Gas water heater/Furnace combo

[Southpaw134]

Need some help, I work for a municipal utility that offers natural gas service and rebates for gas appliances. We are currently offering 'double' rebates for gas appliances, some rebates are substantial (new water heater = $1350.00, new furnace = $1400.00 - - - new is defined as converting the existing appliance from electric to gas). I assist with processing rebates for our gas department, which has forwarded a rebate request in which the customer claims their new water heater also doubles as a furnace. They referred to this appliance as a Hydro water heater.

At first, I thought they were referring to the GE Geo Spring hybrid electric water heater, but the gas department said that it was not a hybrid electric. I've heard hydro water heater system used when referring to a solar water heater/gas hybrid. Unfortunately, I have yet to hear back from the customer to gain clarification from them directly.

Can anyone confirm if their is such a thing as a gas water heater/furnace combo exists? Thanks in advance.

-Mike

[Southpaw134]

After two days I finally heard back from the customer (guess I should've waited a few more minutes before posting this thread). The customer provided the manufacturer information, Apollo HydroHeat, which would qualify for both our water heater and furnace rebates.

[Dana]

So this qualifies for both rebates which can be added together for a $2750 total? That's likely to be on the order of half the installed cost of the thing!

There are a few vendors in this biz, the Bradford White Defender Combi-II is the one I've seen most often. The AFUE on these beastis as a heating appliance is about the legal-minimum (78%), and as-use it's typically even lower than that, but for places with low heat loads (like FL) the money you'd pay for a higher efficiency system would never be cost-effective. There are tankless on-demand water heater combis out there too, but most are custom-designed for the application. Those built around condensing on-demand water heater can be pretty high-performance if designed right (90-95%+), but those built around the typical 0.82-0.84 EF units run in the low 80s in space heating mode as well- better than the Apollo or BW combis but not often cost-effective on fuel savings alone. (In FL the SPACE savings of being able to install it outdoors can sometimes be worth it over tank-type combis though.)