Hybrid water heaters offer eco-friendly heat pumps in combination with electricity for hot water that never stops. They may seem large in size for a standard home, but this is to help keep the water warm with the hot air generally found in your basement, garage, or attic. Homes that are in warm climates, such as San Antonio or Austin, benefit the most from the climate because it will generally warm up their water faster. Hot air comes into the unit, warms the water, and then cool air is expelled into the room.
You will notice when switching from a tank style water heater to a hybrid that hybrid water heaters usually have a larger tank capacity. The hybrid units come in much larger sizes because the heat pump sometimes heats a tank of water slower than tank or tankless electric models. That is because the hybrid water heaters pull hot air from the room first before using electricity.
Hybrid water heaters heat up water quickly when switched to electric mode. However, the goal is to operate your hybrid using the heat pump as much as possible to save on energy costs. Because of this, we generally recommend sizing up your hybrid water heater. This will ensure you have more hot water stored in your tank for use through out the home.
How to Size Your Hybrid Water Heater
If you already have a conventional tank style water heater, then it’s easy to simply size up your hybrid water. We have provided a sizing guide to make this part of the process a breeze.
Step 1
Find the Capacity of Your Current Water Heater
You should start by checking out the size of your current water heater. To find out how many gallons your tank currently holds, look for a sticker on the side of your water heater. It should have your serial number, model number, and other information about your water heater listed. You should be able to find the tank capacity in gallons on this sticker.
Step 2
Size Up Your Current Water Heater to a Hybrid
Here are our general recommendations on sizing:
- If you have a 30 gallon water heater, size up to a 50 gallon hybrid water heater.
- If you have a 40 gallon water heater, size up to a 65 gallon hybrid water heater.
- If you have a 50 gallon water heater, size up to a 85 gallon hybrid water heater.