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...

The NEC specifies the required clear space for access to electrical panels. Those specifications will certainly apply to new construction. Generally residences will require 3' of clear distance from the front of the panel and 6 1/2 feet of vertical distance. I interpret these spaces as being for people to be able to work on the equipment. Clearance to the sides for other equipment require that any covers or doors be able to be opened at least 90 deg. Exceptions are listed for some existing installations. Inspectors sometimes present their personal preferences as being required-- and as a practical matter, one might be well advised to comply.

Marie26, I don't believe turning up the thermostat will increase the speed at which your water heats. Such appliances normally turn on at full power during start up, as it gives you hot water faster, and then reduce power when they reach the required setting. Anyway, once it does heat up your water may be too hot and need mixing with cold to get the ideal temperature. Unfortunatly, the hotter water becomes the less readily energy from the element transfers in to it, thus the efficiency goes down with increasing temperature. It's preferable to heat a large volume of water to the right temperature than try to super-heat a little water and mix it with cold. You may find that you're a good distance from the water heater and pipe insulation improves the speed at which hot water reaches you. I have a normal tank heater, so the time it takes for hot water to reach me is mostly pushing standing cold water out the pipes and the heat lost by the pipes themselves. Thus your delay may not even be caused by the water heater. Insulation did improve the hot water in my house, and it has allowed me to turn the temperature down a bit now that I'm not passing it through a long metal pipe before using it.

"Klem1, what's your point?" If I were to condense it to a single point it would be "common sense will always serve one better than asking strangers on the net". Thee single thing that helps prevent being ripped off by bottom feeders posing as service providers is spend time talking over the fence and on Social media telling neighbors about blood suckers as well as reliable pros instead of chatting with strangers 2k miles away. Although the majority of USA citizens believe they need not make an effort because Big Brother is looking out for them,that's not true. If you want it,go and get it because the yahoos that convinced majority of voters they will handle it are not going to come through when you need them. Have you noticed all the surveys from people you favor by spending money with them? Don't waste your time,give them publicity by word of mouth and other means. One of those "other means" that is underutilized is local news media. Make the effort to get the goods on scammers,outright inept jazz-axes that claim to know what they are doing. If you get 3 or more individuals willing to stand up,you can get a local story. Once news breaks,the contractor will straighten up or get out of business. Often when they go out of business,they start another business and ride it long as possible. Stay on top and twist their tail if they go back to old tricks. Getting back to the problem at hand. Common sense would have a homeowner check and record incoming water temp,check and record temp of supply,run water til burner come's on,turn facuet off until burner go's off, attach a garden hose to a hot faucet,stick hose in 55 gallon barrel with a secound barrelstanding by ,record time (alternatly you fill your tub if you calculate tub capacity (1 cu ft= 7.5 gallons). A helper can man one post or you can run back and forth to see how long til burner come's on and test and record temp on about 5 minute intervals. If temp hold's up after burner come's on (it should) keep testing temp at facuet at 1 minute intervals until it get;s less than would be comfortable for showering. Turn facuet off, record time and record time that burner go's off. Subtract starting cold temp from starting hot temp. Time to burner off and temp differential of hot and cold alow's calculating recovery which is the true test of heater function. A builder grade 50 gallon should heat 40 gallons of 30f incoming to 120f per hour (re-heat cold 50 gal tank 90f above incoming) Those #s will tell a pro where to begin. Nancy that fall's under common sense. I didn't see anyone mention doing or suggesting anything like that. If non of that ring's a bell,perhaps the fact suffing the net for 3 years hasn't solved Daniel's problem so common sense should tell us there must be a better approach. (: