Shownotes
We sit down with Greggory Holladay from Bradford White and talk about the secrets of saving money while heating your water. There is one common way now with a heat pump water heater to have tons of hot water AND save a bunch of money. To find out MORE: https://www.bradfordwhite.com/heat-pump/
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Mentioned in this episode:
A new kind of decking and siding from Millboard
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Upgrade your trailer game with Summit Trailer
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Monument Grills
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Transcripts
[00:00:07] Gregg Holladay: There is a difference, you know, with a gas water heater. You got a 40, that's hitting the bottom of that tank, where calcium and magnesium in hard water, which, oh, 85 percent of this country has hard water, collects because gravity takes place every day and the weight of that hits the bottom of the pan.
[:[00:00:44] Gregg Holladay: Whereas in an electric water heater, it just offsets the volume of hot water. The elements do attract some of that calcium and magnesium, so they, they do ice up essentially is what people see. When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've [00:01:00] got you covered. This is Around the Clock.
[:[00:01:06] Eric Goranson: you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, I wanted to talk today about one of the biggest costs in your home and that's called heating water. And today we've got my friend, Greg holiday from Bradford white water heaters.
[:[00:01:28] Gregg Holladay: welcome to my farm in Kentucky. So we're coast to coast
[:[00:01:38] Gregg Holladay: Oh, I won't tell you.
[:[00:01:52] Eric Goranson: I wanted to bring you on today and talk about, uh, you know, these hybrid heat pump water heaters, because you know, it was funny.
[:[00:02:12] Gregg Holladay: friend. That was a different conversation because we actually have talked tankless gas water heaters, and I don't normally try to talk somebody out of a technology into something else, but I knew you didn't know much about 'em.
[:[00:02:30] Eric Goranson: shame towards the. Towards the, uh, you know, the tankless water heaters out there. I just wanted some that was going to save me money and make sure that I had hot water and it does
[:[00:02:48] Gregg Holladay: Even most plumbing contractors don't know. They see that little decimal number on a spec sheet that says 0. 93, and they don't know that that's the UEF, which. Is a measurement of [00:03:00] efficiency by the DOE that says that water heater is really good. It only loses 7 cents of every dollar you spend to heat water.
[:[00:03:34] Gregg Holladay: That means instead of losing money that I get about $3 and 60 cents for every $1 I spend the heat water. Which means by definition, it pays for itself. And that's never happened until he caught water, which came out, man,
[:[00:03:58] Eric Goranson: But, you know, one of the misconceptions I [00:04:00] see out there is, is there's people like in California and stuff and go, well, yeah, but it doesn't work when, when I'm, when I'm paying four times the electricity rates in places like California. And then I have to keep coming back to my listening audience and go, well, yeah, but your electric water heater, you're saying that same four times as much for the electricity.
[:[00:04:23] Gregg Holladay: Natural gas prices over the last 2 years and more than doubled and they continue to go up because California has essentially decided to unhook from the pipeline. Uh, to say we want every house, even though 93 percent of California homes have a gas water heater.
[:[00:05:00] Gregg Holladay: So, you need to have a technology that won't overpower the grid that people will appreciate. Absolutely.
[:[00:05:18] Eric Goranson: But to me, what's crazy is, is that thing's only using what? About 500 Watts when I'm in heat pump only mode. So I can run a lot more things in my house when I'm on generator backup power than if I had just a regular
[:[00:05:49] Gregg Holladay: That's like a refrigerator in your kitchen does, a freezer in your garage does. Now you have hot water, even when the power is out, whereas before. It ate too much of the [00:06:00] generator up and you just couldn't do it.
[:[00:06:07] Eric Goranson: I mean, people get scared of new technology and I totally understand that, but this isn't new technology. It's just technology we haven't used in heating water a lot. You're exactly
[:[00:06:25] Gregg Holladay: So I got to do that. And the refrigerator called a refrigerator is actually a heat pump. And a heat pump says I move heat from point A to point B and a refrigerator doesn't make food cold. It makes it less warm by extracting that heat from that little box. Putting it at your feet in the floor and blowing it into the kitchen, the more heat it takes out, the colder it gets.
[:[00:07:03] Gregg Holladay: Usually with the beer and the soft drinks in it and 20, 25, 30 years old. And I always ask people how many times has it been serviced? And the answer is always the same 0 never had to work. So this is reliable products being put together. Yeah,
[:[00:07:22] Eric Goranson: And again, this isn't some commercial here. I'm just a believer of the product. But I like that you guys actually build a serviceable unit. That's not a throwaway one as well.
[:[00:07:43] Gregg Holladay: Two years later, it developed a compressor problem outside and the service guy came out. So we're just going to cut the lines and we're going to pick up that whole outdoor unit, put it on a trailer and take it back and bring another one out. That's not what service does. That's replacement. And that doesn't build confidence in the [00:08:00] product.
[:[00:08:20] Gregg Holladay: These are easy to work on if you have to, because they're up high enough that you're standing in front of it versus crawling around on the ground. Um, but it's a, it is a very, very reliable product. This product has been in the market for a total of about 13 years. Uh, Bradford white is a manufacturer that makes this product.
[:[00:08:49] Eric Goranson: Well, and the cool thing with that as well as with all the supply chain issues and everything else, when you're building an in house in your own building here in the States, you really limit those shipping issues when you're bringing them.
[:[00:09:07] Gregg Holladay: me is also just a plus of the product as well. I would agree with that. And there are lots of supporters in the contractor business out there that see that, you know, we're, we're a manufacturer that builds these products specifically for professional installation.
[:[00:09:38] Gregg Holladay: If you have any home
[:[00:10:09] Gregg Holladay: What's up? This is Dixie Dania and Satchel from Steel Panther and you are listening to Around the House with Eric G. Yeah. We love Eric G and you should too. Back
[:[00:10:48] Eric Goranson: And we're talking water heaters and heat pump water heaters that can save you a ton of money. In that energy, you
[:[00:11:10] Gregg Holladay: And that's air having the right volume of air around it for it to be able to extract a little bit of heat out of. Uh, is critical to making sure that efficiency stays up over that 3. 0 UEF to give you a little over 3 for every 1 you spend to heat water. So, contractors shouldn't just pick 1 up and say, oh, it just installs like every other water here.
[:[00:11:47] Eric Goranson: 2 is, I had a, um, a power surge in my house, what was it, probably 18 months ago, and of course it, it took out a more, more than one electronic item in my house, and it closed, it took out the control panel on the Bradford Y unit.
[:[00:12:19] Eric Goranson: Because things happen, it, uh, man, you guys were on it and I had a new part here and I was flying well and just wasn't an issue and it's worked flawlessly ever since. We
[:[00:12:41] Gregg Holladay: And since most manufacturing is on the East coast, and you live on the West coast, we never close. Somebody is there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year just to answer technical questions, just to send out parts that are needed and make sure that a contractor has a homeowner taken care of. [00:13:00]
[:[00:13:19] Gregg Holladay: and that is difficult.
[:[00:13:39] Gregg Holladay: But you have hot water. And if anything happens to the heat to the heating elements, it switches to the heat pump sides. Yes. And you have hot water, a fault code shows up in the display. We know what's going on with it just by that description. A homeowner can see that on the new app that they can put on their phone with our uh connect plus [00:14:00] module that would be installed.
[:[00:14:11] Eric Goranson: dream for an apartment complex or somebody that's got a multifamily situation, or even, even your, your neighbor down the street, that's got five or six rentals around to be able to maintain that and watch it because you know, rentals, I always have something thrown at it.
[:[00:14:33] Gregg Holladay: That's right. And it alarms and lets us know, unless the homeowner know with a slow, a little And the filter light comes on so in an apartment, the maintenance guy who might be responsible for 100 units now can have all 100 units.
[:[00:15:06] Gregg Holladay: We have to have we make it easy.
[:[00:15:23] Gregg Holladay: You can, you can do all of the operations, change the temperatures from a hundred to 140 degrees, change the operating mode from heat pump only where you're never going to ding a heating element, and then put it back into a higher performance for recovery mode, the hybrid mode, so that it can, excuse me, walk through those switches automatically.
[:[00:16:04] Gregg Holladay: 10, 15 cents more during that time. You can program as many as you want programs in there that says Monday through Friday. Do this 4 o'clock put it in heat only or turn it off for a couple of hours. If I've got a hot tank and we're not at home yet. That way you can save energy on the weekend. You might have a different profile.
[:[00:16:45] Eric Goranson: Well, you know, there's such a trend, you're right about that, uh, you know, that usage of how, you know, okay, hey, we've got a big load right here on the, on the system. As far as the energy utilities, I mean, California, some of those guys are paying, you know. 50 cents [00:17:00] more, you know, kilowatt hour for, for energy than they were.
[:[00:17:22] Eric Goranson: Cause that makes a huge difference when you're, you know, many times more. You know, the rates for that just being the certain time of day, that's right. It
[:[00:17:43] Gregg Holladay: Uh, 30s, 40s, 50s was a real big deal and it's come back again because we want to move to something that doesn't omit greenhouse gas emissions. And a heat pump water heater does not directly do that. That would fall on the lines of the utility and how they're producing. [00:18:00] You're in a market where most of your energy is renewable.
[:[00:18:23] Gregg Holladay: It's just the right thing to do. Not because you might think you're going to save the planet. That's one element of it. But it's also, you're going to save your pocket because a heat pump water heater, on average, a 50 gallon uses about 300 less a year. That's 300 bucks
[:[00:18:41] Eric Goranson: We'll be right back after these important messages.
[:[00:19:01] Gregg Holladay: Hey, this is Ron Keel, the Metal Cowboy from Keel, the Ron Keel Band and Steeler. We are rocking around the house with Eric T.
[:[00:19:17] Gregg Holladay: a 50 gallon uses about 300 less a year. That's 300 bucks in your pocket.
[:[00:19:49] Gregg Holladay: And that federal tax credit has been voted in for 10 years. And you can do that with energy credits for your house every year up to 2, 000. Not a lifetime, one [00:20:00] time limit. But every year, so this is the time to put a heat pump water heater in because that is going to accelerate the payback savings of 300 a year by immediately dropping that out of pocket expense just to make the change.
[:[00:20:16] Eric Goranson: I mean, it just makes dollars and cents. I do have a question for you. You know, I have been on and. When I lived in more rural areas where I had a well, right, and I had a fair amount of mineral deposits in there. So I was always maintaining my water heater as a every six months to a year type of thing.
[:[00:20:50] Eric Goranson: There is
[:[00:21:09] Gregg Holladay: Now, that's more critical in a gas water heater than it is to an electric water heater because the heating elements are elevated. In a gas water heater, that changes the efficiency performance by having to blow that heat through that media that's gathered like concrete, uh, and then it offsets the volume of hot water.
[:[00:21:44] Gregg Holladay: So the whole tank sidewalls all the way around becomes the heat exchanger. And you're not as concerned about calcium magnesium buildup there, although you should, as you said, put a water softener in. That's one of the least expensive things to do to [00:22:00] save everything that touches water in your house. You know,
[:[00:22:06] Eric Goranson: I'm like, I'm going to put in that brand new master bathroom and I'm like, awesome. Test your water first. And they look at me and go, what are you talking about? I'm like, okay, you're going to put in a 10, 000 tile shower. You're going to spend 3, 000 on a glass shower door and then put in all these really cool decorative fixtures.
[:[00:22:38] Gregg Holladay: mankind.
[:[00:23:00] Gregg Holladay: So you don't get those water spots that are permanently there. And, you know, you end up with lime away and other materials trying to clean those doors. Yeah. Put a softener in, fill it twice a year, and don't think about it ever again. Yeah, it's
[:[00:23:21] Eric Goranson: And as well as, you know, your ice makers and all the other stuff that you have in your house, if it touches water, that hard water is doing a number on it. And it's reducing the life of everything.
[:[00:23:50] Gregg Holladay: It leaves a coating on their hair. You know, my oldest daughter at that time was like 13, 14 years old. He's like, dad, what's changed in the water? And I said, what do you mean? [00:24:00] My hair is just, is acting different. It's fluffier and more body. And like, yeah, they put a water softener in, give me credit for that.
[:[00:24:11] Eric Goranson: you go. Now you guys haven't added a new coating to your water heaters as well. You and I were chatting about.
[:[00:24:36] Gregg Holladay: Uh, and now we have added this to the tank lining, our vitro glass baked on glass lining is now encoded with microband antimicrobial finish. This is the 1st and only tank water heater series, all Bradford White tanks that have this coating that all lead to protection for your hot water and for your home.
[:[00:25:18] Eric Goranson: Ah, that is great. And you know, that, uh, that micro band was something that a lot of people ignored until we. Came into COVID season and then COVID season, everybody went, Oh, that's what
[:[00:25:34] Gregg Holladay: But as other things happened in the, in the world that created health concerns. All of a sudden they started rising to the top because you could put that finish on just about anything. Uh, and it, uh, it works. I mean, 35 year history of proving that it actually works. You know, if you live in a senior citizens complex, this is the, these are the kind of places that would be thinking about this, but now homeowners are thinking about it because again, [00:26:00] their doorknobs, the lining and their dishwasher, their washing machine, and even their countertops would have that.
[:[00:26:12] Eric Goranson: And that's, and that's smart. And that's smart. I do have one question for you. Cause I know one of the, I've talked to a lot of friends about, Hey, you need to put one of these heat pump water heaters in. I mean, it's just an important thing and, and, uh, you know, wave the flag a little bit.
[:[00:26:40] Gregg Holladay: pump water heater?
[:[00:27:02] Gregg Holladay: And the pipes are freezing. This heat pump water heater only needs air. That's 35 degrees or higher for it to actually use the heat pumps and still maintain. Well, above that 1. 0 that no water heater has ever achieved before. So, it's a matter of the yin and yang of how warm is it as to how much it saves the warmer it is, the more it saves.
[:[00:27:46] Gregg Holladay: So the heat that it's borrowing from the room is free heat. You don't have supplies and returns in that area and you don't have a thermostat downstairs. It's all upstairs where you're trying to condition. So [00:28:00] sit back, chill a little bit and say, you know what? This technology really works. It's really going to lower my electric bill.
[:[00:28:11] Eric Goranson: absolutely. And these days where things are getting much more expensive, you know, it seems week by week, uh, just looking at like the price of eggs, any place you can save is a smart way to go around the house. We'll be right back after these important messages.
[:[00:28:28] Gregg Holladay: be right back. Welcome back to the[00:29:00]
[:[00:29:17] Gregg Holladay: Hey, so if you don't push it up against the wall, following the manufacturer's instructions, and just know that that may be something you have to overcome in the future.
[:[00:29:26] Eric Goranson: flow around the unit is always great anyway. Yeah. Right. I mean, that's. Yeah. Outside of access to it, just having a great place where air can come up in and go through that filter and work through that. It's a benefit everywhere, especially if you're up against like a, uh, you know, uh, an exterior wall that could be warm or something like that.
[:[00:29:46] Gregg Holladay: wherever it's at. That's right. And look at the energy guys, you know, folks that are out there, you're hearing us talk about it. And we talk about how much that it saves the energy guy tells the story. And there is no commentary with that a [00:30:00] standard electric water heater from every manufacturer.
[:[00:30:14] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. And you know, I went from a, I went from a 40 gallon gas cause I went, okay, we're going to be doing some additions on this place.
[:[00:30:36] Gregg Holladay: Why would I
[:[00:30:37] Gregg Holladay: go any other way, right? That's that's right. And you make a great point.
[:[00:31:01] Gregg Holladay: And what that means is you're going to upsize the tank. Put to put any electric water heater in. So, if you got a 50 gallon gas water heater, you look at the 1st hour rating and recovery. It will come closer to matching a 65 and for sure an 80 gallon electric heat pump water heater will surpass that. So compensate with size, because size matters in this
[:[00:31:24] Eric Goranson: It does. And, and the funny thing is, is because you're doing a heat pump, it's not like it's a general electric water heater. Where I'm sitting here using two elements to heat water and store it for 24 7 that I don't need. In this situation, I'm just, it's, it's, it's a, it's a very efficient storage method.
[:[00:31:45] Gregg Holladay: That's right. And also upgrading the game a little bit by putting in a mixing valve on top. You know, water heaters are shipped by every manufacturer DOE requirement at 120 or 125 degrees, which is an [00:32:00] anti scalding temperature. But you'll notice the electronics on the heat pump water heater will go from 100 to 140 in one degree increments.
[:[00:32:42] Gregg Holladay: That's always the first line of defense, and I always tell contractors before you take the old one out, run some water, drop an instant re thermometer in and show the homeowner, you don't know this because it doesn't show it on the control of that water heater, but you've got 132 degree water. Walk up to the front of this and let's [00:33:00] match it to 132.
[:[00:33:04] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. I run mine at 130 at my house and it's just perfect. It's not enough to. So I heard you, but it's, it's, it's enough to be able to take a really hot shower when I
[:[00:33:24] Gregg Holladay: I got four showers and they can all be running at the same time. I want to make sure everybody's got hot water. See, you're
[:[00:33:37] Gregg Holladay: I have daughters, they're not as forgiving for that.
[:[00:33:43] Eric Goranson: It doesn't work. It sounds good on paper, but it doesn't
[:[00:33:49] Eric Goranson: So where do you see this technology going? I mean, it seems like every, every couple years they get more efficient, more efficient, more efficient. Just like what you'd see with your, your [00:34:00] HVAC system at
[:[00:34:09] Gregg Holladay: There are a couple of, uh, manufacturers that have hit up near a 4.0, 4.1. I always tell contractors, and even homeowners don't get too hung up on the, the decimal points because from the top right now at a 4.02 to a 3.6 point, the operating cost per year is less than $10 difference. So when you see big jumps, you gotta remember, heat pump water heaters were one giant leap for this country in efficiency.
[:[00:35:06] Gregg Holladay: You may not ever pay for itself for the more money you have to spend. But a heat pump water heater will always pay for itself for what you spend because it's one big giant
[:[00:35:27] Eric Goranson: To the HVAC industry on the heat pump side of things, you know, with all the new, all the new rules, all the new funds on the new everything else, how they're measuring system, how they're matching systems. It's interesting, but yeah, I think this is one of the, you know, I can safely say that looking at my unit, it is one of the biggest changes you can do in your home to save money just by installing a single product.
[:[00:36:09] Gregg Holladay: It's also part of the lighting guys at GE to do that. Then we got to LEDs, or like LEDs, that's where it's at if you want to look pasty and white. Because it puts out one color and it's an ugly color now that refined to where it replicates incandescent light bulbs, and you get a 20 year product that you spend a fraction of the money for.
[:[00:36:51] Gregg Holladay: And look what happened to the gas tankless market. It exploded. I believe it, but a big guy don't lie. Homeowners started hearing, you know, guys like Paul [00:37:00] Harvey saying, you know, the Harvey home, we got our non tankless gas water heater, never take a cold shower again. So they started asking contractors, what's this water heater with no tanks?
[:[00:37:19] Eric Goranson: Absolutely. Brother. So if a river audience out there wants to check out one of these and have somebody come take a look, where would they go searching to find it? Record
[:[00:37:28] Gregg Holladay: com. As soon as you come to our webpage, it's going to ask you, are you a contractor or are you a homeowner? You click I'm a homeowner, and then it's going to ask you if you're interested in having a contractor come visit. We have a contractor finder on there that will be able to lead you to the contractors in your area so that you can have somebody come out and look at it.
[:[00:38:05] Gregg Holladay: Talk to me, let me know because this is a contractor that hasn't seen the light yet. And I'll be the 1 that talks to him and helps them figure out you got to do this. We've got thousands of them all across this country that are 1st, getting their toes in the market as every other manufacturer does.
[:[00:38:40] Gregg Holladay: Hello. This thing really works and they'll watch and see what happens as people. Thank you for helping them save money. And there's nothing
[:[00:38:58] Gregg Holladay: Yes, we are. And I even [00:39:00] have, uh, you know, a couple of really nice thieves laying here on my desk. And I just picked up. Yeah. From a very good friend. So we got to find some time. Let me know where you're going to be.
[:
