air tap retrofit hot water tank heatpump water heater

neohioheatpump

13 years ago

Anybody install an AIR TAP retrofit hot water tank heater?

Was it difficult to install?

Is it saving you money?

How much was it/where do you buy it?

Is it noisy/how do you like it?

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Comments (4)

zippyhvac
13 years ago
I put one in last year, and according to my kill-a-watt meter, we're paying less than $10 a month for hot water even at our summer electricity pricing, which is 22 cents/kw.

That said, the heart of the technology is basically the same as a $99 window air-conditioner, and the new units are made in China - so who knows what the durability will be.

I paid $699 shipped, but apparently, these units were selling for $499 before the tax credit was announced, and it looks like the price was recently jacked to $799...

The quality seems decent, but it does have a "buzzy" sound when it's running that would be really annoying if you had it near a sleeping or living area.

The install was super-easy for me - I used a new AOSmith 50-gallon electric water heater as the tank (I hooked up the power supply to the standard heater, but turned off the breaker, so I can use the standard elements if the Airtap fails)

Would I do it again? - MEH..I dunno - playing around with the pricing to steal the tax credit seems kind of sleazy, the warranty is really ambiguous - to qualify for the tax credit they had to offer a five-year warranty I believe, but their website now says two years - the new integrated units from GE and Rheem have ten years of coverage, and they have the benefit of being able to use both the heat pump and standard electric elements to give you super-fast recovery if you have guests over, or a huge garden tub to fill.

A quick Ebay search shows the competitors are around $1500~ish, but if you haven't taken the tax credit yet, you could snag $500 in government cheese and nullify the cost difference with a better warranty.

The technology is an excellent idea, and when the competition drives pricing to where it really belongs - (Until then... meh... Certainly it can pencil out, but the energy-saving payoff exceeds the warranty which makes me nervous. Solar really isn't any better, and tankless seems to be snake-oil when you look for real savings data, but to each his own...
fsq4cw
13 years ago
Keep in mind that if this heat pump is taking its heat from your indoor air, then the question must be asked, 'how are you heating your home in the winter?'

Geothermal heat pumps with desuperheaters use a buffer tank for maximum efficiencies. This is a single tank system. This also raises questions regarding efficiency...

SR
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You can probably go without the power vent and put in a heater that's the same as the original gas, basically a "b-vent." They are less efficient, BUT they will operate during a blackout, a power vent model won't unless you have a backup generator or large UPS to run it. You might want to get a "blower door test" done or try this experiment: turn on all the bathroom fans, kitchen exhaust fan if it vents outside etc, then turn up the hw heater and put a candle right next to the flue hat (the upside down funnel that runs into the b-vent) and make sure the candle flame is drawn towards the vent, so you know the flue is venting correctly - you don't want to draw combustion products back into the house. With two gas HW heaters you might run a bigger risk, so you might consider running a "make-up air vent" in, it's a pipe that runs to the outside and down to the floor of the mechanical room. The furnace and HW heaters draw in the cold air for their combustion. Having said all that, you may really only need one hw tank perhaps? That'd be a saving. If any hot pipes are exposed, insulate them, but the pipes (both hot and cold) right at the heater need insulating too, but a non-combustible insulation like fibreglass where it runs close (As for the price, when I replaced my hw heater, added expansion tank and re-worked some of my plumbing, I spent almost CDN$700 with a $400-odd hw tank, but I had to change a few things and add an expansion tank. Meantime I guess you could switch off the electric tank, and put a hw heater blanket on it to minimise loss.
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You are correct, when using the mathematical formula for determining whether the space is a confined or unconfined space we must first total the BTU's of all combustion devices in the space in question by example, a furnace will typically range from 50K to 200K BTU so for illustration let us assume 100K/BTU for the furnace plus 38K/BTU for the water heater for a combined total of 138K/BTU. In this case a confined space would be any room less than 138K/btu x 50Cu.ft/kBTU = 6900cu.ft. Again allowing an 8' ceiling we divide 6900/8 = 862.5sq.ft. This means any room with less than 862.5sq.ft would be considered a confined space. We could then use the square root of 862.5 to get an estimate of the required room size which would be 29.36' x 29.36'. From this illustration we can see that a typical unfinished full basement would meet the requirements of an unconfined space but if the furnace and water heater are then enclosed in a utility room within the basement that enclosure would probably be a confined space. The codes then offer numerous options for venting a confined space. If the total basement area would meet the dimension as an unconfined space we could then install vent grilles through the partitioning wall from the utility room to the remainder of the basement. Code would require two grilles, one within 12" of the ceiling and the second within 12" of the floor and each grille would be required to have 1sq.in. for each 1K BTU but not less than 100sq.in. In this example we would need grilles that provide 138sq.in. 11.7" x 11.7" therefore you could install two 12" x 12" grilles or you could install a louvered door between the utility room and the basement. Another option would be to install fresh air intake grilles through the outside wall. In this case you need 1sq.in for each 4K/BTU. 138K / 4 = 34.5sq.in. A 7" round duct has a cross sectional area of 38.48sq.in so one 7" round duct from the utility room to outside air would provide the necessary combustion air. There are a number of other options as well, such as venting combustion air from the attic space. While i offer these figures as an example it must also be understood that the actual code requirements can vary dramatically from one jurisdiction to another so you would need to check your local codes. If you are installing a power vent water heater most of them have a provision for directly ducting in the combustion air as well so you would not need to be concerned with the formulas for that type of water heater. I would also agree wholeheartedly with Pinoke. Some jurisdictions do not permit a homeowner to make any gas connections but if it is permitted in your jurisdiction a connection such as you propose would be a straight forward job and should not be beyond the ability of a skilled DIY'er. There are some code requirements that you must be aware of, but they are not at all difficult.
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zippyhvac
13 years ago
"questions regarding efficiency?" How many people stuff any water heater in their living space? Mine's in the garage, at my old house it was in a basement utility room. I could care less how much heat is removed from those areas, although in my experience it hasn't been much at all.

Don't get me wrong, I think Airtap is missing the mark by a long shot in their marketing and in their pricing strategy - instead of going after tree-huggers, they need to appeal to ordinary run-of-the-mill cheapskates like myself by chopping the price to about $350, and getting the product into the big-box stores like Sam's and Costco. It's pretty easy to pencil-out the energy savings if the price was lowered, and with chinese manufacturing and enough volume they could do it and still make a very nice profit.

You can't argue with the savings though - if you can find me a cheaper way to heat water, without investing thousands of dollars into a solar or Geo-system - I'm all ears.
fsq4cw
13 years ago
If your garage or mechanical room is a heated space youÂre extracting heat from it to heat your DHW with this device in winter.

WhatÂs its life cycle cost like?

Gut feeling; sounds like a gimmick!

SR

air tap retrofit hot water tank heatpump water heater

Comments (4)

zippyhvac

fsq4cw

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