Out of Hot Water (Part 2)

Last August, I blogged that our hot water system had died, and that I ended up having a Stiebel Eltron Heat Pump installed.  Six months on, time to take a look back and see how the system has been performing.

I listed a couple of requirements:

• Larger than our existing system (140L), and from researching online, needed a minimum of 250L
• Cost the same or less to operate (~$65 per quarter, tarriff 33)
• Budget: $1500-2000 installed
• Replaced as quick as possible

The Stiebel is a 300L unit, and is quite large.  Although we have not tested it through the winter months yet, we have not run out of hot water yet (this occurred frequently with the old, smaller unit).  The plumber also installed a thermal protection device, I had to max it out to 55º C for us to be happy with it.  A great idea with young children.

I was really looking forward to the next full bill cycle to see what kind of savings we would make.  Assuming that a standard electric unit of 300L capacity uses double the power of our old unit, I’m estimating hot water would cost us at least $120 per quarter.  I’m pleased to report that my electricity bill has dropped from $67 in August to $29 in January.  That’s about 32 cents per day for hot water!

The cost of the unit was more than what we wanted to pay.  Our rebates finally came back from the state and federal governments ($1200 total), and that helped soften the upfront cost.  If we save $90 per quarter compared to a similar electric unit, the additional cost of the Stiebel will be paid back within three years.

We also received excellent turnaround and service from The Solar Guys and installation was done within 48 hours.

There were also some reports online that this unit is noisy.  The hot water system is near our kid’s toy room, and I rarely hear it unless the windows are wide open.  The noise has never bothered us.

One other thing to note about the Stiebel is its performance during a recent loss of power.  With the recent flooding in Brisbane, out power was removed for about 24 hours.  During that time the hot water came out as per normal (about 18 hours after loss of power).  I was fairly surprised by how much heat was maintained.

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