Chromagen Midea 170L Heat Pump

The unit is operating as it should but my concern relates to it's durability being left outside in the hot Qld weather. In well less than 4 years the plastic parts (seals, casing, etc.) have cracked badly and crumbling into powder - touching the seals causes disintegration into powder. I'm not happy with the 'silly' (I'm trying to be kind) flimsy… Read more

piece of square plastic that sits over the LCD control panel that often falls off every time we get a bit of wind. Without this flimsy 'sun protection' sheet of plastic the LCD screen control panel is exposed fully and harshly baked in the hot Qld sun.

The company, when contacted last year and sent photos, claims it is only cosmetic. Well, seals usually serve a functional purpose and ARE NOT generally cosmetic otherwise they wouldn't be fitted to the pipes (e.g. keeping vermin out). The case has a split from sun damage and the remainder of the unit is looking poorly from sun damage.

I dont know what life expectancy I will get from the unit - it is working. I would have thought that as a gesture of good will the seals, at the very least, could have been replaced without charge (as I recall, they wanted to charge me $200).

Check UV stability on anything sitting outside in the weather before purchase.

Broken 2 months after 5 year warranty ran out, hot water running out the the top of water tank below heatpump top, 170l wasn't enough for the house of 4, plastic cover came off after 2 years, no control load for hot water so bill went up, these are a joke Show details

Absolutely terrible. Chromagen heat pump installed by metricon during construction 3 years ago. The control panel is made from clear plastic that crumbled to dust under the aussie sun. All the buttons are just stickers made from black film. They went with the panel. All the switches and circutry had been left exposed. A week after that the boiler… Read more

stopped working. The service number keeps you on the line for hours shuffling between operators. Horrible service. And the unit is a piece of junk.

Our Midea 170L is extremely loud! – Our Midera 170L brand new hot water pump is extremely loud. It’s so bad we shut our bedroom windows and it still keeps us awake through the night. It’s like a loud humming noise that is continuous.our neighbors have the same model but aren’t as loud Show details

Rebate or not do not bother here's why – Customer service are not helpful what's so ever. Between them and their warehouse they never provide accurate information which they should work on asap. Their warranty and labour cover is not enough for what the product is worth to operate. Mine on last 4.5 years and needed replacing. When you get it replaced ( warranty) and you live in QLD they… Read more

do not have a technician apparently and you have to source that and pay for reinstalling yourself. Which means you also have to cover the removal and dumping of the old one yourself. Chromagen don't cover anything really other than supply you a new one ( if covered) anything outside of that you pay $200+ call out fee + any parts. If thats not enough to tell you go elsewhere then yeah. This product should not be sold to consumers wanting something cost effective and reliable. Not outdoor quality either from my photos cannot uphold outdoor QLD weather hence why mine needed full replacement from.weather damage. Horrible experience.

Builder choice, mid range hot water system, cheap and reliable – So far, so good.. good value electric hot water system. Builders choice. Show details

Effective with no problems – Purchased thru Vic Govt rebate plan, cost only $99 for fitting of tempering valve. Located under carport. 5 years old with no problems. Run solely on economy mode, so does not use back up elec heating element although would use this if ran out of hot water and needed quick reheat. 2 person household and both take long showers 10min plus each,… Read more

never run out but gets close. There is a user serviceable filter to maintain efficiency, so read your instruction manual. By the way old heater had a hole drilled in it as it's part of rebate scheme..

Needs a battery in the control panel – The time clock is a dud, at the slightest power blip the time clock needs to be reset. It might be our area (Drouin/Victoria), but the HWS might be the only appliance to "See" the shortest p[ower blip, but it looses the time several times a week. We have gotten to the point where we check the timer almost daily. The 1 year warranty is [Content… Read more

Removed], on an appliance that should last many years. The Gas HWS we had prior lasted over 25 years, and it came with a 10 year warranty. It might save energy, but doubtful if the Chromogen heat Pump wall save money over it's (Short) lifetime.

Poor quality, typical chinese junk – Heat pump mode was never practical, didn't work in cold weather and was very slow to heat when it did. Tank failed (rusted out) at 5.5 years old, unit was only in active use for about 4.5 years. Don't feel the unit saved any money over it's short life span when compared to a standard non heat pump unit. Show details

Poor Service from Chromagen! – Renee (Service Dept) I Contacted her re damaged screen on 31/5/24, I sent picture of screen which was almost unreadable! I followed up with another email on 3/6/24 asking when screen would be replaced, NO REPY! I have read some of the other 100's or more reviews about Chromagen, my experience seams typical! If you are considering using Chromagen read the reviews first, then buy some place else! Show details

Heat pump water heater – The unit itself works fine on the other hand the front panel started peeling off about 6 months after installation by the time the builder reached out to them the 1 year warranty was over Show details

Poor quality and poor customer service – The system ran well for 6 years then rusted through in 2 places. The sacrificial anode was fine - the machine was just poorly built. Even though it was obviously a quality issue, Chromagen were unwilling to assist as it was 1 year out of warranty. Poor quality and poor customer service. Show details

Great……until it isn’t. !! – This is an edited and updated version of a review I posted to this platform mid last year regarding the Chromagen (Midea) 170L heat pump. We originally purchased in June 2023. My original review explained our decision to do away with gas in the home and move to an electrified future. I explained that because of that decision, after much… Read more

research and the advice of a close friend who already had a unit from Chromagen, we had installed the above mentioned 170L unit. My original review put heaps of praise onto this product, and, at the time, that praise was very much deserved. It worked perfectly every day and it never let us down…. until now. Here’s why I have updated my review.

On Easter Sunday, we woke up to no hot water. Zero. Great, of course, Murphys Law, .. this would happen on a public holiday wouldn’t it. We then walked round the side of the house to where the unit is located and the msg on the display screen on the unit was saying “E2 ERROR” & that only a qualified serviceman can attend to it. We looked up the manual and E2 represented an internal electrical problem which also stipulated only a qualified serviceman can service it.

When we tried ringing the Chromagen, of course no response being a public holiday. As this also applied to the following day, being Easter Monday, it left us with no choice but to wait until first thing on the Tuesday after Easter. So, upon ringing on the Tuesday, we honestly expected them to come out to our home either that day, or certainly within 24 hours, and especially given we’d already been without hot water for 3 days. We were wrong. We were told the process is that a work order is generated which is then sent to a technician. We were told a technician would ring us within the hour. 4 hours later, no phone call so we ring again.

Thats when we were then told to our complete dismay & shock that because the particular part that applies in this case is one that needs to be ordered in and because of that, especially given the public holiday on Anzac Day, followed by the weekend, that the earliest somebody could come out would be the following Monday (6 days later).

But wait…. there’s more. They also said they had no service contractors in our area (which is Lake Macquarie near Newcastle) and even when somebody did come, they would have to travel from Sydney. Newcastle, by the way is the 2nd biggest city in NSW. It’s not like we’re living in Humpty Doo. In this day and age, it’s absurd to think that unless you live smack bang in the Sydney CBD, your unit can’t be serviced within a reasonable timeframe.

So here we were, both hubby and myself, pensioners in our mid 60’s, having already been without any hot water for 3 entire days and Chromagen are telling us we had to wait another 6 days before we had any hot water and before anybody could come out. I have no words to adequately express how utterly atrocious this was to hear and how upsetting this was for people of our age. It’s difficult to comprehend how any company worth their salt could possibly leave a customer without hot water for what was potentially 9 days. By anybody’s standard, and regardless of any reasons or excuses, that’s completely and utterly unacceptable.

It’s interesting when you ring their phone number, before you get through to anybody, there’s a recorded message that says what an award winning product this is, and how wonderful it is, etc etc. The cold hard reality however is that Chromagen simply do not have the infrastructure to back up their product and quite clearly, they do not have anywhere near enough staff and contractors to service the product. It’s a fail in terms of both their product which is less than 3 years old, and a failure on their ability to service the product within a decent time. Hot water is not only a necessity, it’s a human right, & when you have a unit thats supposed to deliver it, you have every right to expect it will do exactly that.

Fortunately for us, we received an unexpected lifeline on the Thursday (the day before Anzac Day) which was day 5 for us without hot water from a company called Chilli Hot Water who was kind enough to drive from Sydney and attend our property. Chromagen had apparently arranged that contractor. Out of the goodness of his heart and in sympathy to our situation, this guy drove from Strathfield on the Thursday rather than having us wait until Monday. The sight of finally “somebody” at our residence attending to the hot water system was a massive relief, …however, it wasn’t long before our hearts began to sink.

The guy from Chilli Hot Water was really nice and he quickly established that somehow water had got into the unit from behind the display screen (which tends to be quite ill fitting and slightly cracked due to weather expansion), and it had put moisture onto one of the circuit board connectors which is located just inside the bottom of the screen). Unfortunately, however, whilst he had several circuit boards in his box of tricks, he didn’t have the right one that would fit this particular unit. He also did not have another screen that he could put on, even though the screen wasn’t broken. Although he was previously informed of the part that was needed, he didn’t have it with him. I’m not quite sure why he didn’t have it, … but he didn’t, and for us, this was terrible news as we thought he wouldn’t be able to replace the wet circuit board and without a replacement part, we imagined ourselves without hot water for goodness knows how long.

He then had an idea and would you believe asked if I had a hair dryer. Yes of course I did. So he took the part out and spent maybe 10 minutes trying to dry out the circuit board with my hairdryer. When he put it back in, we honestly had our hearts in our mouth. By some miracle, it worked, thank god, but we knew this was still a Band Aid solution and there was no certainty at all how long this would last. He then got one of our big yellow plastic bin liners and covered the screen with that to help prevent water getting in. He then taped it all up. Every day since, there’s an anxiety factor for us when we get up each morning as we never quite know if we’re going to have hot water or not.

He was honest and highly critical of the design of this unit saying that Chromagen were selling them like hot cakes due to the very attractive govt rebate that existed at that time. In many cases (if you already had electricity), the govt rebate covered a large portion of the cost. In our case, because we were moving from gas to electricity, there was a lot of pre work and pipes that needed to be done beforehand and the total cost to us was $1200. We figured if it lasted as as long as it should, then it’s money well spent. We don’t necessarily feel that way now.

He then explained long term, there’s pretty much only two options in moving forward. The first is that if he has to come back and replace the circuit board and screen, we’d be looking at around $600 not withstanding another $230 call out fee. We’d already paid the callout fee for this service. This option did not guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. The second option is to get rid of the Chromagen system altogether and purchase something like a locally made Rheem Electric or Rheem Heat Pump. Those prices are around $1700 and $4,000 respectively.

In conclusion, in terms of right now, we are still negotiating with Chromagen to try to reach a fair and reasonable resolution to this situation and we are doing this in a respectful and considered way. It’s not in our nature as pensioners to really “go off our heads” at Chromagen. Sometimes you can be equally successful with a good outcome and resolution by being polite, but assertive. From discussions so far, Chromagen management are well aware and essentially in agreement that when you pay $1200 bucks for a hot water unit that promises smart, clean and efficient ongoing hot water for years into the future and it breaks down in less than 3 years leaving the customer without hot water for days, and then we’re charged $200 bucks for a serviceman to come out, not have the right replacement part and have him dry it out with my hairdryer is pretty dam poor. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. I want to make it clear we are grateful to this man from Chilli Hot Water for travelling so far otherwise I hate to think where we’d be. Yes, he didn’t have the right part, when really, he should have, but hey, …..(the world is not perfect).

Regardless of what happens in moving forward, overall, it’s just extremely disappointing on so many levels. It’s hard not to lose faith in both the product and Chromagen as a company. As pensioners we don’t have social media but friends have alerted us and shown us multiple photos on social media of Chromagen units all taped up across the front display screen meaning this is a clear design fault they’ve known about for quite a significant period of time.

In conclusion, it would remiss of me if I didn’t share our experience with the Chromagen Midea Heat Pump with other customers who are considering purchasing this product. It may not be worth the grief, the inconvenience, the potential extra costs, and the severe interruption to the daily life you have every right to expect.

Midea 170L Heat Pump Hot Water System – Rusty hot water tank but have no way to drain and clean the rust and scale inside the tank. Stripped the drain bolt and have to drill a hole on the plug in order to drain the hot water system. Tried with screw extractor to remove it but failed. The hot water system has to be replaced in less than 7 year because of the poor design as the drain… Read more

valve could be installed by the manufacture. Cheap plastic housing degraded after a few year exposed to the sun. Not happy with the product and not recommended.

The 280 litre Heat Pump consumes to much power to heat hot water – This Heat Pump system is built out of total crap, Cover falls off all the time as per photo attached. System has cost myself huge amounts of Power to heat water into my home over the years since late 2018. As far as Chromegan advertising states unit is a Power saver applicance, this is wrong on all levels, a high ranking chromegan member has… Read more

informed me $7 month to run this appliance this is total crap evidence has been sent to Chromegan they refuse to own the unit issues its either faulty or NOT built for purpose very poor design. I would not recommend this product to anyone as your Power bills will be huge, out of control, especially during winter months. Stay with gas operated hotwater products as they are reliable and more cost effective. Please note chromegan service team MANAGERS don't listen, and do NOT return emails or phone calls and when pressure is applied to the chromegan team by the customer they go into defence mode with there Hot water units. This system has failed me miserable in power savings, system has been checked by a Chromegan service team from my local area in the past declared running all ok system continued to use excessive power to heat water, this system is NOT working as described and the company has mislead customers like myself with this product. Digital display CANNOT be seen during daylight hours shocking design. (HOT WATER UNIT IS TOTAL RUBBISH).

Temperature arbitrarily bounces around from 26-48 degrees, but never reaches 70 degrees as selected – After a recent power outage the unit just went rogue. So I spoke with a Chromagen technician who explained over the phone how to reset the system which I did successfully. Turning off any timers (which was the issue) setting the system to hybrid mode and the temperature to 70 degrees. Now all of a sudden the system’s temperature arbitrarily… Read more

bounces from 26 to 48 degrees. It’s running constantly but never reaches the desired 70 degrees, it’s been 3 days now of luke warm showers so I’m going to get a technician out to look at the system. Super frustrating!

useless in winter – During the summer months we have had no problems , if you live in a cold area {Yea Victoria } during winter the chromagen 250 ltr heat pump is useless , on contacting Chromagen on a few occasions all they say "well we could send out a plumber {cost $150} We now find out its too cold an area to work properly !! Show details

The cylinder only lasts till 5Y warranty runs out. Normal heat pumps should last 10-15 years, Rubbish & no support – Terrible and kept running out of hot water for only 3 people cylinder bursts just after warranty runs out, totally unreasonable length of time for unit to have to be replaced. very poor quality and very poor customer service unless you want to buy one every 5 years Show details

Already using system after 3 hours after installation.very quick to heat – Delivery on time . Professional installation.All rubbish removed.Old water system left on site at my request to pass on to someone who may need it.The best thing was installer explained how the system works and said the biggest problem was people playing with the controls of the system after he had set it.If I have a problem with this unit as long I have filled out the warranty form no problem. Show details

Working Great – We got our new Heat Pump Hot Water System (170L) installed a few weeks ago, and it is working great, I was a bit worried that we might run out of hot water, but we haven't yet & it has been fine. I would definitely recommend getting some sort of UV protector for the screen, we have a bit of film stuff that the plumber gave us, and that protects it a bit from the UV rays. Just hope it keeps working for several years to come.... Show details