Choosing water heating methods (solar, desup, etc), and combining them
bluesolar
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
I’m trying to sort out the water heater situation for our new build. Two of the greener methods appear to be only partial solutions – they can’t handle a home’s entire hot water demand. I’m referring to solar and a desuperheater attached to a geothermal HVAC system.
Q1: Are the two methods combined likely to handle a the hot water needs of a 5-person family? Or would you still have a regular water heater to pick up the slack?
Q2: Can the two methods be combined? Do they use separate tanks or what?
Of the three systems, which pair would you choose? Or would you deploy all three? Here are the three:
1. Solar water heater
2. Desuperheater
3. Tankless natural gas or electric water heater
Region: Tucson, AZ and Las Vegas, NV (very similar, nearly equivalent climates)
Thanks for your help.
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Replies
4. Heat pump water heater + PV (with or without desuperheater or drainwater heat recovery)
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/solar-thermal-is-dead
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/solar-thermal-is-not-dead
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/solar-thermal-is-really-really-dead
Thanks Dana. I'm thoroughly confused by the use of the term "heat pump" at this point. Is it the same as a hybrid water heater? Is it the kind that requires a ton of air space around it?
Are there tankless heat pump water heaters, or do they always have tanks?