Best electric hot water system in 2024?

firsthyme · Apr 25, 2024 3:14 pm

Hi, doing a new build in VIC (going all electric) and wondering what is the best electric hot water system these days? What is there to consider?

It's not clear to me (after Googling) what are the options to choose from.

So currently some questions running through my head:

What are all the electric options? (Solar, heat pump, instantaneous, tank, etc?)
Which one is most energy efficient?
Which one is cheapest/most expensive to install?
Do any have the issue of 'hot water ran out'?
Which one produces hot water faster?
Do I need to consider multiple units/systems to cater for a 2 storey 4 bedroom house?
Which one would electricians/plumbers/people in industry generally recommend?

Thanks

Pulse · Apr 25, 2024 9:46 pm

I’d go heat pump, efficient and you can have a large storage tank so you don’t run out. If the house is big it can take a while for the water to run hot.

I was lucky and just used the existing electric storage heated with excess solar. Not sure efficiency standards allow electric storage unless heat pump now.

bashworth · Apr 26, 2024 4:33 am

I changed from gas hot water to heat pump in 2019, which only runs 1.00pm to 3.00pm (when the solar panels are generating to the max)

I have a reasonably large tank and have never run out of hot water.

Basically my electricity bill only seemed to go up a few dollars a month.

firsthyme · Apr 26, 2024 7:41 am

Pulse

I’d go heat pump, efficient and you can have a large storage tank so you don’t run out. If the house is big it can take a while for the water to run hot.

I was lucky and just used the existing electric storage heated with excess solar. Not sure efficiency standards allow electric storage unless heat pump now.

Ah okay thanks. So heat pump is combined with storage. Got it. How big is your tank?

firsthyme · Apr 26, 2024 7:42 am

bashworth

I changed from gas hot water to heat pump in 2019, which only runs 1.00pm to 3.00pm (when the solar panels are generating to the max)

I have a reasonably large tank and have never run out of hot water.

Basically my electricity bill only seemed to go up a few dollars a month.

Thanks good to know. How big is your tank?

So you can set when your heat pump runs? How do you do that?

How's the speed to heat?

Is there such thing as instantaneous heat pump?

Pulse · Apr 26, 2024 8:20 pm

instantaneous is three phase and draws heaps of current, the efficiency comes from not storing it so you don’t lose heat to the environment.

The problem is it is not suited to solar or off peak.

the heat pump can sit on top of the tank outside or as a seperate unit like a small split system. The storage tank varies in size according to the number of occupants. It takes about 6 hours to heat but you can do the calcs, it takes 4.18kJ to heat 1L of water 1 degree so you need the cold water temp, volume of water and thermostat temperature. 1 Watt is 1 J/s. hope my school physics is still correct

bashworth · Apr 27, 2024 2:57 pm

firsthyme

bashworth

I changed from gas hot water to heat pump in 2019, which only runs 1.00pm to 3.00pm (when the solar panels are generating to the max)

I have a reasonably large tank and have never run out of hot water.

Basically my electricity bill only seemed to go up a few dollars a month.

Thanks good to know. How big is your tank?

So you can set when your heat pump runs? How do you do that?

How's the speed to heat?

Is there such thing as instantaneous heat pump?

The tank is around 200 litres (I am on holiday for the next 6 weeks so can't check)

The Heat Pump has a built in time switch.

No idea on the speed to heat because with the big tank the water has never been cold.

I am not aware of any domestic instantaneous heat pumps

KnockItDown · Apr 29, 2024 7:57 am

For our new build in NSW we opted for a heat pump with a 315L storage tank. Early days yet as we only moved in 6 weeks ago. Haven't run out out of hot water though. Ours has a solar setting (most do) where you can run it for 6 hours 10am to 4pm and it will draw power from your roof top solar system. It also has a boost mode if you have a large demand for hot water where it will draw from the grid if needed.

I've been monitoring our import / export of electricty and so far so good. My rooftop solar is more than enough to cover the power needs of the heat pump.

Hope this helps.

arrogant_menace · Jun 25, 2024 6:26 pm

As above. Currently have a 315L Sanden Eco Plus. Never ran out of hot water - family of 4.
Has an internal timer - set to run between 8-4 using solar.

arrogant_menace · Jun 25, 2024 6:26 pm

arrogant_menace

As above. Currently have a 315L Sanden Eco Plus. Never ran out of hot water - family of 4.
Has an internal timer - set to run between 8-4 using solar.

Used for 4 years.