At first I thought this may be a littlle O/T, but on reflection I think a lot of

Have you looked at the gas instantaneous units??

We have one that runs off the 45kg LPG bottles, for a family of 4 we go through 3 bottles a year and I have long showers LOL

Cheers Kev

Your right the the installation is out of your pocket.
The rebate is only for the unit.
I've just purchased a 300 liter Solahart, $2400.00
I'm out of pocket $60.00 plus installation.
Haven't used it yet, still waiting for the plumber and Sparky.
With regards to the heat pump, I have heard, and only from a couple of people they can be a little noisy. These were installed on weather board houses, I would say they would be quieter with brick.

We are looking forward to cheaper power bills. This is for Two adults, Three kids under 11. The power useage may change when the two girls get older
Just my two Bobs worth.

Heat pump units are about as noisy as a small reverse cycle inverter air conditioner.
Apparently very popular in WA & are a common install over all other trypes.
Cheers Craig..........

I have a Solarplus Heat Pump system. These were originally manufactured and sold by Siddons Solar Systems, I believe they are now owned by Quantum.

My system was installed in October 1986 and is still going strong. The F.I.L had the same system installed on a new home 21 years ago and again , no problems.

These particular systems have the evaporator plates mounted on the roof.

Noise. My unit is now a little noisy due to vibration as the rubber mounting grommets on which the sealed unit sit have got a bit sloppy. I will one day get up to Clarke Rubber for replacement rubber mounts which will cure the problem. The bit of noise/vibration is only noticed if I go outside and stand near the unit.

The F.I.L. had his tank/unit installed inside the house and all you hear is a faint hum no louder than the refrigerator. Basically these units are a refrigerator running the "other way round".

I believe the "noise" is noticed when comparing to a totally silent electric water heater.

Perhaps the "fan cooled" units may be noisy however having no experirence with them I can't comment.

Ian

We had a close coupled solar hot water service with an instantaneous gas booster installed about 18 months ago now. Efficiency wise, if your roof will take something like half a tonne of weight, close coupled is the way to go - otherwise the tank has to go on the ground and water is circulated to the solar panels via small pump. The other thing we did was to opt for a stainless steel tank – IMO for longer life and a better warranty, that's the way to go – not cheap though.

In terms of emissions and usage costs, gas boosted close coupled solar systems are the most efficient - electric boosted solar, traditional gas storage unit, and heat pumps are similar (check out the Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria, NSW Sustainable Energy Development Authority websites). However which system is best may depend on your circumstance, state subsidy (Fed subsidy obviously same) e.g. whether or not you have gas available, what type of gas etc.

Since having on our system fitted our gas use has reduced by two thirds, and gas bills are down by about a third (not so impressive due to gas supply fee).

I've got two friends who are brothers, one is a plumber, he says heat pump, the other a gas fitter , u guessed it he says gas!
Personally i think the gas maybe better but im a roofer.
Wayne

I am led to believe that in SA they can only install replacement h/w heaters that have a solar component (panel). There are govt. rebates. Can no longer have just a gas heater or electric mains or storage without a solar panel. Apparently it all came into law middle of last year.

HI BooBoo,
We have a quantum heat pump. I researched it carefully 4 years ago when we built a new house and believed they were the best. They were one of the first to develop such systems. We use a lot of hot water (2 teenage daughters) and the cost is consistently between 23c and 27c per day (24 hrs). So about 1c per hour for as much hot water as you can use. Ours is on off peak tarriff.
Never found the noise a problem - its outsdie the brick house. Just put it in a corner where you don't go when socialising outdoors. You can also duct the exhaust (cold) air into the house in summer but need to divert it in winter. The exhaust air is always 10 degrees celcius colder than ambient temperature.
We have friends who had a bad experience with the solar panel type on the roof of their high set house. Tank needed to come down for repairs (outside of warranty) - had to hire a crane to lift it down and then up again after repairs. A very expensive experience. They also look ugly on your roof I reckon.
I would go for a Quantum heat pump - a very good quality product and they make hot water 24/7 as needed. Try having a hot shower with a solar panel type at night after rest of family has used up a lot of water. No more hot water until sunrise Or use the booster at high rates.
Cheers
GPM

Hi All

Being in the plumbing game, we have installed heaps of hotties over the years, my preference is gas, only if it's connected to a reticulated system, bottled gas is ok put dearer than town gas, and my other preference is using a recirculation pump, where the hot water is continuosly recirculated through the pipes, hot water comes out of the tap instantly, saving water and power, and also using a Tempering Valve so the hot water is allways 42 degrees celcius, in Showers and Baths and Hand Basins, while the Kitchen Sink and Laundry remain on 75 degrees
celcious, the Australian Standards require the above, to stop Children getting scalded.

Cheers
Daza

Hi
I ve recently been through a similar exercise as you and have come to the following conclusion.[I work in the plumbing industry]
I note that you are in NSW so you would be entilted to both state and fed rebates as well as the sale of the rec's points and these sites can help
http://www.solarsavers.com.au/
http://www.hotwaterrebate.com.au/
I am going to install a Rheem heat pump soon which my buy price is approx $300- $ 400 cheaper than the rebates offered. My reason for choosing a rheem over other heat pump units heaters and solar units are
[1]310ltr over 260 -270 ltrs from other suppliers,
[2] the rheem has an heating element mid way up the unit for additional heating in cold periods [our location is in the blue mts so cold temps are the norm]which not all makers have.
[3]Solar heaters need a nth facing elevation to work best which i can't achieve due to shading and to move to a due west roof is not effective and i would also need a frost protected model which are dearer
[4] Aheat pump is simpliar to install outside by simply removing my offpeak heater and installing new one.
[5] And the clincher comes$1000 to renew my current 20yr old heater and no rebate or $3000 to buy rheem heat pump and receive back approx $3450 back in rebates.no install costs allowed for as i'm installing.
Acouple of negatives that i forsee with the heat pumps are,any servicing may need to be done by appropriate people due to the compressor,gases etc,but the units are 2 parts ,heater and heat pump motor so can be seperated ,an offpeak heater only has 3 things to go wrong element, thermo, and leaking which most plumbers/electricians can do.And noise factor but they will be quiter than an reverse cycle aircond and they are outside and usually on the unused side of a house.I would not consider lpg instant heaters due to flow restrictions and gas consumptions
hope this helps
Russ

I've got Solar and have had for about 20 yrs. Wouldn't have anything else. Only very occasionally needs a boost, and only for an hour or two before bed after a few days of overcast weather. It's surprising how little sun they need to heat water.

We are a family of three, one of those being a teenage girl.. You've never seen long showers till you have one of those ;-((

Rheem recently changed thier design to take the heat punp from the top of the HWS to sit beside the unit.
This was done to reduce the noise of the unit operating although none of our clients complained about the noise.
We have been installing them now for a couple of years in new houses (roughly 130 units) and had only one need for repairs relating to the HWS itself, and Rheem attended to the callout within 24 hours.
No affiliation with Rheem except for purchasing thier products, but the heatpumps do seem to operate well and are cheaper to run than normal electric heaters. Also should be quite a bit cheaper to install labourwise as a replacement to electric heaters.
Whether they are cheaper than gas, or full on solar, I'll leave that to the experts.
Cheers
Ian

Thanks for the input everyone your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

I am now thinking very hard about the heat pump and gas.

They appear to suit our situation.

Regards BooBoo