Two Leading Manufacturers Bring New Heat Pump Water Heater Updates To Market

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Since coming to the market 16 years ago, heat pump water heaters have undergone significant product evolutions and improvements. This crucial home efficiency technology has gotten more efficient, quieter, easier to install and many have picked up important features like being smart and connected and having thermostatic mixing valves that help store water hotter. Compare this to the standard electric resistance or gas water heater that have hardly changed at all in the last 70 years!

While new manufacturers are coming to the market all the time (which we’ll be writing about a lot this year and beyond), the American water heater market is still dominated by three companies — Rheem, A. O. Smith, and Bradford White. Two of these companies, Rheem and Bradford White, have recently updated their heat pump water heaters (HPWH). We thought it was a good time to take a look at these new updates and see how they’re moving the market forward.

Rheem

Rheem currently has the largest HPWH market share in the US which benefits from strong partnerships with companies like Home Depot and Clayton Homes. Rheem sees big trends pushing the HPWH market to dominate other water heater types in the next few years. To start with, Rheem predicts (as do we) that the Federal efficiency standard for water heaters will drive HPWHs to become the dominant type of water heater by 2029.

For this reason, Rheem, which launched its first HPWH in 2009, recently released the 5th generation of its Proterra model (5.2) with a couple of groovy features. For one, this updated HPWH is extremely efficient, reaching a 4.07 Uniform Energy Factor (UEF) which means that for every unit of energy you put into heating water, you get 4 units out! Compare this to an electric resistance water heater which typically has a .95 UEF or a gas water heater which has a .6 UEF and you can see how dramatically more efficient a HPWH is. The first HPWHs to hit the market 15 years ago had UEFs in the 2s and 3s. Crossing the 4 threshold is huge and puts Rheem’s product near the top of HPWH efficiencies.

With this updated model, Rheem also followed the lead of some other manufacturers and added top water connections rather than just having them on the side like before. This is key because many existing water heaters connect to water pipes on the top of the water heater. Adding a HPWH in the past meant that you had to run extra piping to connect on the sides. Top connections thus make life a lot easier for many installations.

Rheem has also responded to noise concerns we’d heard from some plumbers and consumers by lowering the sound of its HPWH to 45 dB, which is equivalent to a whisper. The only audible sound is the water heater fan, with no more loud(ish) compressor noise.

Finally, the HPWH will also be duct-ready. In the past if you wanted to duct your water heater (because it’s in a small utility closet for example), you had to buy a separate ducting adapter which added a couple inches of space and extra cost. Now the contractor or owner can connect the ducting directly to the unit, saving time, space and money.

Watch a recent AWHI working group video we did with Rheem, where they discussed some of the features of its new Proterra model.

Bradford White

Bradford White has the third largest market share for HPWHs and builds them in its factory in Middleville, Michigan (which I had the chance to tour last year). Bradford White has an interesting business model where it sells water heaters only to plumbing and HVAC contractors, bypassing retail to focus just on professional installers. Bradford’s HPWHs are known across the industry for their reliability — I call them the workhorse of the heat pump water heater world.

Bradford White recently released an updated AeroTherm HPWH called the G2. The company kept some of its favorite existing product features like top water connections (which they’ve had for years), Vitraglas lining with Microban antimicrobial technology (to help reduce any bacteria in the water heater) and 24/7 technical service (which is popular with plumbers and HVAC installers). Bradford White also continues to have a fully serviceable HPWH (too often other malfunctioning HPWHs are just completely swapped for new ones) and its HPWHs are also designed to be transported both upright or laid down on the back as indicated on the box, making transportation easy.

What the company did improve with this new model are:

Top venting: Bradford changed the position of its HPWH intake and outlet vents which pull in warm air and release cool air. Previously, the air intake was on the top and the discharge was on the back. Now, both are on the top and duct-ready for 8” pipe creating zero clearance on the sides and back if needed in tighter spaces and easier to vent if needed. The filter also now slides out of the air intake vent right on the front for easy cleaning.

Improved Efficiency: Like Rheem, Bradford White has improved their already incredible efficiency even more, arriving at 4.2 UEF on the 65 gallon model.

Multi-lingual LED display with built in WI-FI and Bluetooth: Finally, the G2 has Bradford White’s new exclusive LED display, complete with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to pair to the new Bradford White Wave app. The display expands accessibility with multiple languages (English, Spanish, and French Canadian) which could be real help to installers and homeowners whose first language isn’t English. The display also has an integrated CTA-2045 port as an option for grid-connectivity.

All in all, these new updates are exciting because they show the continued innovation and improvement of heat pump water heaters which continue to get better and better. Rheem and Bradford White, two of the biggest names in water heating, are investing in their products and bringing better, energy efficient, heat pump water heaters to market which will benefit consumers and the planet.

Check out a recording from and Advanced Water Heating Initiative working group where Bradford White discusses their new HPWH in depth.