It's a subject that's always been on my mind. I personally would prefer a solar hot water system. Are these heatpump systems as good as they say or are we being led astray.
I don't like the idea of relying totally on electricity!

We have had ours for 10+ years without issues. They don’t like the cold weather including frost. Their heating times will increase in these conditions. In saying that ours has been very good without issue and 1/2 the cost of element electric heating.

I was looking at one such heat-pump installation beside a building last week. I'm pondering all of the electronics and moving parts that can fail vs a simple heating element. Then there's the amount of space required to pad-mount the pump and there's also the noise.

GTC there are only two drawbacks with solar hot water! One is the small electric pump used to transfer the water in rare occasions and the suitability for the area its in.
Our house had a unsuitable one when we moved in and it burst . I am now thinking of putting a better design in but we have solar power panels and I hope it can fit.

When this house was built they put in a system with a name with a cryptic name associated with poultry. That took about two years to get right from blowing itself apart from the one next to it through bad design and other issues.

I have issues with the fact the water here is corrosive, its frost valve failed to protect and both overheating and icing dump water. with a sealed guttering system the ice water goes back to the tank but not so with the hot. Having a shower during the day, which is some times necessary on a farm, has dangers in summer as the sudden drop in water pressure sees steam and that gets boiling water through to the shower head as it bypasses the mixer.

If replaced, it will be with solar panels.

I think there are plans afoot (if it hasn't already been implemented) that it will no longer be possible to avoid heat pumps for hot water. When they are installed, you lose your off peak too. This is in NSW, not sure about other states. Yes, heat pumps are more complex and as such are subject to reliability issues over the long term. They are basically a refrigeration system in reverse cycle.

I think there are plans afoot (if it hasn't already been implemented) that it will no longer be possible to avoid heat pumps for hot water.

Love to see the heat-pump version of a 25 or 50 litre under sink heater. Let me guess: they will be banned.

I think the time will come when we'll all have to take a cold shower...

I should have clarified, the heat pumps are only destined to replace the 315 and 400 litre units I think. I've never seen a heat pump on a smaller tank though maybe Dux and Rheem have other ideas.

I doubt they'll go on underbench units - there's not enough room for them and I am sure they have to be outside anyway so the condenser units don't overheat.

UPDATE: I just checked on both the sites of the leading brands and the heat pump models that replace 315 and 400 litre models are in smaller tanks. I am not sure why, though I am hoping that recovery capacity is greater in the heat pump model for the sake of those with large families.

Rheem make 270 and 325 litre models and Dux make a 250 litre model.

We had a Rheem about 300 litre when living in the Hunter and it was replaced after 10-11 years when it started leaking. The heat pump worked perfectly for its life at nearly a quarter of the power consumption, about 1 Kw vs. 3.6 Kw for a similar capacity.

The downside was that it it could not be on an off peak rate and as most hot water was used in the morning for showers etc., it ran at either the peak or shoulder rate.

Harold

My point is a solar hotwater system uses no power except for the rare occasions the weather is too inclement and the pump needs to circulate the cooler water. I just don't see it.

That depends on the system. If the HW tank is on the roof with the panels fine. However, if the tank is below the HW tank, that requires a pump to get the hot water from the panels to the storage tank.

The politicians, including Dementia Joe, are all hopping on this bandwagon not understanding heat pumps are expensive and develop freon leaks often uneconomical to repair!

And governments don't seem to have a problem with companies building in planned obsolescence so every five years a "new and improved" model comes out and parts are no longer available for the old model - landfill, here we come.

"parts are no longer available for the old model"

Problem with airconditioners too. I had to replace an 18 year old reverse cycle a/c that I was told had a problem with corrosion on the outside unit circuit board. Spares for this board were no longer available.

So perhaps this type of failure could reduce the life of heat pump water heaters as well.