In our EvoHeat heat pump review, we run the EvoHeat heat pump hot water units through our 4-factor framework. We look at the four most important factors when considering heat pumps: cost, reliability, refrigerant and maintenance.
While the EvoHeat units have a lot going for them, ultimately we think the units are overpriced. We think there are other units on the market which are reliable, require less maintenance and are more affordable.
Let’s jump in…
1. EvoHeat Heat Pump Cost
The heat pump hot water market has three sections (prices are fully installed, assuming a standard installation)
- Cheap and nasty units generally sell for less than $1,000
- Premium units like Reclaims and Sandens are installed for upwards of $5,000.
- Mid-market units are in between, with good quality units being available from $1,500 to $3,000.
EvoHeat’s 270L unit sells for around $3,000 fully installed. This puts them at the higher end of the mid-market.
EvoHeat units come in three sizes: 150L, 270L and 315L.
2. Reliability
Reliability is probably the most important factor in analysing heat pump hot water units and the good news here is EvoHeat units stack up well.
We like to look at a multitude of reviews when analysing heat pumps. It’s one thing to take our word, or your local plumber’s word, but a consensus of reviews is important to get the ‘wisdom of the crowds.’
EvoHeat is one of the best reviewed heat pumps on the market, receiving a score of 4.8 from over 900 reviews on ProductReview. For the sake of comparison, Reclaim, largely regarded as the best unit on the market, receives 4.9 stars. Other good quality mid-market units like Aquatech score 4.7 and Haier Monoblock 4.9.
Reviews are by no means perfect but we think that if the majority of 900 people have had a positive experience with a product, it’s likely you’ll have a positive experience as well. Pleasingly, EvoHeat the company also scores well on ProductReview, receiving 4.5 from 100+ reviews. It’s important to analyse a company to see how they respond (if at all) to warranty claims and customer requests.
We also find it helpful to look at the warranty of a unit, as a measure of the company’s confidence in its product. EvoHeat offers one of these split warranties that we don’t like. The warranty is ordinarily 6 years on the unit and 1 year labour (labour means if the unit fails in year 2, EvoHeat will replace the unit, but the customer has to pay for the labour of the installation). Solar Victoria recently announced that all products need a 5-year warranty on both parts and labour to be eligible for the $1,000 hot water rebate. EvoHeat meets this by offering a 5-year labour warranty for Victorian customers, but all other customers only receive a 1-year labour warranty. EvoHeat’s reasons are clear, they’re doing the bare minimum to still be eligible for rebates, but we’d prefer it if they had one, comprehensive warranty for all customer’s which clearly demonstrates confidence in their product.
3. Refrigerant
EvoHeat units use Propane (R290) as the refrigerant. Propane has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 3 and is one of the best on the market.
4. Maintenance
The maintenance requirements for EvoHeat heat pumps are more onerous than for similar units.
The EvoHeat Owner’s Manual recommends minor maintenance be carried out by the customer every 12 months, including operating the PTR valve, checking drain lines are not blocked and checking air vents are not blocked or obstructed. This is in line with the rest of the market.
The manual however also recommends a service be carried out by an EvoHeat Service Technician every 3 years. The service includes replacing the tempering valve, replacing the PTR valve, inspecting and possibly replacing the sacrificial anode and various other checks. The 3 yearly requirement is more frequent than other similar units (typically every 5 years) and will result in increased running costs.
EvoHeat Heat Pump Review
It is clear that EvoHeat heat pumps are a solid choice. While we compare units across four factors, we think the most important factor is reliability. We wouldn’t be in the business of selling and installing heat pumps if they only lasted 5 years. We need them to last a long time so they are more attractive than gas hot water systems, which can last a long time. EvoHeat units are clearly very reliable and certainly not a bad choice.
However, we think other units like Aquatech and Haier are also reliable but more affordable and require less maintenance. While we’d never try to talk someone out of an EvoHeat if they really wanted one, we generally recommend other units which we think are better value.
If you are interested in a general discussion about your heat pump options and/or a quote, we’d love to hear from you.
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