For the record, I always keep my hybrid water heater (usually running in heat pump mode unless I have a lot of family staying over) set to 135F, just like I did with my regular water heater. (If any FReepers have tips on a different temp I'd appreciate it.)
Let’s check the scoreboard: Your heating bill is just as soul-crushingly high as ever...
Actually no. It runs at just 380W for just 2-3 hours per day during the warm half of the year, or 3-4 hours during the winter (call it 1kWh+ per day). If I didn't have solar, it'd add just 40kWh per month to the power bill (at 16 cents / kWh, call it $6.50 per month to heat my water every month to the same temp I was heating it before with a normal water heater, again if I didn't have solar). And by the way, during the warm half of the year I direct the cold air byproduct that comes out of the water heater into an air receiver by the water heater so that the free cold air helps cool the home. (Thus the hybrid water heater saves me with more than just heating the water tank.)
Don't get me wrong. The whole climate hysteria stuff is a bunch of bunk and I almost always agree with whattsupwiththat. No one should do things like this water heater out of some stupid climate guilt and certainly not be forced with govt regulations justified by their warmageddon cult. But I want us conservatives to have our facts in order when we make arguments such as with this article. And those of us who believe in limited govt should not just want the right people in charge undoing govt overreach. We should also each be striving to make ourselves less dependent on the things govt overregulates (like the overregulated energy market). That includes things like making our homes operate with all the comforts we want and are used to, but with less energy needed from the overregulated natural gas market or overregulated grid.
Has the heat pump installation reduced your total energy utilization and energy bills? How long would it take for the savings to equal the capital expenditure?