HPWH Findings from Northern Climate Field Study ACEEE Hot Water Forum – Nashville February 23, 2015 Hugh Henderson sponsored by: CDH Energy Corp. NYSERDA Cazenovia, NY
Do HPWHs Make Sense in Northeast? Many rural homes do not have natural gas Fuel oil / wood widely used for space heating Electric water heaters are common Most homes have basements HPWH pulls heat from the basement/ground … not the “home” Dehumidifiers are widely used Efficiency can be reasonable Loads are high, capture waste heat Efficiency can approach COP of 2?
Field Test Site Remodeled Farm House 2 to 5 occupants wet stone basement new plumbing oil boiler w/ indirect tank use DH in summer 2 to 5 occupants
Instrumentation 15-minute data (1 sec scans) Integrates ΔT and flow every second to get Q Power and element status Space conditions (T & RH) Dehumidifier status Pre-HPWH data collection (Nov-2012 to April 2013)
HPWH GE GeoSpring™ HPWH purchased February 2013 Model: GEH50DEEDSR 50 gallon 2.4 EF Set to “Hybrid” Mode
Daily Efficiency vs. HW Load EF=2.4 @ 64 gal/day AVG=1.4 @ 49 gal/day Large draws hurt efficiency
Daily Power vs. HW Load
What Drives Resistance Element Operation?
Large Draws Drive Resist. Elements 2 cycles of element operation 1 cycle of element operation few minutes of unexplained operation
Basement Space Conditions HPWH Installed
Basement Space Daily Conditions HPWH lowered temperatures by 2-4F
Basement Humidity vs. Outdoor Humidity Winter Summer
Impact on Dehumidifier Performance
How Does HPWH affect DH Runtime?
Statistically Analyze Impact Multi-linear Regression Model Coefficient a2 indicates impact a2 = -0.215 “each hour of HPWH decreases DH runtime by 0.2 hrs” T-ratio = 2.5 “different from zero at 90% CI” DH = a0 + a1×WO + a2×HP where: DH - Dehumidifier Runtime (minutes/day) HP - HPWH Runtime (minutes/day) WO - Outdoor Humidity Ratio (lb/lb)
Annual Dehumidifier Savings
Summary Overall COP is 1.4 @ 49 gal/day HPWH impacts space conditions basement is colder (50-65F) resistance elements respond to large draws (e.g., 20 gal) better controls could reduce element operation HPWH impacts space conditions operation lowered space temps by 2-4F HPWH reduces Dehumidifer (DH) operation Every 5 hours of HPWH operation reduces DH runtime by one hour Saves an additional 84 kWh per year (10%)