GEOSPRING GE Hybrid Water Heaters (Heat Pump)

The GeoSpring hybrid water heater manufactured by General Electric is an electric storage type water heater with a heat pump mounted on top. 

Heat pump water heaters work just like heat pumps in refrigerators and window air conditioners.  Its much less expensive to move heat around than it is to generate heat with electricity. The heat pump water heater uses a heat exchanger to cool the air and the recovered heat from the air is put into the water with a second heat exchanger. 

Like all of the other storage heat pump water heater brands, it works great in warm climates and not so well in cold climates.  It saves energy since it’s less expensive to move heat from the air to the water than it is to just generate the heat with electricity.

Heat pumps need a lot of air to recover heat from, so they have fans to move the air through a heat exchanger.  Typically a heat pump water heater should not be located in an unvented closet or storage room.  Normally you would want at least 800 to 1000 cubic feet of volume in the room where you locate the unit.

Heat pump technology has been around forever and is very reliable. If you look around in the forums online you won't find many unhappy owners of heat pump water heaters like you will with tankless water heaters.

GE claims their hybrid unit can save up to 62% and up to $320 per year on your water heating bill, and that it's the most energy efficient 50-gallon electric water heater you can buy. It is ENERGY STAR® qualified with an energy factor of 2.35 (in the default Hybrid mode).

Here are some of the specifications:

The GeoSpring Hybrid Water heater has several modes of operation which you can select on via the control panel.

Modes Of Operation

eHeat™ mode

The water heater operates only the heat pump to heat water. This is the most efficient mode, and will produce greatest amount of savings.
 

Hybrid mode

In hybrid mode it uses the heat pump as its primary means to heat the water, the standard electric elements only come on when needed, automatically reverting back to using the heat pump only once the demand has been met. This is the default mode the electric water heater is shipped in.
 

High Demand mode

High Demand mode operates much like Hybrid mode, but lets the system know in advance that it will be experiencing a larger water demand than normal. The water heater will be react faster by cycling on the heating elements sooner and for a longer duration of time.
 

Standard mode

This mode shuts the heat pump off and uses the electric elements only to heat the water, just like a regular electric water heater. Standard mode is used for operation when it gets extremely cold (less than 45°F).

Vacation setting

Vacation setting drops the temperature set point to 50°F saving energy, but also preventing the water from freezing. You set how many days you will be away on vacation, between of 3 and 90 days.  The day before you get home the heater restores the previous settings. When you get home the hot water will be waiting.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act provides consumers with a 30% tax credit on the purchase and installation price of an ENERGY STAR heat pump water heater.

Supercharge your water heater ...get your hot water fast! Chilipepper Hot water Pump Chilipepper Sales 1380 Greg St., # 221 Sparks Nevada, 89431 PH (775)-359-1223