| An Affordable Heat-Pump Water-Heater Retrofit | | | | manufacturers). |
| The engineers at AirGenerate (previously Beyond | | | | Heat-pump water heaters have always been a |
| Pollution) appear to have done something | | | | good idea, but most efforts to design, build, and |
| remarkable: create an affordable, effective, | | | | market（from： them have failed. |
| heat-pump water heater that can be retrofit onto | | | | With today's high energy prices, however, |
| a conventional gas or electric water heater(from: | | | | consumers should be more receptive to |
| more than doubling the energy performance | | | | heat-pump water heaters, according to Harvey |
| compared with a standard electric water heater. | | | | Sachs, Ph.D., the buildings program director at the |
| The AirTap A7 water heater has a rated output | | | | American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. |
| of 7,000 Btu/hour (7.4 MJ/hour), a first-hour | | | | "The economic savings potential is so much |
| rating of 42.5 gallons (160 l), a maximum water | | | | greater than before, with the run-up of energy |
| temperature of 135°F (57°C), an | | | | prices," Sachs told EBN. |
| efficiency of 240% (coefficient of performance | | | | AirGenerate initially produced its AirTap A7 |
| of 2.4), and an energy factor of 2.11. (Energy | | | | water-heater kit in Houston, Texas. After selling a |
| factor is a standardized measure of performance | | | | few hundred units in late 2007, the company |
| of water heaters; the higher the number, the | | | | began sourcing the product from an offshore |
| better.) All this is in a unit that measures only 18" | | | | supplier. The outsourcing of production will allow |
| wide by 14" deep by 14" high (460 x 360 x 360 | | | | the company to significantly ramp up production. |
| mm), weighs only 48 pounds (22 kg), and sits on | | | | The first of the new (offshore-manufactured) |
| top of a standard water heater. The list price is | | | | AirTap units were received in January 2008, and |
| $499. The energy factor and first-hour rating of | | | | about 200 had been sold through May 2008. Of |
| the AirTap are certified by GAMA (previously the | | | | 400 units scheduled to arrive in June, almost all |
| Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association and now | | | | were pre-sold by the end of May, according to |
| a broader association of appliance and equipment | | | | Sunil Sinha, chief scientist at AirGenerate. |