AO Smith Hybrid Water Heater NEXT Review
An expert review of AO Smith hybrid water heater - NEXT with
its features, advantages and benefits.
Find out what makes it unique and favorite type of all
gas-powered heaters.
NEXT hybrid
water heater is one of the latest additions to the great selection of AO Smith heating units. AO
Smith as the leading manufacturer,
introduced NEXT as the new high efficiency gas
heater that uses a
revolutionary technology for residential water heating.
How NEXT - AO Smith hybrid water heater works?
AO Smith NEXT
is the
hybrid gas unit that works as the condensing water heater
and it uses
the
patented heat transfer process where the secondary heat exchanger
captures the heat from the flue gases and extracts it. In this process,
the "buffer tank" is used to extract the additional heat and
increase the efficiency.
AO Smith hybrid water heater
performs
as the
tankless water
heater while it uses conventional
technologies for the greater performance, energy and
money savings. This revolutionary way of heating water eliminates two
major problems that tankless and storage
tank have. The new NEXT heater
has the water stored
in the "buffer tank" which
simultaneously supplies multiple fixtures (great for peak periods); and
there are no more headaches with the "cold water sandwiches" and
minimum flow rate.
Advantages
AO
Smith hybrid water heater
is a gas unit designed for homes with the high hot water
demand. This is possible as the heater is using a powerful gas burner
of 100,000 Btu/hr, which provides high First Hour Delivery of 189 GPH and
recovery rate of 121 gallons per hour.
Thanks to its patented heat
transfer process, thermal power is 90%, so the AO Smith
NEXT Hybrid unit is eligible for Federal Tax
Credits.
What is specific for the NEXT model is the new
water heating solution
for the
whole house while it provides the increased efficiency, easy
installation
and reduced number of "cold sandwiches".
Features
Hybrid design
As mentioned before, AO Smith hybrid water heater combines
features of
both tankless and storage tank-type models. The unit with the size of
47x24x32" is smaller than the standard 50-gallon unit, but it
brings much more hot water per hour and is faster than tankless units.
With the tankless technology and the insulation R
factor of 16, stand-by heat loss is reduced to a minimum.
Buffer tank
Small "buffer tank" provides hot water instantaneously, which
is
great for small hot water uses, such as handwashing.
Pump
A circulation pump is integrated into the heat engine and it
serves to
push water for maximum heat output.
Control panel
At the front of the water heater there is an electronic
display which
helps in monitoring and controlling the heating process. This control
panel has the pre-programmed modes; Energy Saver, Vacation and Boost
(peak demand) modes and diagnostic tool for simplified troubleshooting
(error code display).
Venting system
There are no surprises when talking about installing NEXT
hybrid water
heater. It uses hot and cold water connections similar to the
conventional storage tank type, common gas pipe size and inexpensive
vent pipes, such as PVC, CPVC or ABS pipes, as the exhaust gases are
with the low temperatures. On the other side it is much cheaper and
simpler to install this Hybrid unit than tankless model.
Price
NEXT hybrid water heater is in the higher
price range... it
sells from
$1700 and it is available through the network of AO Smith dealers. At
the time of writing this review, there is only a natural gas version
available, while LP or propane model should be released during 2011.
Summary
AO Smith hybrid water heater,
NEXT,
is the gas-fired energy saving unit that uses the new technology in
residential water heating. It uses the best features from tankless and
storage tank heaters to provide hot water fast and continuously so
there
are no "cold-water sandwiches" and requirements for the
minimum flow for ignition. Due to its high efficiency and
energy saving design
NEXT is eligible for tax credits.
Due to all these great features, GreenBuilder
magazine chose
AO Smith
NEXT hybrid as one of the Hot 50 Products of
2011. This is how you can buy it
from Amazon.
(Pictures are courtesy of AO Smith)
