Anyone have a heat pump water heater?

[mackdaddy]

3. Since you have gas now I would stick to that. If you were using electricity, Heat pump type maybe

Another post on this group shows a graph comparing heating prices for different fuels, and this (in general) applies to heating water too.

Right now natural gas is hard to beat, especially when compared to standard resistive element type water heaters. Close to only a quarter the cost of heating with resistive electricity. But running a heatpump type water heater would be much more efficient than resistive, up to very close to the gas cost of operation. But the upfront cost is so high right now, not much if any advantage over natural gas. The heat pump may be more prone to needing maintenance too.

Most of the heat pump type water heaters take head out of the inside of your house and concentrate it in the water tank. This is fine if you are where you need to cool your house anyway, but if you are in the north, some of the heat you put into you home is being sucked back and put into the water.