I like free stuff. Who doesn’t? I especially like free stuff that saves me money over time. So when I got a mailer from my local big-box home improvement store offering me a practically free super energy-efficient water heater, I paid attention. The deal offered was straightforward: an instant $500 rebate from the big-box store plus an additional rebate of $800 from my electrical utility company, for a total of $1,300 in savings. The offer got even better, because the type of water heater offered is a relatively new, ultra-efficient heat pump type that reportedly uses 67 percent less energy than a standard electric water heater, for an annual savings of between $300 to $400 for an average family.
I was introduced to heat pump water heaters a few years ago while watching a television commercial that showed a group of Japanese snow monkeys basking in the warmth of a hot water spa, surrounded by snow and ice. The commercial showed the Macaques punching the controls of a new, energy-efficient heat pump water heater sitting on the banks of the spa, while the narrator quips, “Heating your water in your home any other way is going to seem primitive.” I was won over! Until I looked up the cost, which was about twice the cost of a standard version. Electric water heaters last anywhere from 10 to 15 years. Mine was only about seven years old. I could wait.