Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

HPWH: the follow-up (Patreon)

Published:
2026-08-20 03:52:03
Edited:
2026-10-21 17:18:20
Imported:

Content

A late night update for you, I've got the follow-up video finished.

YT link:
https://youtu.be/fHPCS8j3cRM

I'll have to defer working on captions until tomorrow. Also tomorrow, unless things take longer than anticipated, I'll be releasing both videos publicly. Note: a re-render was done for the main channel video to fix the low audio (also, "thermoter" is no more, RIP) , so the version which is currently listed here will be replaced.

kay bye

Comments

gatoAlfa

Have you considered the battery backed induction stoves? I have find them fascinating and a good solutions in sone cases. They can even work from 120V 15A. Here is on example: https://copperhome.com

Mark Rudholm

My Rheem HPWH lets me set it to 140F (I can exceed that if I override the limit but I don't). It draws about 500W at 140F. I set it to 140F during sunny hours because my solar panels produce way more power than I use during the day, and I set it to 110F after sunset. This way, the WH runs only during sunny hours, making the water tank an extension of my battery system basically. The unit lives in my garage which is an oven about nine months of the year (Southern California) so the "waste cold" is irrelevant in winter and welcome most of the year.

Mike Pucher

These two videos have made me very upset that I did not know that 120V HPWHs existed when we replaced our gas water heater last year... It’s located in a garage that accumulates a substantial amount of heat energy all by itself and I would love to funnel that latent energy right into our hot water while benefitting from the cooling effect. There’s even a drain right there too. I did some research when we replaced it, but only surfaced the 240V models and I didn’t want to have to run a new circuit. These 120V models really are quite hidden in the marketplace - thanks for drawing attention to them, even if it’s going to kindle the flames of rage every time I see my gas water heater from now on.

Grady Luyt

Would the thermostatic mixing valve not let you get hot water again at only 120 degrees instead of waiting until the tank is fully up to 150+? I feel like a smaller tank stored at a higher temp gives you more capacity when using hot water but shortens the recharge time to useful hot water, even if the tank isn’t fully to its storage temperature.

Darren Pierce

Your Lowe's experience is, almost to the letter, like a dozen I've heard before. Calling the store is futile: they don't have any better pull or connection to corporate than you do. It's almost like individual stores are separate private businesses that happen to be (loosely) affiliated with HQ. All the online stuff is handled by very badly written commercial front-end running at corporate. The date you got when you ordered was a standard lead time from the vendor which means nothing. The people at distribution don't answer email because that's all they'd do all day if they took responsibility to do it. I'm guessing that since your water heater probably didn't go UPS or USPS, they had to arrange an LTL, and there's no daily routine for that. It happens when it happens if it happens when somebody gets around to it. The only reason I go into Lowe's is because they keep Lutron dimmers in stock. Otherwise, I find them repellent.

Mark Rudholm

I had an availabile 240V 30A circuit so I just used that for mine but the only time that's needed is to run the resistive elements, which only came on when someone forgot the hot water running in the bathtub. I probably would go with a 120V unit if I had to do it over again.

Jeffrey

I got a heat pump dryer and am loving it! The only dumb thing is that it still demanded a 240v 30 amp circuit even though it doesn’t need it at all. It has been a great replacement for the old gas dryer, and it not requiring a vent has been a nice bonus. I just made sure I got a larger one to make the long drying times less painful, and neither me nor my partner have noticed.

Technology Connections

Well, yes, but the only situation where this would apply is if you genuinely ran out of hot water. That means a higher tank temp isn't going to make a difference because the wait time to get it to 120F is the same whether your target is higher or not. It just means it will keep running beyond "ready" That's the basis of my argument, really. If you're genuinely not served by the tank volume as it is, then a higher temp can be a solution. But it doesn't actually increase how much hot water the thing can generate in a day, it just banks more output for a single draw. I'm not trying to say that can't ever be a useful strategy, but it's only helpful with very front-loaded usage patterns and comes with an efficiency penalty.

Mark the K

Friend needed a fridge (plain white fridge) and Home Depot couldn't deliver for 5 weeks. Lowes delivered in 4 days, and actually delivered. Go figure. The appliance stores and Best Buy all had the higher end French door and stainless models that she couldn't afford or want.

Mark the K

We have a combined washer/heat pump dryer on order, be delivered in a week. Looking forward to lower electric bills.

Darren Pierce

Yeah, I don't find Home Depot to be leaps and bounds better, but having done some IT work for them, I know they're a LITTLE better organized than Lowe's. They're also one of the last big customers of Informix 4GL, which explains why their app takes 30s to look up a ceiling fan.

Creator Supporter

You're being much kinder towards plumbers and HVAC installers than I am willing to be. I'm sick and tired of people whose entire profession revolves around such a niche area yet they have no concept of the latest developments and are stuck in their outdated ways with no desire to learn or improve. The same thing happened when you discussed your parent's HVAC installation and it regularly happens where I live that these "professionals" are suggesting legitimately bad options or have no idea about how efficient these units are. It's a joke when I as a random person knows more about this than someone who makes their living doing this work. It would be like me as a programmer saying "sorry I haven't looked at any of the updates for the last 5+ years of the programming language I use every day and we've never tried to update the version we use even though people have told me we'll get significant improvements from doing so". This is how almost every plumber and HVAC tech sounds every day of their lives and it is even worse because they only focus on a single area of expertise. It is completely unacceptable and very frustrating. I simply cannot understand why they don't care.

Andrew Sorensen

I have a Rheem 240V heat pump water heater from a few years ago - before the era of 120V plug-in models. I ended up self-installing as nobody in the greater Seattle area was willing to install such a model at the time, especially migrating from propane->electric. In order to electrify I ended up having to go the service upgrade route (actually an additional 200A service on top of a 150A) and a dedicated 25kVA transformer to serve both services due to the old transformer being over capacity - but that's a whole other story and a huge $$$$. Unlike the newer water heaters this Rheem is quite loud, with a considerable amount of noise being coupled to the building structure by nature of being secured through seismic straps. For that reason I'm glad to have the thermostatic mixing valve - I have it cranked up when I can handle the noise so that I can coast through most of the day without having to hear it. Supposedly there's a new fan available for the unit that is quieter, but I haven't gotten around to that yet. One downside with the thermostatic mixing valve is that the water heater will not run until nearly all of the "super heated" water is depleted. That is to say if you set it to 140F and let it bring the entire tank up to 140F and then set it to 120F and use 75% of the tank it may not come on until all of the 140F water has been used up. The water heater will even show it as not having much hot water remaining, but will refuse to operate until it is below the setpoint. PS: Thanks so much for talking about Lowes. I've had this same sort of run around with Home Depot. Both of these companies are hopeless now days. The last time I was at lowes someone tried to sell me "HomeCare+" while picking up some fittings. Now I try to source as much of my materials from places that cater to professionals. I found I was paying as much as 40-60% upmark on materials at the box stores, including on the high-volume PVC/EMT conduit that people often claim is cheaper at a box store.

Shanester366

Funny timing, I just had a order from Walmart have something similar, lucky it was only $50, but apparently the driver picked up the order and then had an emergency and returned everything to the store which just caused the entire system to just freeze 🤣. After getting through the bot, the agent just canceled the order.

Brian Flowers

I gave up on Home Depot after the website kept telling me stores had stuff in stock and then you go to the store and it's not there and you ask for help and they try to gaslight you saying a board that says "PINE" right on the dang label is actually oak...they're beyond clueless over there too...

Darren Pierce

My favorite is when the aisle you need is closed off for a forklift for a half hour. And you get to stand around listening to horrible music while you wait (to find out it's not actually on the shelf). People wonder why Amazon took over.

Alex Taylor

This is fantastic. I was wondering about this fact.

Joanna Kaufman

Your videos in a big fan my name is Carson

Nick Gully

Do you think insulating the tank further would help the recharge time?

Jack Foy

Things fall apart; the distribution center cannot hold

IcyCarbide

Hey, not sure where to ask this but could you do a video on Geiger counters? I have some info if your interested :)

P

Darn. I was hoping to lower the temperature of my garage over the summer with a HPWH. Good to know it won't make too much of a difference.

Trevor

I ran a test today with my Rheem HPWH. Draining and refilling the 50 gallon tank on heat pump mode forced the heating element to run with the compressor for the first 15 minutes then took 2.5 hours of compressor only consuming about 400 watts. This is a. 240v model in a basement room that was about 75 degrees while my ventless dryer was running. There is absolutely no reason to purchase a traditional electric model if you have 240 running to your water heater. On a typical day, it takes 2 hours of compressor only to reheat after 2 showers. As a side note. These things have excellent insulation. I turned it off when i went on vacation and when I returned, there was still enough hot water for a ten minute shower.

Weromano

I never felt the need to disagree on any of your videos to date, but in this case i feel the need to intervene, because i think you made a big error in your experimental setup: If you use it in the winter, it will get the heat, it is pumping in to the water from the surrounding air, generated by your heating system. Whatever you pay for the energy to heat your home in the winter, you will also pay for heating the water, but also the electricity to run the heat pump itself. Ergo you should have considered the impact on your heating system bill instead of room temperature. Have a nice day :)

Omar Diab

I live in Japan and have been using a a Panasonic heat pump washer/dryer for the last several years, been great for us! The drying time is a little long but never really bothered me. Over here the usual 100V outlets do the trick, they just tell you not to plug anything else into the same outlet.