heat pump water heaters.... anyone have one?

[Drew4UTk]

I need to replace the 80gallon straight electric heater i have- which is at least 15 year old (since i've owned the house) and has never been drained.. it has two 4500w elements that burn pretty much all the time (one is sunk in junk, no doubt)...

I'm looking at these hybrid systems using heap pump tech to do the trick... they require a drain, but i think i can pull that off.. my concern is space- right now (where the current one is plumbed and has power available) it's in a pantry that is about 6x8 or so- in the back corner... everything i read says these things need space enough to provide the air so the exchange can draw enough heat out... this would pretty much exclude me from using one, but... there is no hvac duct in that pantry, and the attic access is literally right above the current heaters location- in the summer, that pantry is pretty hot- like, at least 15* hotter than the rest of the house.... so.... i'm thinking the 'available heat in the air=space' is moot... but worth mentioning...

do any of y'all have one of these things? if so- what model/make?  how much impact on your juice use per month? 

thanks in advance... 

[Huskerfan_12]

I have never personally used one of these bit it seems that they pretty efficient. Most gas (propane, natural)water heaters have a square footage requirement. This is to ensure enough fresh combustion air is available. If the space that the heater is installed in isn't big enough, louvers are installed on the doors. Most apartments and small house are like this. I can only assume that for the HP water heaters that the area needed is to ensure enough air exchange across the evaporator. Just know that they will expel cool air into the room they are installed in as the act like a reverse air conditioner. Maybe download an installation manual for one and see what the footage and louver requirements are for a typical one. Hope this helps.