Any one has installed a solar hot water heat pump in Melbourne Victoria? How much your utility saving?
I got a quote for a solar heat pump hot water system cost $1000 for 300 litres. My family of 2-4 people. my instant gas hot water system still working ok ( 22 years old) and cost about $24 per month for hot water.
The company quoted me is Cynergy, but I'm not sure abt the quality of the product. They do say that there is 5 years warranty and free maintenance.
it is a terrible facebook group, a literal solar engineer kept having his comments deleted because he said solar or and electricity is not the best solution everywhere due to money, not every one can afford battery banks or the cost of changing to a 3phase system,
my fav one was the council that replied about the actual noise complaint that someone was posting about how the council was unfair, all they asked for was a 1 meter extension on the fence and a timer so that it didn't kick in at 3am, they even kept supplying information about when it is best for the heatpump to kick in due to the solar in the area, and the admins kicked the council off the group.
it is not a great database unless you want bias results
It’s a great database to get ideas and information, obviously you don’t take one resource as gospel.
unfortunately they drank the koolaid and do
Heat pump hot water will be fine in Melbourne.
You will save a lot more if you can get rid of all of your other gas appliances and not pay the daily supply charge.
true, unfortunately my ducted heating using gas, still have to pay $50 of daily supply charge per month
Yeah. That is much more expensive to replace.
If I was in your position I would look to replace the inefficient ducted heating with split systems. Will save a lot over time.
The challenge currently is reliability so number 1 factor is the type and length of the warranty.
Bulk of models around are being offered by companies that specialise in gas but know nothing about
HVAC. Advise I have been given by an engineer in this field is stay clear of the usual gas brands, like Rinnai as they are not building quality models with too many early failures.
He mentioned this brand and I think the specific models where they split the condensor out from the tank.
https://www.sanden-hot-water.com.au/
Site says 6 years warranty which doesn't align to what the engineer said is minimum. Would expect twice that.
Anyway if they are not providing the same length of warranty as gas equivalents then there is a risk you could be doing expensive repairs and therefore it voids the savings moving away from gas. The HVAC components of the system should the same or better in terms of reliability so if they are offering a lower warranty its probably safe to assume they are not confident in their product yet.
BTW Gas in its current form will likely be phased out, being talked about constantly by Victorian government, so I like your thinking. Please update if you end up doing it with your experience.
BTW that facebook group is useful.
Useless from my experience
What company are you using and what is the rebate amount?
I'd love to know where the quote is from, asked for one last month and got $3500 for removal of gas and install of heatpump.
If you only pay $24 a month, $1k means about 40 month repay period even if the electricity is free. They're not that efficient so you'd be looking at a decade at more. Key part is more being able to remove gas, which is my goal. I have hot water and stove top, that's it.
Yep I'm keen to know too. I know a new rebate was supposed to have kicked in at the end of May for removal of gas and replacement with heat pump.
It's $1k rebate by the looks of it, they only seemed to release the details on it a couple of days ago.
Considering heatpumps alone are about $3k for the cheapest models, even after STCs and rebates I can't imagine it getting to $1,000 (the quote I had was for about a $3k system, $800 in STCs and $900 rebate at the time of the quote).
Not sure of Melbourne details, but did this in Sydney. Having Solar panels meant it made more sense (using it rather than getting low FIT) it is installed with standard plug, so added remote timer in waterproof box, to stop it coming on outside of daylight. But we have small household so it only needs heating once a day.
However it seems like the quote you have is similar to what I was quoted. But this doesn’t include extras like the change in piping or electrical extras. These can add up and they don’t know this until they come out, and there will be extras.
For those wanting details, it was ecoadvantage. Thats not a recommendation, as I haven’t had the system long. Just to answer the queries posted.
Heat pump solar works in Victoria but you need to do research on the reputable brands. The top tier brands are Sanden and Reclaim. Cost about 5-6k installed after rebates. The best value ones are Hydrotherm ( 6 years parts and labour), iStore ( 6years parts and 2 years labour). Hydrotherm is around 2k installed after rebates, and istore is around 3k. You want a reputable heat pump because the rebates can only be claimed once and you don't want to use it on the rubbish pump.
From a cost analysis, its best to go heat pump when its the last remaining device to get an all electric home and you plan to live long term to get the returns. You save at least $350/year on gas supply charge alone with an all electric home.
If you have gas ducted, gas cooktop, gas hot water, its not financially viable unless you wanna invest the upfront cost on replacement and plan to live in the house for at least 10 years. Replacing gas ducted to ducted refridgerated heat/cool costs around 15k alone, induction cooktop supply and install 2-3k, heat pump 2-6k. So thats a 20k upfront cost to save under 1k a year in gas supply and usage.
Thanks for this advice. I need a new HWS and it's hard to justify the cost of a heat pump as I have gas throughout the house, don't plan on changing yet and don't plan on being here forever. Will be going instantaneous gas.
Hydrotherm is around 2k installed after rebates,
is there any recommended installer who is in the rebate list around SE Melbourne ? Do they process all paper work for rebate or do we have to do that ourselves ?
Have a chat to Gavin from Melbourne heat pumps. His workmanship is always top quality and very competitive pricing. He processes all of the paperwork for rebates once you’re committed to get the work done. Make sure you do some research on MEEH facebook group for recommendations, as there’s so many non compliant plumbers around.
Gavin from Melbourne heat pumps.
Thanks mate, I also found Aquatech Rapid X6 in their web site (https://melbourneheatpumps.com/products/) and looks like it could be a cheaper option as I am looking for a 2 BR unit with 2 persons. Would it be a comparable quality model ?
@bazingaa: Yes, the x6 is made from the same company as x8. However the x6 only offers 2 years labour warranty (labour is the most expensive and more important aspect of warranty) whereas x8 offers 6 years labour. For a small family I would still recommend an x6 though if the price difference justifies this.
Heres an overview on the differences:
We offer two models of high efficiency hot water heat pumps, the Hydrotherm DYNAMIC/X8 260Ltr and the Aquatech RAPID/X6 210Ltr. Aquatech Solar Technologies is our main company and Hydrotherm is a brand of Aquatech. Both models maintain the same core components and heating capacity, the significant difference is the tank size. Even though the RAPID/X6 has 50L less storage capacity this is our most popular model as it is capable of servicing homes with up to six occupants. This is because the recovery sensor positions are lower in the tank, meaning less hot water needs to be drawn off before it will trigger the reheat cycle and therefore resulting in quicker recovery times.
The extra 50L DYNAMIC/X8 storage only impacts capacity if the system is limited to heating once a day on solar power. The attached spec sheet for both systems shows that the only difference in recommended capacity is if the system is run on solar timers. I would strongly discourage any homes with 3 or fewer permanent occupants from choosing the DYNAMIC/X8.
Heating Capacity
Heating capacity is a measure of a heat pumps peformance and is a critical specification for any purchaser to consider. This parameter will determine whether a system will suit a homes needs and how it is likely to perform under specific operating conditions. In standard mode, the DYNAMIC/X8 is capable of 740L daily hot water output and the RAPID/X6 is capable of 600L daily hot output.
Low Temperature Performance Rating
Both models are Class-A rated for low-temperature heating performance.
Low-temperature Class-A: Suitable for low ambient temperature operation without auxiliary boosting.
Low-temperature Class-B: Auxiliary boosting is required for low air temperature operation locations.
Low-temperature Class-C: Limited to operation at ambient air temperature greater than 10 degrees celsius.
Element Rating
Both models element rating is 1800W. Our element only kicks in if manually set by the user. The purpose of element mode is to ensure even under fault or maintenance the system will continue to provide hot water. Some brands utilise the element as a substitute for a poor performing product.
Solar PV
The DYNAMIC/X8 & RAPID/X6 have three in-built timers which can be used to fully utilise a Solar PV System. Using timers means you can limit heating times to daylight hours to synch with when your Solar PV is producing power. The storage tank and operating modes will ensure enough hot water throughout the day or night. Solar power fed back into the grid is only worth 8c/kwh, while power you purchase costs 24c/kw or more! So running the DYNAMIC/X8 or RAPID/X6 on your Solar PV can lower costs by hundreds of dollars annually.
Refrigerant
Our heat pumps use R290 which is 100% natural, containing no ozone-depleting substances. It also has zero global warming potential when compared to traditional R134a and R410a refrigerants.
Tank Design
The inner tank walls are constructed from 2.55mm high tensile steel sheeting, coated in Class X -0.33mg/mm2 vitreous enamel. These construction specifications are up to twice the thickness of competitors products, the advantage is you have a significantly more durable, long lasting inner tank.
Warranty
The DYNAMIC/X8 warranty coverage is 6 years all inclusive (parts, labour, and replacement)
The RAPID/X6 warranty coverage is 5 years parts and replacement + 2 years labour. For customers who install a RAPID/X6 and leave an honest review we grant a 2 year extension on parts, at no additional cost (no end date has been confirmed at this stage).
If you’re on Facebook, the My Efficient Electric Home Facebook group is an excellent resource for things like this. Loads of similar questions already asked, so it’s a great searchable database.