Eltron heat pump water heaters
russell1313
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
After researching and reading all I can find on the Hybrid Heat Pump water heater products I’m very wary of installing one due to the excessive noise issues detailed here in GBA. I’m in new construction and must install something in the next month or two. One alternative I have found are the Accelera heat pump water heaters. As the Stiebel units that are full heat pump and a more $$$, I am looking for more information but haven’t found much feedback on operation.
Has anyone here on GBA any experience or feedback on the units.
Thanks in advance,
RB
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Bumping because I would also like to hear first hand experience with Stiebel Eltron. Especially interested in knowing whether they are reliably quiet units, given all the negative reports around Rheem.
If you add a solar hot water system to the mix, you'd supply 70% of the needed hot water and the heat pump will rarely be needed. As our solar PV runs our heat pump (really only December to early February in those northern dark months), I make sure it only turns on during the day. They are so efficient the Pv works great even in cloudy weather. Our heat pump for the tank is no longer made but still runs on and the compressor fan really isn't a bother in the basement.
I called the Steibel Eltron US office for more information on their heat pump water heaters. The person I spoke to shared a lot of information and wanted to make sure that I realized that they have a 12-hour recovery period. Because of this they recommended the 80 gallon option to replace my 40 gallon gas water heater.
Another option is to have two tanks instead of a big one. A preheating tank running in heat pump mode only which preheat the water before it enters a second electric tank with a quick recovery rate.
I just had the Accelera 300 E installed and it runs very quiet. I was going back and forth between Rheem and AO Smith for a while but was spooked away by all the online reviews of excessive noise. So I decided to go with the more expensive model from Stiebel Eltron. Glad I made that decision. Even my HVAC guy who installed the unit said he was very impressed with it.
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Not directly helpful to you, but more a wistful longing for the Stiebel Eltron heat pump water heater we had in Europe. From the pictures online, this one is not offered in the US. Instead of a cyclinder, it was cuboid, almost 5 feet tall. With an compressor on the roof, it provided all of our domestic hot water plus hot water for infloor heating. The unit was located in a main floor bathroom, close to the entrance plus an office/bedroom. It was quieter than the clothes washer.