Many of us don't think about the hot water pumping through our house until the tank starts leaking or we get hit with a sky-high utility bill from all those hot showers. In fact, it may come as a surprise that water heating is typically the second-largest household energy expense, using nearly 20% of a home's typical energy.
The good news is that new technology could change that for the better.
Enter: "Smart" heat pump water heaters like the just-launched GeoSpring models from GE Appliances, which are so efficient they can actually lower your electricity bills and deliver more hot water at the same time — to the tune of up to $550 of savings per year, according to GE.
Dan Capelle, director of product management for GE Appliances' water heating division, believes "this is the most advanced water heater that's out there." His team has been fine-tuning and innovating on this technology for nearly 20 years. "We're very proud of this."
The GeoSpring heat pump water heater uses the same heat pump technology you may already use to heat and cool your house — but in this case, that energy-efficient tech is saving you money by reducing the amount of power needed to heat your water. And people are noticing. For example, the GeoSpring just earned a top spot on Green Builder's coveted 2025 Sustainable Products of the Year list.
In an exclusive conversation with The Cool Down, Capelle walks us through how GeoSpring's innovative design helps homeowners save money, enjoy more hot water, and even help the planet in the process.
💰 How much does the GeoSpring cost, and how will it save me money?
Capelle explained that the GeoSpring is right in line with other "smart" heat pump water heaters on the market, which do come at a slightly higher price than a traditional electric water heater.
However, the GeoSpring is eligible for many federal and state rebates, including up to $900 in EnergyStar and local utility rebates — and up to $2,000 in Inflation Reduction Act tax credits that last until the end of 2025.
And from a savings perspective, Capelle told us "these are literally products that will pay for themselves in a matter of anywhere from two up to four years, based on what you're paying, utility rates, your home size, and how many people are using this thing."
GE Appliances estimates that compared to a standard electric water heater, the GeoSpring saves homeowners up to $550 on their annual energy bills. Capelle also walked us through GeoSpring's 10-year warranty, which is especially important for "smart" technology systems.
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Reliability 💪 🤓 How smart is a "smart" heat pump water heater, anyway?
A typical electric water heater has an "on" option and an "off" option — that's it. By comparison, "smart" water heaters, especially smart heat pump water heaters, are the AP Calculus of appliances.
Not only are they 2-3 times more energy efficient than conventional electric models, but the GeoSpring models are also built to store energy in the water tank itself as a giant thermal battery. That way, the smart controls can generate super hot water when energy prices are low or when renewable energy like wind and solar is available, and then store it for use throughout the rest of the day.
Or, you could just let the system adjust to your household's unique habits and not think about it at all.
"It's really up to you to define this product and meet your lifestyle," Capelle said. "You can actually schedule the water heater to give you more or less capacity and change temperatures, very similar to how you program an Ecobee thermostat."
The GeoSpring models are built with Normal, High, and X-High settings, which "allows you to flex your capacity up when you need it, and in that extra-high setting, you can get up to about 60% more usable hot water out of the same tank," Capelle said.
Consequently, that flex capacity means a 50-gallon water heater can act like an 80-gallon tank, giving you more bang for your buck.
Another cool aspect of "smart" water heaters is that they can connect to an all-home app (more on that in a sec), as well as directly to your utility provider. This means that, should you opt in, you can participate in regional energy-saving programs that help stabilize the electrical grid — reducing the need to burn planet-warming fossil fuels. These programs often pay homeowners in the process.
For example, you may have heard of Renew Home's "virtual power plant" (VPP) program in Texas that taps into homeowners' smart thermostats to proactively optimize energy usage.
The GeoSpring takes this concept one step further because, remember, each water tank acts as a giant thermal battery. This can better reduce any noticeable temperature fluctuations.
"The homeowner still has plenty of hot water to carry them through that period [when your tank is turned off] and they won't feel it. They won't know it's happened," Capelle said, explaining how different that is from a thermostat-based VPP, when your AC could drop one or two degrees on a brutal summer day and you'd certainly notice a difference.
📶 Tell me about this SmartHQ app …
Water heaters are often an out-of-sight, out-of-mind appliance purely because they're hidden in basements, crawl spaces, or closets. Which means that often we don't think about our actual usage because we don't see where it comes from.
That's where GE's accompanying SmartHQ app comes in. Not only does it let you just push a button to schedule water heating when energy is cheaper or more available, but Capelle explained it also "tells you how much longer it will take to recover the tank [refill with hot water] as you've been using it, so you can plan around showers or activities. If you've got a large household of people, [the app] also tells you how much capacity is left as well."
And bigger picture, the app monitors energy: "Obviously, this product is meant to be saving energy, but we want to display that and share that so you know how much energy you're consuming," he said. "And if you want to make a lifestyle change, it's up to you at that point. … But awareness is a big thing behind this."
👀 But wait! There's more?
At one point while we chatted with Capelle, the interview started to feel like an infomercial just by the sheer number of features the GeoSpring includes (low noise levels, works regardless of climate, 120V and 240V options, etc.). That's what 20 years of engineering gets you, he mentioned.
"The team that we have in place for this launch, most of the team is the same team that we had for that Generation 1 launch [in 2008]. ... They have truly become industry experts over all these years," he said, "and as a product manager, they make my life easy, by the way."
The team is also continuing to make things easy for homeowners, especially since they've added a wireless leak detection element that automatically shuts off the water valve when it senses a leak — something that can happen to any tank or pipe over a long enough period of time, or during a power outage if temperatures drop and pipes freeze.
You can also add additional sensors around your house, like under a sink or near a washing machine, that will send you an alert so you know something has happened in that part of your house. That kind of peace of mind, Capelle said, can be valuable when you're going to be away from the home.
"Think about if you're on vacation," Capelle said. If one of those sensors goes off, "you call up your neighbor, call up a family member, and say, 'Hey, please go check out my house. I think I've got something going on.'"
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