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Introducing Sunny Shire’s Hot Water Heat Pump Bulk Buy:
- Sanden Hot Water Heat Pump with 315L stainless steel tank
- Supply & Installation by Hot Water in a Hurry (Plumbing Company based in Illawong)
- $3,999 incl. GST
- 6 year warranty on heat pump
- 15 year pro-rata warranty on tank
We have road tested the product (Jay got one in 2017) and also the installer (Jonathan & Jay both have heat pumps installed by Jeremy from Hot Water in a Hurry)
Why Heat Pumps?
There are three main reasons we recommend heat pumps for hot water for shire homes:
- they are highly efficient – using about 75% less electricity than conventional hot water
- they use renewable energy by capturing heat from the air outside
- they combine perfectly with solar because they only draw ~1kW of power when operating and can be run during solar hours
A hot water heat pump is like an air conditioning compressor connected to a hot water tank. They use the refrigeration cycle to draw heat from the air outside and heat water. For every 1kWh of electricity used, they produce around 4kWh of hot water. The other 3kWh comes from the ambient air outside, which is heated by the sun, making heat pumps 75% solar powered in effect. Even when it is cold outside, say 0 degrees, it is 273 degree Kelvin, and there is significant energy in the ambient air. Sanden heat pumps work down to -20 degrees Celcius (they are designed to handle the climate in Japan).
Read more about why Jay decided on a Sanden Heat Pump here: http://sunnyshire.org.au/why-i-chose-a-heat-pump-hot-water-system/
Are Heat Pumps better than Solar Hot Water?
This is often hotly debated. Many people in the industry have been scarred by the poor quality unreliable heat pumps that first dominated the Australian market, so do not speak highly of heat pumps. Luckily there are heat pumps available now that are just as reliable and easy to service, if not better than solar hot water systems.
When you produce electricity or hot water from the sun, you have times of excess and times of shortage. In summer, solar hot water produces excess hot water, often leading to water wastage. Some manufacturers specifications even recommend covering parts of solar hot water systems in summer. In winter, solar hot water systems need top up electricity, right at a time when there is less solar PV around. It is very difficult to boost solar hot water using power from solar PV. As we become more solar powered in NSW, this will become an issue, and electricity may be more expensive in winter. For these reasons, Solar Hot Water is more suitable to tropical climates where the sun’s heat is more consistent year round.
Solar hot water also takes up rooftop real estate, where solar PV panels can go and power all appliances such as hot water heat pump, dishwasher, lighting and air conditioning. It only takes about 2 solar PV panels to offset the electricity usage of heat pumps across the year.
Image: Jonathan’s heat pump operating from 11:00am to 1:00pm at ~1kW
More info on Jonathan’s heat pump: http://sunnyshire.org.au/how-to-save-money-with-a-hot-water-heat-pump/
About Sanden
Heat pumps have a troubled history in Australia. For many years the recommended heat pump was a repackaged or rebranded Dux heat pump, often by Rheem. These heat pumps were unreliable. Most plumbers have been to a family desperate for hot water after their Dux heat pump has failed. Now most plumbers recommend against heat pumps due to their unreliability, all due to the poor quality of heat pumps that dominated the early market.
Sanden is the premium hot water heat pump, with industry leading warranty for heat pump (6 years) and tank (15 years pro-rata). We have been monitoring the industry, with Sanden the preferred premium heat pump, and with many customer reports of reliable and efficient performance. Sanden is also very quiet, which can be an issue with other heat pumps if close to neighbours. We also recommend heat pumps are operated from mid to late morning to take advantage of warmer air, eliminate noise issues and avoid peak electricity pricing before 9am and after 2pm. Sanden heat pumps also use a more Ozone-friendly refrigerant gas (R744) than most other heat pumps.
More info: https://www.sanden-hot-water.com.au/why-choose-sanden-heat-pumps
http://sunnyshire.org.au/hot-water-heat-pump-bulk-buy/
