One of the most important aspects of any home is access to hot water, whether it’s to wash your hands after gardening, or to enjoy a refreshing hot shower after an intensive workout, ensuring that you have hot water, no matter the time of day it is, is extremely important.
This is exactly why it’s worth investing in a good quality water heater for your home, and although it can be a daunting task, it’s worth doing the research and ensuring that the heater you get in your home is going to be sufficient.
If you’re looking to replace your old water heater in your home, then chances are you’ve been confronted with a number of different types of water heaters out there, but one that might have caught your eye is the hybrid water heater.
In this guide, we’ll explain more about what a hybrid water heater is, how it works, and whether or not it’ll be suitable for your home, so let’s dive in!
What Is A Hybrid Water Heater?
If you’ve never heard of a hybrid water heater before, then allow us to explain a little more about them:
A hybrid water heater, which is also commonly referred to as a heat pump water heater, is a development on the standard water heater, and combines the efficiency and usefulness of the usual water heater, but has improved upon it with the inclusion of a heat pump.
This heat pump allows for your water heater to become much more energy efficient overall, so it might just be perfect for you and your home.
How Does A Hybrid Water Heater Work?
While you might be familiar with how a typical water heater works, whether you’re thinking of installing a hybrid water heater in your home, or have recently moved into a property that already has one, it’s worth knowing exactly how a hybrid water heater works.
It all starts with the heat pump water heater (hybrid water heater), using the heat drawn in from the outside air via the evaporator coil, this coil contains refrigerant, which is a liquid, and is able to absorb this heat.
With this refrigerant heating up, an exchange of heat then occurs inside of the heater’s tank, which reaches the desired temperature, where it will then be transported to whatever faucet, appliance, or shower is being used to run hot water.
Hybrid water heaters and tankless water heaters are slightly similar in the way that they do not operate at all times, which is exactly why they are considered to be a much more efficient option when compared to the usual water heater.
Another great aspect of hybrid heaters is that when the water is in demand, it will fill the tank with hot water ahead of time, ensuring that no one runs out of hot water during the intensive period.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of A Hybrid Water Heater?
Hybrid water heaters naturally sound pretty good then, but before you go ahead and begin to install one into your home, it’s worth weighing up the pros and cons first, so that you can understand whether or not it’s going to be right for you.
Pros
Energy Efficiency: Compared to the more traditional models of water heaters, hybrid water heaters use a lot less energy, which can not only reduce your overall environmental impact, but also lower your bills.
Higher Output: Hybrid water heaters are also much better at producing higher volumes of continuous hot water as and when you need it.
Saves Space: Hybrid water heaters tend to be smaller in size compared to traditional tank water heaters, which can help to free up more space in your home.
Lifespan: The lifespan of hybrid water heaters are typically much longer than that of traditional water heaters, which makes them a lot more cost-effective in the long term.
Cons
Cost: One of the initial discouragements of having a hybrid water heater is the high upfront cost, which can price a lot of people out of having one installed in their home.
Complexity: Hybrid water heaters are unsurprisingly more complicated, which can make any maintenance or repairs that need to be done, even more expensive than they would be with a conventional water heater.
Power: Because hybrid water heaters rely on electricity for their power, it means that if your home experiences a power outage, then you will also lose any access to hot water too.
Capacity: The tanks of hybrid water heaters tend to be slightly smaller than traditional models, which means that if there’s regularly a high demand for hot water throughout your house during certain times of the day, then it might not be able to keep up with it at all.
Many homeowners typically believe that the pros of having a hybrid water heater in your house more than makeup for the few cons of having one, but it’s still worth considering all of the factors before you ultimately decide on whether or not to get one.
Are Hybrid Water Heaters Worth It?
It’s a difficult question to answer, and a subjective one too, but let’s consider it.
If you are in need of a smaller water heater that takes up less space than a traditional water heater, most, if not all of the appliances in your house are electric, and you live in a warm climate, then a hybrid water heater is definitely worth considering.
Those who live in cooler climates with a house that has been plumbed for a gas water heater will not benefit from having a hybrid water heater installed, as the plumbing will need retrofitting, and the cold climate will make heating up the water harder.
Final Thoughts
We hope that you’ve enjoyed this guide to hybrid water heaters, and that you now know more about them, and how they work.
Hi everyone! My name is Jason, and I am the founder of HeaterWise.com. Having run my own business as a Heating Engineer for 21 years, I have picked up a few things along the way.
I wanted to create Heater Wise as a place where anyone could come, from far and wide, to find the information that they need.
I hope you will join us here at Heater Wise, to get started on your own journey, to expand your knowledge, and make the best heating choices for you and your family.
