As part of the ongoing legend of converting my Worcester three-story building to zero emissions, I recently replaced two gas water heaters with heat pump water heaters. If you have not heard of these, grab your loofah and you will have some fun..
What’s the problem with gas? Natural gas is a miraculous energy source in many ways. My gas boiler is “clean”-meaning soot-free-so maintenance costs are low. Before I replaced it with induction, my gas stove was fast (in fact, even faster). My gas water heater is always hot. I can wash clothes, shower or wash my hands at any time, and I can throw them away.
But that was the case for the last century. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas when it leaks, with more than 10,000 broken pipeline leaks in Massachusetts alone. Combustion gases emit carbon dioxide, even in 100% energy efficient equipment, because efficiency is about energy use rather than by-products. Natural gas is the cause of the loss of houses and young lives in the Merrimack Valley. This is a slow killer. Gas is the main driver of asthma, and it is almost certain why I rely on inhalers now.
Heat pumps are the way forward. If you have a refrigerator or air conditioner, you have a heat pump. Heat pumps use the magic of thermodynamics to transport heat from one unnecessary place to other places. You can transfer the heat from the refrigerator to the air in the kitchen. On a hot summer night, you can take the heat from the bedroom outside. You can bring the heat from the basement air into the water you will use for showering.
The gas water heater of the tenant on the third floor failed in July. (It’s always a good idea to replace these preemptively. Set a calendar reminder.) When we were looking for an installer who could bring us the heat pump, our jury manipulated our master water heater to supply hot water to the third floor. (Note: This is not illegal cross-measurement. If the owner pays, it will be fine.)
We found an installer. We are very frustrated. In the next few months, I made offers to five pipeline companies.
The local plumber who I have been using the speed dial explained, “We will charge you $7,000 per person, which is about four times what we charge for gasoline, and it will break immediately. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.” The plumber did not advertise the heat pump on their website, so I called that one to do it.
The next plumber explained, “You have an old gas boiler here. I can install a combined gas boiler and gas water heater system for $30,000 and repair all your electrical appliances at once.” I discussed the state with the plumber. The goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and the situation that new boilers will still emit emissions after the deadline. They don’t seem to be in stages.
I went directly to Rheem, a well-known manufacturer of heat pump water heaters. He has been in this market for some time (I have nothing to do with Rheem). It is also worth noting that southerners like heat pump water heaters because they provide air conditioning as a side effect in the rooms where they are installed.
The first three of Rheem’s four Worcester dealers wanted to install natural gas. It is tragedy now. Rheem is an early adopter of water heater heat pump technology, and in Massachusetts cannot get his distributor to recommend heat pump water heaters.
Someone told me it would freeze my basement, there was not enough air, not enough humidity, or their rated temperature was not high. This is all wrong or irrelevant.
Despite these challenges, we installed two heat pump water heaters on November 15. They come with built-in energy monitoring. For the next 20 days, my device used an average of 2.78 kWh per day to transport heat from the basement to the water. I actually pay US$0.28 per kWh, including account fees for renewable energy supply and delivery, so my daily cost of zero-emission hot water is US$0.80.
It is difficult to compare with gas, because we have a meter to power the boiler and water heater at the same time. The Rheem heat pump has a uniform energy factor (UEF) of 3.75. The UEF of the old Bradford White gas heater is about 0.7, which means that with the same energy input, I now get five times more hot water than before. The 2.78 kWh that I pay per day is equivalent to the previous 47,428 BTU of gasoline.
Fortunately for me, you, and all human civilization, these 47,428 BTU forms of gas cost me about US$0.90 per day. Therefore, my renters and I save money and reduce emissions. My basement remains more or less constant at 56 degrees Fahrenheit.
The main difficulty is the upfront capital cost. The cost of each water heater is twice that of a gas water heater. Rebates are not helpful, because natural gas is considered “clean.” The next version of MassSave rebates is expected to solve this problem. Let us hope it does, because we have many beloved gas water heaters in Massachusetts to replace.
How does the pandemic affect the development of multi-family families in Massachusetts? Please join the panel of experts at 2pm on January 10, 2022 to find out.
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