A smart water heater may not be one of the appliances you think of right away when designing your smart home setup, but the features and cost savings they provide make them one of the more useful additions.
Smart water heaters come with several features that are very convenient for a homeowner who wants to reduce power consumption, but not sacrifice on quality of life.
One of the most useful features of smart water heaters is that you can schedule times throughout the day that your water temperature will increase, such as in the morning right before you might take a shower, and then decrease the temperature, perhaps at night while you’re asleep.
Smart water heaters can also increase temperatures periodically to help kill off harmful bacteria in your water, to help keep you safer from certain bacteria that can flourish in hot water systems.
They also have safety features that alert you to leaks, and can even shut off the water to the water heater should a leak be detected.
One of the most feature rich smart water heaters available is the Rheem ProTerra Hybrid Electric Water Heater. It has an array of functionality that make it an excellent example of what smart water heaters can do to enhance your smart home setup.
Overview:
- You lower energy costs by up to $480 per year
- Possible $300 Federal Tax Credit for Installing One
- WiFi is Built In
- Comes in 40, 50, 65 and 80 Gallon Capacities
- Increased Efficiency: Around 4 Times the Efficiency of a Standard Water Heater
This model comes with everything you could want in a smart water heater. The hybrid functionality pulls heat from the air around the water heater, to help improve efficiency, reducing energy consumption by up to 75% of s standard electric water heater.
The integrated WiFi allows for checking energy usage and water temperature through the EcoNet technology system. You can also monitor the health of the compressor and elements. You can also conveniently check to see if there is enough hot water before jumping in the shower.
Integrated leak detection and auto shut-off features shut off water automatically, and limits leaks to 20 ounces of water to help protect your home.
Customizable scheduling allows homeowners to schedule their water temperature cycles around peak electricity rates to help save money.
Five operating modes help you save money, or maintain hot water availability:
- Energy Saver optimizes operation for low energy usage, to help reduce costs.
- Heat Pump Only allows for operation only via the high-efficiency heat pump.
- High Demand mode favors hot water output and availability over energy savings.
- Electric Only operates the system as a normal electric water heater.
- Vacation Mode is a low temp mode for when you are away from your home for extended periods of time.
The bottom line is that although a smart water heater is something that you don’t see on a day to day basis, its usefulness for a smart home setup, both in convenience and savings, makes it an excellent investment.