A hybrid water heater is a water heating system that integrates technology traits from both the Tank-type water heaters and the Tankless water heaters.[1]
The hybrid water heater maintains water pressure and consistent supply of hot water across multiple hot water applications, and like its tankless cousins, the hybrid is efficient and can supply a continuous flow of hot water on demand.[2]
The hybrid approach is designed to eliminate general shortcomings of other technologies. For example, hybrids are activated by either thermostat (similar to tanked) or flow (similar to tankless).
Hybrids have small storage tanks that temper incoming cold water. This means hybrids only have to increase water temperature from warm to hot as opposed to tankless which has to raise completely cold water to hot. The defining characteristics of a "hybrid water heater" are:
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Uses modulating infrared burner that is triggered by water-flow or thermostat. The mult-pass heat exchanger drives heat down then recycles it through baffled pipes for maximum efficiency. Water fills the reservoir from bottom up and spreads evenly around the heating pipes producing endless hot water with consistent pressure and temperature.
During low-flow situations, the hybrid behaves like a tank-type heater by having minimum fixed fuel usage and thermostat activation. Although equipped with some storage capacity, the small volume minimizes standby fuel usage. Hybrids also share additional traits with tank-type heaters like a floor-standing installation, standard PVC venting, draining pan, and they can be installed with a recirculation pump for even more water efficiency.[3]
During high demand, high-flow situations, hybrid technology behaves more like a tankless heater, with high BTU capacity and full modulation to supply continuous stream of hot water across multiple applications. This gives the hybrid fuel efficiency like the tankless, but with higher flow capacity.
| Hybrid | Tankless | Tank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | cast iron | Copper | cast iron |
| Efficiency | Average 86% | Average 80% | Average 60% |
| Nitrous Oxide Emissions (PPM) | 5-30 | 30-40 | 60-90 |
| Carbon Monoxide Emissions (PPM) | 40-45 | 190-200 | 200-250 |
| Exhaust Temp (°F) | 128-155 | 390-410 | 480-500 |