When it comes to heating water efficiently for process, HVAC or domestic usage there are no doubt plenty of options out there to consider, and each has their benefits. In the past ten years, the market has exploded with nearly every manufacturer introducing high-efficiency boilers and water heaters. So for consumers, we already have the benefit of plenty of options, each with their own set of unique benefits.
A.O. Smith, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment, has recently introduced yet another option. According to the company’s website, their best selection of high efficiency water heaters currently includes their VoltexTM Hybrid Electric, EffexTM High Efficiency Gas, NEXT HybridTM Gas and CirrexTM Solar water heaters.
The VoltexTM, EffexTM and CirrexTM models are all ENERGY STAR rated as well and each could warrant their own article, but for now we’ll focus on the NEXT HybridTM Gas water heater. A.O. Smith touts NEXT as ‘the new milestone in water heating—built for the way people ACTUALLY live and use hot water’ by combining the best features of tankless and traditional water heating technologies by decreasing the standby losses associated with traditional tank-type water heaters (300 Btu/h compared to 700 Btu/h for a 50 gallon storage type gas water heater) and eliminating something called ‘cold water sandwiches’. These sandwiches they speak of are sudden interruptions in the hot water stream or ‘bursts of cold water’ occasionally delivered by instantaneous water heaters after there have been intermittent uses.
Plus, like almost any other energy-efficient product purchase nowadays, it’s eligible for up to a $1,500 federal tax credit, even though it isn’t ENERGY STAR rated (yet). The NEXT operates at up to 90% thermal efficiency, a measure of the completeness of fuel combustion, otherwise phrased as the ratio of energy out over energy in. A.O. Smith compares this to standard 78% efficient conventional or 84% tankless gas water heaters in terms of overall performance improvement.
From the website, ‘The NEXT Hybrid water heater features a patented heat transfer process that utilizes a secondary heat exchanger to capture the heated flue gas from the tankless unit and route it back through a buffer tank to extract additional heat. The combined effort of the two technologies creates a superior, more energy-efficient performance’.
I can’t phrase an explanation of the actual technology behind the NEXT better than A.O. Smith’s marketing materials, but in paraphrase NEXT utilizes hot flue gasses (a byproduct of combustion) that would otherwise be venting waste heat to preheat water stored locally within the heater, making the overall effect a gas instantaneous heater with added heat exchanger and buffer tank.
NEXT has a smaller footprint than a standard 50 gallon gas water heater, but at 189 gallons of hot water delivery for the first hour, provides nearly double the performance. The internal storage allows this model to quickly and efficiently meet and maintain peak demand like clothes washing, showers, etc simultaneously with a properly sized and engineered system.
NEXT also comes with an interactive control panel with pre-programmed modes and simplified troubleshooting, making operation simple for the average residential consumer. Pricing looks to be about $1,999, which is more (1.5 to 2 times more than a similarly sized instantaneous unit) but installation costs can be realized through implementation of smaller gas line sizes and inexpensive venting materials associated with low-temperature flue gasses.
Decreased installation cost and additional energy savings, coupled with the tax credit make this system a viable option when considering replacing your home water heater and are looking for energy-saving options.
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