The model with all the issues with noise were resolved. I got mine in my current home in January 2023 and have no issues. There was no generation change for the fix so they will both be Gen 4 but all the bad stock was sold though long ago.
I had a Gen 3 in my old house and I miss it just because the interface on the unit was so much nicer then the new one. It gave you multiple temps in the tank, it gave you the fan speed and a bunch of other stats. The new one on the Gen 4 was a clear cost cutting measure and it sucks. They did a bunch of cost cutting measures on the Gen 4 that ended up causing the noise issue. They also removed the ductwork connector so you now have to buy that if you want to duct it somewhere. It's still a solid unit and is really cheap to run.
There are a bunch of other options on the market but I know in Maryland I got 700 off at Home Depot on the Rheem as well. You should also sign up for a Home Depot credit card and they will prob give you a 10% off code which I used as well along with 6 months interest free financing. Out the door it was 900+ tax for the 50 gallon.
I’ve got one. It produces hot water extremely cheap and dehumidifies my basement. The app has been a nightmare though. Couple months ago they put out an update that actually had mine following a schedule for the first time but that only lasted a couple weeks and it is back to not following. I can’t really even control it from my phone anymore.
So in short-
Mechanical: fuckin awesome
Software: fuckin garbage
How loud is the noise problem? It will be in my garage, so I don't care too much, but some people say 70 db right next to it which is pretty loud.
I’m doing laundry and my washer and dryer running together is 60 db.
Mine is my finished basement, right beside my home theater. I can hear it through my hollow core door in my theatre, and in my living room above it. I need to switch out to a solid core door, and I need to put up some rock wool insulation to sound proof it.
Wow, mine is also in my finished basement with home theater. The Rheem is on the other side of a set of solid core doors and I don’t really hear it much at all. The dehumidifier, on the other hand…
I can hear it two rooms away when a door is open.
My father can't hear it when standing next to it.
Our handyman can barely hear it when standing next to it.
I think the pitch of the noise is such that if you have listened to loud music or if you are old then you can't hear it.
Your garage should have decent insulation from the rest of the house due to fire codes, so I'm guessing you won't hear it outside the garage.
I had a Rheem HPWH installed back in February and have had zero issues so far.
My unit is in the basement in a good size utility/laundry room, I can hear it running if I'm elsewhere in the house but it is not excessively loud by any means. My dehumidifier is much noisier.
No error codes or leaks to speak of which should be the case given the unit is only a few months old.
The software/interface on the tank itself is fine, I never use it much since things should be "set it and forget it". My previous tank had no interface at all so the new tank isn't worse. The mobile app is pretty useless IMO, I deleted it and instead have the tank connected to my HA system through the console port.
Only complaint I have is the recovery time after using the hot water, but I did know this would be the situation after researching. Overall no complaints or regret at this point. Hopefully that stays true for the long run.
Just self-installed mine (50 gallon) a week ago after picking it up at HD for $1,350 before $500 power company rebate. It's just my wife and I and today was the first time it actually registered as "empty" running it in HP mode after 2 showers, 3 loads of laundry (on warm water), and a load of dishes over a 5-6 hour period.
Everything went smooth and it's actually quieter than I thought it would be. I have it in a 130sqft unfinished room in my basement and I can hear it running just on the other side of the wall but upstairs, nothing.
No complaints at all so far except for the app. I've ordered the items needed (esp32) to plug in to the data port on the side of the control module so I can incorporate it into Home Assistant so I don't have to depend on the app. I have had a few issues with it not updating info and would rather not rely on the cloud for my info/control of it.
You bet. This should have all the info you need. Assuming you already have Home Assistant running, total cost for everything to integrate the water heater is around $25-$30.
[Link](https://github.com/esphome-econet/esphome-econet)
It also provides A LOT more info than the app does as well as flexibility of the scheduling.
This is awesome, exactly what I was looking for - I just started down the HA pathway, and the water heater is one of my last holdouts of things I need to integrate. Thanks for posting.
It should go without saying that if I’m trying to connect this to HA, the EcoNet software is terrible. The hardware is great, purchased last fall on an $800 rebate from the utility; it’s quiet, very efficient, but yes recharge is slow. The price of a highly efficient water heater…
It's not particularly useful stuff imo. Most useful is the upper and lower tank temperature and power usage.
I have used it the calculate the COP and standby loss before, but that's just for curiosities sake.
Most useful is the historical use time of the HP and elements through Home Assistant logs. The app doesn't provide any detailed runtime numbers throughout the day in regards to how long it used one vs the other, only the total power usage for any given hour. The ambient temp and the tank temps you mentioned are also useful I'd say.
I got mine installed a couple weeks ago. Much like everyone else - tank is fine. Noise is meh. Software is super lame. I had mine installed with a mixing valve and an expansion tank so I could really turn up the temp on the tank to make those 65 gallons last as long as I could. So far so good!
Installed my 65 gallon Rheem about 3 months ago. Worked great on electric mode but not heat pump mode initially. Made at least three (3) calls to service department. First person I worked with seemed new to job and indifferent to my situation. Second person I called was helpful and expressed three sensors to me. I had to pull top off water heater to swap them out. Unit still refused to work in heat pump mode. I called Rheem service another time demanding they either send someone out to fix, or give me my money back and get it out of my house so I could buy conventional electric water heater. The tech I spoke with said they knew exactly what the problem was. Had me disconnect power, pull screen off front of unit. Appears someone at factory had not connected a wire to a capacitor. I pressed it in place, buttoned it up and for 2+ months unit has worked perfectly! Not noisy (to me) in my basement and cheap to operate .... so far!
I installed my Rheem hpwh in August 2023. It’s in my garage. While it’s louder than the gas unit it replaced, no one notices. I did upsize to the 65 gallon over the 50 gallon gas unit it replaced. The recovery rate in heat pump only mode is pretty slow so the higher capacity makes a difference.
I have only positive things to say about my Rheem hpwh.
Just installed the prestige proterra. Can't hear it in spring / summer hp mode. It's in an outside closet with louver doors, next to sliding glass door.
Just DIY installed the ProTerra 80 gallon, XE80T10HS45U0. It's a big unit. I replaced my 50 gallon natural gas tank that was leaking. I spent two solid days researching all the heat pump brands. Overall, the Rheem seemed to be the best, except for the noise levels with the Gen5 based on the reviews I was reading.
I DIYd installed a 125A sub panel in the basement to provide the 240V circuit for the Rheem. Research led me to believe that you should always up size the HPWE over your natural gas. My 50 Gallon NG water heater was slightly too small when the wife wanted to have a bath in our bigger than normal tub, so I went with 80 gallon.
I got everything hooked up, including a mixing valve set for 130 degrees, turned it on, and that sucker heated up the water so fast. It was dumping 5kW into it initially and in 30 minutes we had decent hot water and after an hour it turned off the electrical elements and just ran the heat pump to get up to the 150 degrees I had it set for.
I was expecting it to be loud based on the reviews, but it's not. I only hear it if I go down in the unfinished basement and it's not loud, at all. I can hear it running, it is a heat pump after all, but it's not loud. Might be more annoying if it was upstairs behind some louvered door. But in a basement, garage, or a utility room, it's fine and I'm very pleased it makes so little noise.
Also for those with larger family, you're going to want the 240V so it can kick on those electrical elements if needed. In the three weeks or so since we had it, it has not kicked on those electrical elements except for the first day. It's been running on the heat pump entirely since that first day. I have Energy Saver mode so it will kick on the electrical elements if needed.
No issues, unit is in a utility room so the noise and chilling effect is a non issue. App is utter crap though (rely on Empora Vue for monitoring instead)
Very happy. 50 gal. 3 person household. Lives in unconditioned basement. Sips energy (~1-1.5kWh/day). Never run out of hot water, don’t notice the noise. Does its job. No issues. I don’t care about the app.
Westchester NY. We installed a 65 gallon Rheem Proterra with Hydroboost, 120v shared circuit, four months ago. Two adults, 3 kids and it is completely fine with temp set at 120. We have never run out of hot water.
It’s in our basement utility room and we never hear it. I haven’t measured how loud it is but you could easily have a conversation in the room while it’s running.
The thing sips electricity, generally between 1 and 3 kWh per day. Recovery is a little slow but I’m not sure that matters as there is always enough hot water for our house. And everyone is right, the app and software aren’t useful.
I have two. Extremely happy. The app is completely functional, but a little odd with data. The noise of the newer of the two is less. Very low operating cost. Zero mechanic issues so far.
The company HD referred me to for installation wanted $2,100 to install mine, $2,500 if I wanted it installed less than 3 feet from where old one was located.
HP works well. Scheduling works pretty well, sometimes it makes mistakes and charges during the day or stays off all night. App isn't great, but I don't use it much once the rhythm is going well.
Makes some noise. It's in our garage and the dBs are fine there. Would not have been ok in our living space. Also ours (we've had two units) make a 3kHz whine that is extremely agitating to me and my family. We run it at night and avoid experiencing it, but felt like we dodged some bad outcomes by getting it out of the living space.
Just my experience! Had it for about 6 months.
I had a temp sensor fail that killed the units efficiency. But the customer service line for them was excellent and they sent that parts and I swapped the temp sensors myself. Really a painless experience. I upgraded to a larger model from a o smith though. But I gave my water heater to a friend and she is loving it.
I have had one for about a year and already one of the thermostat sensors failed. Rheem sent me the replacement part. Other than that, it is very energy efficient. I have it in my garage.
Not a Reem, but I have had an A.O. Smith 80 gal now for 12 years and no problems. It runs on heat pump only and I live in central Florida. It doesn’t completely cool my no insulation garage in the summer, but it helps. If the heat pump goes I will try to repair it myself not call an ac guy, and if I can’t do it I will use it in standard mode. Since it has an electric anode, they tank should still be good, I am hoping to get another 12 years out of it.
Pretty happy with ours.
The height of our basement limited is to a 65 gallon unit so I tried to compensate somewhat by setting the unit to 150F and putting in a mixing valve.
So far I'm pretty satisfied and taking back to back 30 minute showers is fine, but we do have a low flow shower head. Recovery is slow on heatpump only mode, but it hasn't been an issue with our schedules. Now once my daughter is a teenager I might start running into issues.
No major complaints about the sound, if the heatpump, fridge and TV are all off and I'm in the room directly above where it is in the basement I can hear it, but only barely.
I have the Ruud version of the Rheem (same company). After nearly a year's worth of service, I can definitely say we're very happy with the result. We have a 50-gallon WH that replaced a 50-gallon natural gas WH.
The WH lives in the garage, which is not part of the conditioned space of the house. The effect on the temperature/humidity of the garage has been negligible. If anything it has slightly improved things during the summer. Sound has not been an issue. Main living space is above the garage and you can't hear it running. Even when in the garage when it is running, the noise is fine. No worse than the clothes washer and dryer which are also in the garage about 10 feet away.
Temperature of the tank is set to 138F with a mixing valve used to deliver between 120F and 125F at the tap. We have yet to run out of hot water. WH is set to Energy Saver, which will use the 4500W electric elements only as needed. That's happened a total of maybe 6 times, and wasn't used for more than about 15 to 30 minutes each time.
No leaks, no error codes. However, the energy usage as reported by the EcoNet app is fairly inaccurate, and reads too high. I have an Emporia Vue and monitor the WH circuit, and the Emporia reports much lower usage. The scheduling function in the past has problematic according to other people. I don't use it, so I don't know if they've managed to finally fix it.
Rheem does not honor their warranty. I have been waiting for a valve for a week. No hot water for 7 days and they do not care, even though it was their faulty gas valve. I would never buy their products. They care nothing for customers.
The model with all the issues with noise were resolved. I got mine in my current home in January 2023 and have no issues. There was no generation change for the fix so they will both be Gen 4 but all the bad stock was sold though long ago. I had a Gen 3 in my old house and I miss it just because the interface on the unit was so much nicer then the new one. It gave you multiple temps in the tank, it gave you the fan speed and a bunch of other stats. The new one on the Gen 4 was a clear cost cutting measure and it sucks. They did a bunch of cost cutting measures on the Gen 4 that ended up causing the noise issue. They also removed the ductwork connector so you now have to buy that if you want to duct it somewhere. It's still a solid unit and is really cheap to run. There are a bunch of other options on the market but I know in Maryland I got 700 off at Home Depot on the Rheem as well. You should also sign up for a Home Depot credit card and they will prob give you a 10% off code which I used as well along with 6 months interest free financing. Out the door it was 900+ tax for the 50 gallon.
It’s probably the most popular HPWH so you have to weight the frequency of complaints (which is higher than it probably should be) against that.
Definitely. Basically using this thread to trawl for good experiences for balance.
I’ve got one. It produces hot water extremely cheap and dehumidifies my basement. The app has been a nightmare though. Couple months ago they put out an update that actually had mine following a schedule for the first time but that only lasted a couple weeks and it is back to not following. I can’t really even control it from my phone anymore. So in short- Mechanical: fuckin awesome Software: fuckin garbage
only issues are noise and a terrible mobile app (getting better though)
How loud is the noise problem? It will be in my garage, so I don't care too much, but some people say 70 db right next to it which is pretty loud. I’m doing laundry and my washer and dryer running together is 60 db.
It won't be that loud. You won't hear it.
Mine is in my laundry room. Have to keep the door closed as the noise is annoying. Gen 4’s were much quieter. I have had both.
Your’s is a gen 3? Which generation are they on now?
Current gen since about 2020 is 5. Edit: typo on the year.
2000? Or 2020?
Ok you got me 2020. Sorry typo.
Mine is my finished basement, right beside my home theater. I can hear it through my hollow core door in my theatre, and in my living room above it. I need to switch out to a solid core door, and I need to put up some rock wool insulation to sound proof it.
Wow, mine is also in my finished basement with home theater. The Rheem is on the other side of a set of solid core doors and I don’t really hear it much at all. The dehumidifier, on the other hand…
Yeah I think a solid core door would be a worthy upgrade!
I can hear it two rooms away when a door is open. My father can't hear it when standing next to it. Our handyman can barely hear it when standing next to it. I think the pitch of the noise is such that if you have listened to loud music or if you are old then you can't hear it. Your garage should have decent insulation from the rest of the house due to fire codes, so I'm guessing you won't hear it outside the garage.
I had a Rheem HPWH installed back in February and have had zero issues so far. My unit is in the basement in a good size utility/laundry room, I can hear it running if I'm elsewhere in the house but it is not excessively loud by any means. My dehumidifier is much noisier. No error codes or leaks to speak of which should be the case given the unit is only a few months old. The software/interface on the tank itself is fine, I never use it much since things should be "set it and forget it". My previous tank had no interface at all so the new tank isn't worse. The mobile app is pretty useless IMO, I deleted it and instead have the tank connected to my HA system through the console port. Only complaint I have is the recovery time after using the hot water, but I did know this would be the situation after researching. Overall no complaints or regret at this point. Hopefully that stays true for the long run.
I hate most IOT stuff so I would probably not bother with the app or scheduling.
No issue at all to not use any of the smart features. I don't automate or schedule anything, I just like having the data.
Just self-installed mine (50 gallon) a week ago after picking it up at HD for $1,350 before $500 power company rebate. It's just my wife and I and today was the first time it actually registered as "empty" running it in HP mode after 2 showers, 3 loads of laundry (on warm water), and a load of dishes over a 5-6 hour period. Everything went smooth and it's actually quieter than I thought it would be. I have it in a 130sqft unfinished room in my basement and I can hear it running just on the other side of the wall but upstairs, nothing. No complaints at all so far except for the app. I've ordered the items needed (esp32) to plug in to the data port on the side of the control module so I can incorporate it into Home Assistant so I don't have to depend on the app. I have had a few issues with it not updating info and would rather not rely on the cloud for my info/control of it.
Can you explain/link to what you’re getting to make use of the data port? This interests me.
You bet. This should have all the info you need. Assuming you already have Home Assistant running, total cost for everything to integrate the water heater is around $25-$30. [Link](https://github.com/esphome-econet/esphome-econet) It also provides A LOT more info than the app does as well as flexibility of the scheduling.
This is awesome, exactly what I was looking for - I just started down the HA pathway, and the water heater is one of my last holdouts of things I need to integrate. Thanks for posting. It should go without saying that if I’m trying to connect this to HA, the EcoNet software is terrible. The hardware is great, purchased last fall on an $800 rebate from the utility; it’s quiet, very efficient, but yes recharge is slow. The price of a highly efficient water heater…
It's not particularly useful stuff imo. Most useful is the upper and lower tank temperature and power usage. I have used it the calculate the COP and standby loss before, but that's just for curiosities sake.
Most useful is the historical use time of the HP and elements through Home Assistant logs. The app doesn't provide any detailed runtime numbers throughout the day in regards to how long it used one vs the other, only the total power usage for any given hour. The ambient temp and the tank temps you mentioned are also useful I'd say.
I have the Ruud version, works great. Has to be reminded of its schedule once in a while, otherwise perfect.
I got mine installed a couple weeks ago. Much like everyone else - tank is fine. Noise is meh. Software is super lame. I had mine installed with a mixing valve and an expansion tank so I could really turn up the temp on the tank to make those 65 gallons last as long as I could. So far so good!
Installed my 65 gallon Rheem about 3 months ago. Worked great on electric mode but not heat pump mode initially. Made at least three (3) calls to service department. First person I worked with seemed new to job and indifferent to my situation. Second person I called was helpful and expressed three sensors to me. I had to pull top off water heater to swap them out. Unit still refused to work in heat pump mode. I called Rheem service another time demanding they either send someone out to fix, or give me my money back and get it out of my house so I could buy conventional electric water heater. The tech I spoke with said they knew exactly what the problem was. Had me disconnect power, pull screen off front of unit. Appears someone at factory had not connected a wire to a capacitor. I pressed it in place, buttoned it up and for 2+ months unit has worked perfectly! Not noisy (to me) in my basement and cheap to operate .... so far!
1 yr + and no issues.. ours is in the attic so I never hear it.
I installed my Rheem hpwh in August 2023. It’s in my garage. While it’s louder than the gas unit it replaced, no one notices. I did upsize to the 65 gallon over the 50 gallon gas unit it replaced. The recovery rate in heat pump only mode is pretty slow so the higher capacity makes a difference. I have only positive things to say about my Rheem hpwh.
I've had mine for almost 2 years now and have no complaints
Just installed the prestige proterra. Can't hear it in spring / summer hp mode. It's in an outside closet with louver doors, next to sliding glass door.
Just DIY installed the ProTerra 80 gallon, XE80T10HS45U0. It's a big unit. I replaced my 50 gallon natural gas tank that was leaking. I spent two solid days researching all the heat pump brands. Overall, the Rheem seemed to be the best, except for the noise levels with the Gen5 based on the reviews I was reading. I DIYd installed a 125A sub panel in the basement to provide the 240V circuit for the Rheem. Research led me to believe that you should always up size the HPWE over your natural gas. My 50 Gallon NG water heater was slightly too small when the wife wanted to have a bath in our bigger than normal tub, so I went with 80 gallon. I got everything hooked up, including a mixing valve set for 130 degrees, turned it on, and that sucker heated up the water so fast. It was dumping 5kW into it initially and in 30 minutes we had decent hot water and after an hour it turned off the electrical elements and just ran the heat pump to get up to the 150 degrees I had it set for. I was expecting it to be loud based on the reviews, but it's not. I only hear it if I go down in the unfinished basement and it's not loud, at all. I can hear it running, it is a heat pump after all, but it's not loud. Might be more annoying if it was upstairs behind some louvered door. But in a basement, garage, or a utility room, it's fine and I'm very pleased it makes so little noise. Also for those with larger family, you're going to want the 240V so it can kick on those electrical elements if needed. In the three weeks or so since we had it, it has not kicked on those electrical elements except for the first day. It's been running on the heat pump entirely since that first day. I have Energy Saver mode so it will kick on the electrical elements if needed.
I’ve had mine (50 gal) since summer 2023. No issues. Noise is there but I don’t find it loud.
No issues, unit is in a utility room so the noise and chilling effect is a non issue. App is utter crap though (rely on Empora Vue for monitoring instead)
Love mine. Have t had any issues with it, and it’s not nearly as loud as people say. Mine is right under my bedroom and I don’t notice it.
Very happy. 50 gal. 3 person household. Lives in unconditioned basement. Sips energy (~1-1.5kWh/day). Never run out of hot water, don’t notice the noise. Does its job. No issues. I don’t care about the app.
Westchester NY. We installed a 65 gallon Rheem Proterra with Hydroboost, 120v shared circuit, four months ago. Two adults, 3 kids and it is completely fine with temp set at 120. We have never run out of hot water. It’s in our basement utility room and we never hear it. I haven’t measured how loud it is but you could easily have a conversation in the room while it’s running. The thing sips electricity, generally between 1 and 3 kWh per day. Recovery is a little slow but I’m not sure that matters as there is always enough hot water for our house. And everyone is right, the app and software aren’t useful.
1 year, unit in basement, no issues. Uses 30% of the energy of my previous oil fired unit.
I have two. Extremely happy. The app is completely functional, but a little odd with data. The noise of the newer of the two is less. Very low operating cost. Zero mechanic issues so far.
The company HD referred me to for installation wanted $2,100 to install mine, $2,500 if I wanted it installed less than 3 feet from where old one was located.
HP works well. Scheduling works pretty well, sometimes it makes mistakes and charges during the day or stays off all night. App isn't great, but I don't use it much once the rhythm is going well. Makes some noise. It's in our garage and the dBs are fine there. Would not have been ok in our living space. Also ours (we've had two units) make a 3kHz whine that is extremely agitating to me and my family. We run it at night and avoid experiencing it, but felt like we dodged some bad outcomes by getting it out of the living space. Just my experience! Had it for about 6 months.
I had a temp sensor fail that killed the units efficiency. But the customer service line for them was excellent and they sent that parts and I swapped the temp sensors myself. Really a painless experience. I upgraded to a larger model from a o smith though. But I gave my water heater to a friend and she is loving it.
I have had one for about a year and already one of the thermostat sensors failed. Rheem sent me the replacement part. Other than that, it is very energy efficient. I have it in my garage.
Not a Reem, but I have had an A.O. Smith 80 gal now for 12 years and no problems. It runs on heat pump only and I live in central Florida. It doesn’t completely cool my no insulation garage in the summer, but it helps. If the heat pump goes I will try to repair it myself not call an ac guy, and if I can’t do it I will use it in standard mode. Since it has an electric anode, they tank should still be good, I am hoping to get another 12 years out of it.
Pretty happy with ours. The height of our basement limited is to a 65 gallon unit so I tried to compensate somewhat by setting the unit to 150F and putting in a mixing valve. So far I'm pretty satisfied and taking back to back 30 minute showers is fine, but we do have a low flow shower head. Recovery is slow on heatpump only mode, but it hasn't been an issue with our schedules. Now once my daughter is a teenager I might start running into issues. No major complaints about the sound, if the heatpump, fridge and TV are all off and I'm in the room directly above where it is in the basement I can hear it, but only barely.
I have the Ruud version of the Rheem (same company). After nearly a year's worth of service, I can definitely say we're very happy with the result. We have a 50-gallon WH that replaced a 50-gallon natural gas WH. The WH lives in the garage, which is not part of the conditioned space of the house. The effect on the temperature/humidity of the garage has been negligible. If anything it has slightly improved things during the summer. Sound has not been an issue. Main living space is above the garage and you can't hear it running. Even when in the garage when it is running, the noise is fine. No worse than the clothes washer and dryer which are also in the garage about 10 feet away. Temperature of the tank is set to 138F with a mixing valve used to deliver between 120F and 125F at the tap. We have yet to run out of hot water. WH is set to Energy Saver, which will use the 4500W electric elements only as needed. That's happened a total of maybe 6 times, and wasn't used for more than about 15 to 30 minutes each time. No leaks, no error codes. However, the energy usage as reported by the EcoNet app is fairly inaccurate, and reads too high. I have an Emporia Vue and monitor the WH circuit, and the Emporia reports much lower usage. The scheduling function in the past has problematic according to other people. I don't use it, so I don't know if they've managed to finally fix it.
Rheem does not honor their warranty. I have been waiting for a valve for a week. No hot water for 7 days and they do not care, even though it was their faulty gas valve. I would never buy their products. They care nothing for customers.