Accessibility Tools
Explore popular, common questions regarding Heat Pump Water Heaters and more.
A heat pump water heater will reduce your energy costs for hot water by 65% compared to a conventional electric water heater, and by 75% compared to a propane water heater. Your energy costs for hot water will be about the same with a heat pump water heater compared to an efficient natural gas water heater.
Heat pump water heaters are much more efficient than gas, propane, or conventional electric water heaters. The uniform energy factor (UEF) is the new metric for rating the energy efficiency of water heaters. The higher the UEF, the higher the efficiency. Heat pump water heaters have UEF ratings between 3.0 and 3.5, while “efficient” gas and propane water heaters have UEF ratings between 0.65 and 0.70. Conventional electric water heaters have UEF ratings of about 0.95.
One of the measures of performance is the “recovery time,” which means the time it takes to provide hot water during periods of high usage (when the hot water in the storage tank is depleted). Heat pump water heaters have recovery times that are slightly longer than those of natural gas or propane water heaters, and slightly better than those of traditional electric water heaters. Heat pump water heaters have an electric resistance heating element to complement the heat pump system for heating the water. In the “hybrid mode” setting, both the electric resistance and heat pump systems work together to heat the water, providing for quicker recovery than traditional electric water heaters. If your home has frequent periods of high usage, another option to improve the recovery time more efficiently than relying on the “hybrid mode” is to choose a larger tank size, and/or to increase the temperature setting to ~130 degrees F and install a mixing valve to deliver the needed temperature.
City of Boulder (in addition to Boulder County and Xcel incentives). Heat pumps: $400 for cold climate heat pump, plus $500 if switching from gas. Heat pump water heater:$250, plus $500 if switching from gas WH
Boulder County (in addition to Xcel incentives). Heat pumps: $300 (max of 25% of project cots). Heat pump water heater: $100 (max of 25% of project costs)
Heat pumps: $800 ducted, $500 ductless; +$100 contractor. Cold-climate HPs: $1,000 ducted, $600 ductless; +$100 contractor.
Walking Mountains Science Center offers rebates to residential customers for several measures including cold-climate heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and induction cooktops. All rebates are a maximum of 25% of project costs, up to a total maximum of $3,000 per home per year, subject to specific criteria on Walking Mountains’ website here.
Heat pump: $2,000 for cold-climate heat pump
Heat Pump Water Heater: $750 for an Energy Star HPWH
All residential rebates: 25% of project cost up to $5,000 per year per account (includes all rebates – insulation, heat pumps, HPWHs, induction, etc.)
Heat pump: 25% up to $1000. Heat pump water heater: 25% up to $500