Great video. Glad you have had a good experience with the heater. Good idea about connecting the condensate drain to the AC drain. I noticed that you didn't plumb the T&P valve to the outside, obviously because it's in your garage. I plan to do the same thing and then use the existing T&P piping for my condensation line. It doesn't appear you install heat trap loops on the inlet and outlet. Do you know if the unit needs them or does it have an internal design that eliminates the need for them? Sorry to hear that it doesn't make much difference in the temperature of the garage. I was hoping to get some free AC in my garage since I live in Florida. Thanks for the video. David
You said your wife’s hair dryer is 2500W‽ That implies either a 20amp outlet, or a 240v circuit. (Watts = amps * volts so 2500w/120v=20.8amps) More likely the hair dryer is 1800w (15amp*120v)
Gen4 (what you have) is awesome, confirmed. Gen5 (I installed it 3 days ago) is an unmitigated noise monster, filling my 2300+ sq ft home with a humming sound from the compressor.
Dara, sorry I should have replied sooner and provided an update to everyone. Rheem sent out a team of 2 and they replaced the fan making the noise. I also added padding (rubber) between the unit and wall. Either one of those things or both removed 90% of the whining throughout the house. I love this water heater now. Quiet, efficient, and Wi-Fi connected. I love it and highly recommend it! Don’t forget about the federal tax credit and any potential in state ones too!
Great video and I loved the 90 degree elbow setup at the water heater connections. Well done! In listening to how to maintain the systems, I am certain you will get the maximum life out of the heater.
I've had the opposite experience. Nothing but errors and issues from the day we installed it. It's a brand new home and this is the only hot water heater we've had here. I get A108 Condensation Line Blocked, which it isn't. It's plumbed correctly and I have a clean out. I make sure it's not gummed up with anything periodically. Raheem has sent the water sensor that goes in the pan, we've replaced that. We also replaced the Control Unit that is the brains that has the screen on it. The sensor in the top of the unit has been replaced also. After all those sensors were replaced last year, it was error free for a few months. Now it's throwing codes again. I'm sure Rheem will not admit that this one is a dud, but my installer/retailer is attempting to get us a replacement unit. Fingers crossed.
Wow, sorry for your bad luck. You most definitely got a dud. This is actually the first time I have ever seen anyone having a major problem with this water heater.
Nice video. Great setup for your hybrid water heater. You say it provides enough heated water for the two of you. What temperature setting are you running? Thank you for your answer.
Thanks for the informative video. Does it make that room much colder? I'm in Maine, our basement is already a little chilly in winter. I'm in love with the savings prospect, just wondering about how cold it would be down there. Thank you.
If your basement is cold now it will be significantly colder when this thing is running. I live in North Carolina - and like Mr. Alarcon mine is in my garage - and if it say 45 degrees outside and it running it very cold in the garage. During spring or summer it won't be an issue of course. There are some other reviews of Rheem in youtube videos that talk about this. For myself it just my wife and I - and our hot water need is pretty low. I have a 8 inch duct that pulls outside attic air - typically warmer - and vents it into the garage. I have mine configured to turn on at noon - and turn off at 5PM - to take advantage of the warmer day - and to run in heat pump mode only. Since I made that change my KWH per day is 1.82 - or $0.18 cents per day - or $65.70 per year. I wish I knew what what my KWH was with my old electric heater - for comparison - but I did not have a way to track that. It should be even cheaper than that when summer comes. If I had a basement I would probably put it there - live with the hit or perhaps run it in standard mode when it very cold. You have a nice de-humidifier going when it running in energy saving mode...if we have some cold weather where it does not get above say 30 degrees outside I would probably run my in standard mode - but so far this winter we have not had any days like day...
@@romanykemp9042 Thank you so much -- this is very helpful. It clarifies a lot for me, based on actual experience. We are only two people as well, also with low hot water need. $.18 a day sounds great!
@@churchcarvers354 I have some other info that you might fine useful if you wanted to shoot me an email me at soeg@u.dmarc.ro. It too much to put in this vid....
1.3.21 Thanks for the video. I like how the water heater is setup. When on heat pump mode would you happen to know if will use the electric heat strips?
The new ones (with buttons instead of a touch screen) will use the heating elements if it determines the water needs to heat up more quickly. @SolarEngineering review talked about this.
@@Sylvan_dB That's correct if you have it in high efficiency mode, but heat pump mode won't use the "heat strips". I've kept mine in high efficacy mode only in the last 2 weeks that I've had it. I have a separate system where I can track every circuit in the house, and I have seen only tiny blips of the "heat strips" being used in a few instances. I figure the thing knows what it needs, so I let it use them rather than using heat pump mode.
@@Sylvan_dB it uses the element in high demand mode or if it needs it while it is in energy saver mode. It also uses the element in electric mode, which operates the same as a conventional water heater.
@@inoahmann7542 i never said anything about the condensate drain. this valve goes on the water supply side. supply to tank is on bottom. so if tank drains with out air relief it wont be pretty.
@@Mike-Minion I agree that a vacuum relief valve (vacuum breaker) should be installed on the cold inlet side since this is bottom feed WH but the current manuals on Rheem's website don't mention it at all.
After some rubber mat padding between the heater and wall, not bad at all, around 45 decibels right next to the unit in heat pump mode. Zero sound in electric only mode.
Thank you. I am contemplating installing a Rheem Hybrid unit. Is the fan quiet. Also, I will but it in the basement. Will it chill the basement? Dave Price
Current run of Gen 5s is a nightmare for sound. This review is for the 10x better Gen 4s which are now a diamond the rough. The Gen 5s are HomeDepot since 2021 are garbage. The noise is so bad in my home, you can hear the low resonance hum from every corner of my home.
@@frankcarrizo7799 I'm looking at putting one of these in my finished basement. Those are my concerns, noise and the cold air. It will be great in the summer for cooling. My current hot water heater is nearly 14 years old. Is it worth just disabling the heatpump portion in the winter so I don't have the noise and cool air?
Kevin, sorry I should have updated my negative posts from a year ago…. Everything is fixed and the water heater is performing perfectly. A fan replacement and sound deadening rubber mat was placed between the heater and the wall. Between the two the house hum is gone (for the most part). I now highly recommend this heater and love its efficiently and Wi-Fi connected capabilities. Just make sure you get a big enough unit for you and yours. Peace