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| Heat Pump Water Heaters - GE vs. Rheem | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13th, 2011 02:13 am |
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81st Post |
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elenano Member 
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It's probably more likely a call for us! The very first thing that comes to MY mind is what is known as a slab leak -- a broken pipe that you can't see that causes water to flow out to some hidden spot and makes your water heater run all the time. Or it might be some fixture with a valve stuck open that does the same thing. So, for openers, go to this link, which is in Tanklets, read up, do some tests, and let us know what you find out: http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Troubleshooting/Tanklets/high-water-bills.html Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13th, 2011 02:23 am |
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82nd Post |
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usna87 Member
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Nope, I've already confirmed that there is no water flowing when and where it isn't supposed to. We are on a well and I monitor the well pump too. I did try something after I posted my original message; I flipped the breaker and powered the unit down for a few minutes in an attempt to "reboot" the controller. I'll look at power consumption tomorrow to see if it's still cycling, and I'll also put a call into Rheem's technical support to see if they have any ideas.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13th, 2011 06:27 am |
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83rd Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: I think it IS a call to a Rheem engineer who likely will be thrilled that you have such good data to root through. Please do report back on your progress there  Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16th, 2011 12:18 pm |
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84th Post |
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usna87 Member
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Well, I placed a call to Rheem on Friday and the tech insisted that I shut off the cold water inlet overnight and confirm that there was no recirc or water leak before he would go any further in troubleshooting. He said the most likely cause then would be a bad thermistor. Did not want to apply any logical thought to the situation; brute force must be the answer, right? He also insisted that if the unit would be shutting off on high temperature if the hot water wasn't "leaking" from the system someplace. What he didn't seem to grasp is that since it was running in heat pump mode, the highest temp the unit was capable of generating is less than the high temp shutoff, so it could run in heat pump mode forever and never shut off. The HP50 is basically controlled by a computer, and the regular cycling of the unit regardless of temp would lead a reasonable person to suspect the controller board. Thinking that Microsoft may have programmed this unit  , I cycled the power and "rebooted" the unit. Within about 4 hours, I started to observe power consumption in line with what it was before. After averaging 15 KWhr a day over the past couple of weeks, it dropped to 7 KWhr over the past two days with no change in usage or ambient temperature to account for the 50% reduction in power consumption. It's clear that there is some intermittent issue with the controller board in this unit. If I hadn't been watching it so closely, there really would be no way to "prove" that there is a problem. I will keep my eye on it to see if it reverts back to this cycling issue; if it does, I'll be calling Rheem again and escalate this to someone who can do something about it. I suggest other owners monitor their units to see if it's running excessively as well. Last edited on Sun Jan 16th, 2011 12:21 pm by usna87 |
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16th, 2011 04:56 pm |
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85th Post |
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elenano Member
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This is some validation of Larry Weingarten's sentiments that simpler is better. These new hybrid heaters are very nice, as long as they work. Same with power-vents and other units with electronics. Ej mentioned to me once that new water heaters require a much greater degree of involvement from their owners than used to be the case, and that most people have yet to realize this. So anytime anybody has an older heater they're thinking about junking, I say, "Keep it." And I'm keeping my own, now 30 years old, even though it only has R-6 insulation. Randy Schuyler Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Mon Jan 17th, 2011 04:52 am |
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86th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: I do like things to be easy to understand. Electronics will probably always be "black box" technology to most people. Electronics don't have to be a nightmare though. Military specification "mil spec" electronics are designed and built to live a long useful life under difficult conditions. Consumer grade electronics are designed to last one day past the short warranty. We clearly have the technology to do better. Today, the only recourse is to make it a point to stay well informed Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10th, 2011 03:16 pm |
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87th Post |
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floridaillini Member
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FYI- My Rheem HP-50 works as expected EXCEPT- after about 10 minutes of running the temperature drops about 5-10 degrees- Rheem is offering an board upgrade for certain serial numbers- What I was told is that after a preset period of time the water pump turns on and starts to pump cold water through the heat pump and that water is then mixed with water in the tank- I think the new board extends the time before the water pump starts up- if you take short showers and don't use very hot water (I take long showers and use as hot as I can stand it) then you might not even notice the problem- my wife doesn't have a problem - when the temperature drops the lower temperature is maintained as I have yet to run the tank out of hot water- If we can get this problem alleviated then I like the hot water heater but I live in central Florida and the tank is in the garage-
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10th, 2011 03:39 pm |
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88th Post |
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xxhaimbondxx Member
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it's been a couple of months since our ge unit was installed and i did notice a $25-30 drop in electricity. however, we do run out of hot water. After i take a shower early morning, my wife showers with cold to barely warm water, even a couple of hours after. I dont take long showers and not very hot. Our unit is set to hybrid, 120 degrees and its usually around 70 in our basement. other than the shower head, i don't know what else it could be.
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| Posted: Sun Mar 27th, 2011 11:02 pm |
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89th Post |
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bryankwalton Member
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bryankwalton wrote:Great. I just ordered a magnesium anode rod from your site. When I get it, I'll install it and then check it in 6 months and compare the two rods.Well, darn. It has been six months, so today I checked the replacement anode rod that I bought off of this site. It looks exactly like the OEM GE one that I removed six months ago. Furthermore, after a closer inspection of the OEM one today, I've noticed that it definitely has what looks like a thin, hard layer of calcium carbonate on it that I can scrape off with a flat-head screwdriver. So, my running tally. My last three anode rods checked (including the aluminum one from my old AO Smith unit) -- all seem to have passivated.  - Bryan
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28th, 2011 01:13 am |
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90th Post |
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elenano Member
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Well, I'm bummed, even though it's YOUR water heater. I still don't get it. If you are softening, this should not happen. Six months for me on this site is a thousand years because of all the questions I see and answer. So I did go back six months to find your previous posts and saw your setup. I can suggest the powered anode because it doesn't work the same way, so it can't passivate. But the goal is to solve problems, not make sales, except as part of the problem-solving, so I wish my anode had not passivated. You can do with SKU15, but you'll have to enlarge the hole on the inside of that giant foam cylinder. Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28th, 2011 02:13 am |
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91st Post |
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bryankwalton Member
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Thanks for the reply Randy. I've been scratching my head this evening thinking about this. And I got to thinking, if my anode rods are being coated in a hard layer of calcium carbonate and thereby keeping them from degrading, shouldn't my tank lining also be developing this coating of calcium carbonate and thereby protecting it, also? Thanks, Bryan
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28th, 2011 05:29 pm |
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92nd Post |
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elenano Member
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We HAVE seen cases where an active anode can plate over exposed steel with calcium in hard water, but I'm not sure I'd trust to that to keep my water heater from rusting. Passivation is simply not understood, so we don't know what will happen to exposed steel if the anode has passivated. Randy Schuyler
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29th, 2011 01:35 pm |
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93rd Post |
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bryankwalton Member
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Thanks for the reply Randy, Another question about the powered anode rod. Would the calcium carbonate coating that seems to be coating my anode rods also coat the powered anode rod? If so, would this prevent the powered anode rod from working? Thanks, Bryan
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30th, 2011 08:20 pm |
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94th Post |
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bryankwalton Member
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bryankwalton wrote: Thanks for the reply Randy,Hi Randy or Larry, Do either of you know the answer to this question? Thanks, Bryan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31st, 2011 06:08 am |
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95th Post |
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eleent Member
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Hello: I can say that I've found big stalactites on powered anodes. This suggests that they can continue to throw current even when coated with hardness from the water. The coating clearly isn't waterproof Yours, Larry
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| Posted: Tue May 3rd, 2011 06:27 am |
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96th Post |
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videojoe Member
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Thanks to all of the excellent posts here, I just ordered a GE from my local Sears for $1199 plus install (they matched an online retailer). I declined (for now) their extended 5 year extended warranty as it was $500... I saw a earlier post about Lowes offering an $80 "10" year warranty. I imagine that's just for the parts and not the labor? Anyone else bother with an extended warranty? Thanks, Joe
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| Posted: Tue May 3rd, 2011 01:43 pm |
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97th Post |
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xxhaimbondxx Member
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I think the parts warranty is 10 years for these units. Labor for $80 sounds like a good deal.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 8th, 2011 12:08 am |
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98th Post |
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nikdfish Member
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We put our GE in about a year ago. Purchased it locally at Lowes (special order) & got the full coverage add-on to the 10 year parts warranty for about $75. There was a sale on at the time and I think the total with tax & extra coverage was still in the $1300-$1400 neighborhood. We self installed it in the basement as a replacement for the leaky resistance electric unit that was present when we bought the place. It's been in Eco mode since day one and we've never had a hot water shortage (3 adults in the household). No problems with noise, even though it is directly below the master bath. We've been very happy with it. Nick
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| Posted: Thu Sep 22nd, 2011 04:41 am |
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99th Post |
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bastonal Member
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I agree with you 100% Made in the USA - 'll even pay more IF necessary! Cheers!!
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29th, 2012 06:51 am |
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100th Post |
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leftlink Member
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You all may be interested to know that on January 25, 2011, the EPA released some data about a newly qualified GE heat pump water heater. I assume that this is the "Geospring 2" water heater which was also touted in a GE press release recently (google for "Geospring 2"). Here is the link to the chart: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=heat_pump.display_products_html It shows that the new GE model (GEH50DEED) will be: -- 1/2 inch thicker in diameter and an inch shorter -- able to deliver 65 gallons in the "first hour" as opposed to 63 for the Geospring 1. -- energy factor increased by 0.05. Now it is 2.40. The "active" date for this new model is March 14, 2012. I am surprised that the new model only comes in 1 size (50 gallons), but maybe they want to field test the technology (as in the Prius) with one size before coming out with different-sized models. Can anyone confirm that the model GEH50DEED is in fact the GeoSpring 2? Last edited on Sun Jan 29th, 2012 06:59 am by leftlink |
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