That doesn't sound right at all...brand new unit taking air from/near a heat duct should make hot water like crazy, not just warm! I'd be calling their tech line already!
I did speak with Lowes CS and got a area tech from Lowes. And under his breath told me I am in for a total crap load of BS from A.O Smith. I got a run around this morning from A.O. Smiths CS. So off went the negative reviews and a few emails!! I am also going to contact Rheem to see if they are willing to use my bad experience on the A. O. Smiths hybrids!! Should be a great sales pitch!!
jtakeman how often does warm air blow from the duct where you installed the heater? I would think to get a benefit of the higher temps, it would have to blow nearly continuously. Also, would you consider installing an electric resistance tankless hot water heater? Theory being that you use the HPHWH to warm the water but the electric resistance unit to make it hot and the electric resistance unit is only making as much hot water as you intend to use instantaneously. If your water enters the Water heater at 55 degrees, it’s going to take forever to warm up in heat pump mode (assuming you have enough heat for it to scavenge where it is installed) but it will eventually warm up. Adding the point of use tankless allows you to never use the electric resistance function on the HPHWH which if my understanding is correct rapidly heats ALL of the water in the tank even if it’s not immediately in demand. Come to think of it, why don’t they just use electric resistance to heat the water as it’s leaving the heater to avoid heating more than is needed.. what I’m thinking about is something like this,, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-P...165aff2c207711f580819d106a6a8abc&gclsrc=3p.ds
The heat has been cycling about 3 to 4 times an hour and runs about 10-15 minutes. Not constant enough I guess. I may add a duct right to it. Once we are out of #2 oil, The pellet heater will be put into operation. That should run a lot longer and I can aim the heat towards it. I can also add duct to the exhaust from the hybrid and plumb that to the outdoors which would help keep it warmer as it just dumps its cooled air in the same area. I will be looking into that tankless. I would need a small unit than you posted as I only have a 200 amp service connected to the shack. But your idea of adding one might be the ticket. We only need that at the shower/bath as the 99ºF water temp is plenty for the rest of the faucets. Our dish washer has its own element and would heat the water up for the dish cycle. That might be the ticket!!
The other option would be to preheat your water before it goes into the HPHWH.. I have thought about using a home made solar collector, some propylene glycol and a superstor hot water heater to do that. Theory being that I can get the water from the street to be 20-30 degrees warmer before it dumps into my hot water heater (currently a superstor which is run as a zone in my oil boiler) which would then reduce the heating demand on my boiler.. haven’t gotten around to doing this project quite yet though so it’s merely an idea floating in my head.
That puts you in dangerous territory for bacteria to breed...like legionella! 120* is commonly considered the perfect temp, the lowest temp to be safe...and the highest temp, to be sure nobody can be burned.
I didn't think of that! We can only get that high in electric, Hybrid barely keeps it at 99 in the current temps. If this is a health hazard I am surprised they haven't address it? I bet if I left it in hybrid it would kill the heat pump in sort order as it runs constantly. One would think they would have the program adjust between hybrid and electric if it doesn't raise the internal temp after a period of time??
"Runs constantly"...not right at all! My Richmond will recover from a bath in an hour or so...heck we often do 2-3 in an evening (over say a 3-4 hour period) and no cold water....and I have it locked in HP only mode. Hybrid mode should make the HP and resistance coils both run, if needed.
Chlorine gets "used up" over time, so as it sits in the pipes/water heater the residual chlorine level slowly goes to zero.
jtakeman, why not exchange it for an electric one? It'd be a shame to have to spend more $$ on a tankless to compensate for the brand new one, and I heard the tankless heaters are electricity hogs. I exchanged a washing machine they delivered, that too was an appliance that I used for a for a few weeks.
I suppose I could try and see if they will let me return it. But I would want my money back so I could buy at another place as Lowes only sells AO Smith. I swore I will never ever buy their brand again.
