heat pump water heater cost to install Wellington

How much does a heat pump water heater cost to install?

Heat pump water heaters come in many shapes and sizes—big ones, small ones, some more efficient than others, loud vs. quiet, some use refrigerant, some CO2—and there is a wide range of technologies.

Systems can be 190 litres and up. A common domestic size is 300 litres. A 190 tank would do a small home, a one-bathroom place with two or three people living there. Three to five people would need 300 litres.

Heat Pump location and noise

Some systems can regulate the time of operation. Why would users want to do that?

Heat pumps make noise, so we don’t put them near bedrooms or the neighbours’ bedrooms. We also keep the noise going during the day, when background noise is higher than the heat pump. The cheaper tanks are more noisy than the higher-priced models.

Heat Pump Efficiency

Some customers might want to take advantage of electricity night rates and not be worried about the efficiencies of daytime warmer air temperatures. Heat pumps love warmer outside air as the rated efficiency is based on usually 25 degrees Celsius. Not the cold winter temperatures.

In winter efficiencies in really cold places could be as low as 1:1 there is little data around this area.  In summer, or when the tank is in a very warm area the efficiency could be as high as 1:5 some manufacturers are stating higher still.

Heat Pump Water Heater Tank PricesES190_tank-installation-wellington

Tanks range in price from $3000 to as high as over $10,000 just for the tank and it is set up as there are units that are all in one and some that are split and come in two parts. A lot depends on the amount of hot water you need. Obviously, we need to identify that at the beginning.

Heat Pump Location

And its location to the water supply, and where we are taking the hot water to e.g. the house hot water pipe system. Also, where is the power coming from? Regulations require there is a circuit on the fuse board for water heaters and not just attached to a power circuit.

There is a NZ Building Code requirement that not more than 2 litres of cold water must discharge before hot water arrives at the hot sink tap. This is to maintain efficiency and not have dead legs going to the most used tap in a house. So the heat pump water heaters will need to be fairly close to the kitchen sink tap, and we want the tank to be near a cold supply of water, near the hot water pipe, and then the power supply. It is a trade-off.

Heat Pump Water Heater Installation Pricing

Most pricing is based on the number of meters of pipe run, and the cable run, and the location of the tank for example, how do we get the tank to that location. The tanks are heavy and often will need 2 to 5 people to lift them there. Again it depends on the situation and the size of the tank.

2 Person Residence  – Replacing and existing exterior tank

Price – A 190-litre heat pump tank replacing an existing external electric standard tank could be as low as $7,000 installed including GST. That is an ideal situation.  These prices are 2025.

2 Person Residence – Replacing and external gas water heater

Example, they could have a gas water heater outside, and if a tank can go there the water supply is already there, but the power cable needs to be run back to the fuse board. That might be another $2,000. So around $9,000. But the savings in gas line charges are $700 per year approx. The heat pump water heating costs could be less also. So the investment stacks up.

2 Person Residence – Replacing a tank inside.

Another example is a gas cylinder or Electric Cylinder inside the house.

There is a cost to shifting the water pipes and the power cable outside. This can add $4-5000 to the cost and if the house has 4-5 people needing hot water in a 300-litre tank, so the cost can be around $9,000 to $13,000 in several cases.

Heat Pump Water Heater Savings

But offsetting that is where more hot water is needed the lower cost of heating water using heat pumps can be added to the savings. Over a period of time, the capital cost is clawed back. So it is an investment. If your old electric tank was in need of replacement you would have needed to have spent $5000 anyway.  The power saving cost is at today’s prices, and over time we know those power costs will rise making the savings bigger.

If you can have the gas meter removed the line charges are saved also.

What if I have a gas hob, will I need to change that too?

Not often as we can just put an LPG bottle on that if the hob is able to change to LPG. If not then we may need to run a cable to that location to run an electric hob for cooking. There may be a cable in that location already if you have had electric cooking there in the past. A 10 Amp socket for the gas hob will not run an electric hob.

We can visit your site for a specific design. We have a service call charge for those situations. Call us on 0800 484 353.

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