Heat Pump Water Heater Calculator
Are heat pump water heaters really as affordable as the claim to be?
Find out for yourself.
Find out for yourself.
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Annual Savings
Years until profitable
✨ TL;DR: By spending $1,200 on an upgrade now, you could save $300/year for 10+ years and drop your CO2 emissions drastically. ✨
- Existing Propane Heater Cost
Hot Water Usage
EPA-standard "minutes of hot water per day".
- Assumes a 90°F typical rise in temperature.
- Four 10-minute showers, 10 minutes for laundry and 10 minutes for dishes: 60 minutes.
minutes
Heater Efficiency
What fraction of the energy contained in propane is converted to heat in your water.
- Typical values are 0.5-0.8.
- Most manufacturers post specifications online. For example you can search Bradford White or see this example manual which claims an 80% Recovery Efficiency.
Fuel Cost
Dollars per gallon of propane/LP Gas
- Estimate from past year's prices in your area. See Vermont example.
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Yearly Operating Costs — Propane
Annual Fuel Costs
$524.00
Gallons Propane Burned
150 gal
CO2 Emitted
You might wonder how 150 gallons of propane, which weighs lbs, causes lb of CO2 emissions.
This is because of a chemical reaction combining hydrocarbons in the fuel with Oxygen from the atmosphere to create CO2.
This is because of a chemical reaction combining hydrocarbons in the fuel with Oxygen from the atmosphere to create CO2.
lb
- Heat Pump Water Heater Installation
Sticker Price
How much you pay at the hardware store
- See Rheem and A.O. Smith models for example.
- View our community-maintained comparison spreadhseet
- Eligible for 30% federal tax credit. Unlike a tax deduction, this reduces your bill, not just your taxable income.
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Installation Cost
How much you pay to have it installed in your home
- A self install can be as low as $100-$200 for hardware, or expect more for a professional install.
- Installation cost is also covered under the Federal Tax Credit.
- Most units require a 240 Volt power supply.
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Local Incentives
Does your state, town, or utility offer any incentives beyond the Federal Tax Credit?
- DSIRE is a good database of rebates to start you off
- Vermont residents can claim $600 in rebates, or $800 if low-income.
- Low-income Vermonters can get a 0% loan for up to 15 years to cover the cost.
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Net Installation Cost
$
Total Installation Cost
$
Federal Tax Credit
$
Taxable income required for full credit in the first year
The tax credits can be carried forward
indefinetly if necessary.
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- Heat Pump Water Heater Operation
Assuming the same hot-water demand
Uniform Energy Factor
What factor of input energy is converted to heat.
- Because heat pumps move heat rather than creating it, their efficiency is always over 100%.
- Typical values are 3.8-4. (Larger heaters being more efficient)
Electricity Price
What you pay per kWh of power
A kWh, or KiloWatt-Hour, is a unit of stored electrical energy.
For comparison, a Tesla Model 3 can hold about 50 kWh with 270 miles range.
For comparison, a Tesla Model 3 can hold about 50 kWh with 270 miles range.
- You can see state averages here.
- As with propane, expect this to go up with inflation – unless you generate your own electricity.
$/kWh
Yearly Operating Costs — Heat Pump
Electric Costs
$
Propane Costs
$524
Savings Versus Propane
$363
Years until revenue-positive
2.5
Electircy Consumed
844 kWh
CO2 Emitted
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The ‘Gotchas’
- When selecting a new hot water heater, be sure to compare apple-to-apples with "first hour" gallons of water.
- Heat Pump water heaters output cold air like an A/C. This can be a plus or a minus depending on the season. Most can be hooked up to ducting to control where the cold dry air goes.
- Most units can be set to run in resistance heating mode (Efficiency Factor = 1). If you did this for half the year, your costs would be $642 annually.
- If you pair your heat pump hot water heater with a heat pump air heater for wintertime (6 months of air-to-air heat pump, also with ~4x efficiency), your electric costs would be around $253 annually with a payoff for the water heater in years.
Created by Peter Ehrlich in 2023 as a Zero Percent Club project.
Inspired by U.S. Mortgage Calculator and Heat Pumps Hooray.
Inspired by U.S. Mortgage Calculator and Heat Pumps Hooray.