Heat Pump Water Heater using Solid-State Energy Converters

Water heating is the second largest source of energy consumption in a household. Almost half of them are electricity based which are quite inefficient. Current crop of heat pump water heaters are too expensive to make a meaningful impact on the situation. This is the overall objective of the combined Phase I and Phase II projects. We propose a new kind of heat pump water heater that is based upon solid state energy converters developed by Sheetak which can improve the heating efficiency of water heating by a factor of two with a very small increase in its price. A scaled down version of prototype was made to demonstrate the energy conservation aspect of the design. Component designs, suppliers, cost models were established. A full scale prototype will be delivered. It will be using Sheetaks thin film thermoelectric modules. The final product delivered will completely characterized and will be ready to go in commercial sales (i.e. reliability, design for manufacturing etc. will be established, working with our industrial partner). Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: If fully deployed in the US, it can save almost half of the electric power being consumed in the US household water heating. Furthermore, Sheetak has a plan to reach internationally and sell its US Made Thermoelectric module for application worldwide.