Chromagen Midea 170L Heat Pump

The unit is brilliant and the water is always hot and plentiful, even when we have guests staying. We have also noticed a big reduction in our electricity bill which is a great bonus.

I had one put in at my retirement home. 7 month ago. very happy, thank you!
my electricity bill net down a bit, every dollar helps, especially on a pension.

We have been using the 170L heat pump over 6 months. It easily meets our daily hot water usage (2 adults with 1 child, 2 showers a day for adults and 1 shower for child, plus kitchen and laundry, and occasionally having 1-2 guests ). Never failed to deliver continuous hot water so far. Have not touched control pad since installation and was told the newer models do not have the 'reset after blackout' issues any more. The price seemed to be dramatically cheaper than some of the top rankers on the heat-pump review page, so I reckon it is offering wonderful value.

It's really a good unit 170litres Midea, the only thing is when there's a power cut have to reset temp in middle of night for water otherwise cold shower in morning, and have to reset clock on unit like you do on microwave when power comes on.

Had this for a month now.

Installation was a straight swap for our old system (that was connected to Off Peak / Controlled load).
Which off course you cannot do with this unit.
(Power is not available to the unit if not connected)

6 days after it was installed we had the install of our 6Kw solar completed and are running it (in compressor mode) for free on the panels.

Only two users in the house, heat the water to 65 degrees (max that you can do on comp mode) and have no issues with looking at running out of water.

Temp got to 47.6 in the shade here the other day and caused an alarm and heater went to Electric mode as compressor mode was exceeded.

One of my routines is to check (since this and solar installed) the solar and heater for correct operation.

My solar does an auto-reset every morning so it basically looks after itself the next day.

To reset the unit and fix the temp fault I turned off the power supply to the heater and simply waited until about 7 pm and turned the unit back on.

Then I:
Unlocked the heater control panel (I press the Cancel button once for about 1 second, release and then hold until the PADLOCK disappears on the control panel.
Pressed the mode button and put it back to Hybrid Mode (the recommended setting).
Reset the clock (there is no battery backup), remember to set the clock press the CLOCK button, then set the hour using the up / down button,
for 7pm the hour is 19 for 7am the time is 07.
If the time is greater than 12 you must add 12 to the hour number (1pm is 1+12 =13, 2pm is 2+12= 14 etc up to 23 (11pm is 11+12=23) after that 12am is 00, 1am is 01 etc up to 12pm which is 12, then off you go 13....23 again.
Press the clock button again to set the HOUR and the Seconds will flash, there are sixty minutes in an hour.
Use can use the up / down buttons to set the minutes. After a power failure the clock is showing 00:00 flashing which is MIDNIGHT.
Here is a trick for those that don't know.
You can set the hour from 00 to 23 by pressing the down button 00-> 23 and do the same to get 22, 21, etc. So to set the time to say 16:00 you only have to press down times rather than pressing the up button 15 times.
Works the same for the seconds button.
You can press and hold the up/down buttons and they will count down / up slowly.

Once you have set the clock, contrary to other posts here your start and stop time will automatically appear.
Just press the start and stop buttons twice each to confirm the settings.

In regard to the poor insulation I can see that overnight the temp of the unit drops, if you look at your Installation and maintenance guide you will see the picture on page 8 with the example of Final Installation.

See that there is insulation on the hot water side of the unit, my installer installed insulation and also added the supplied insulation on the tempering valve which is not shown in manual, but supplied by the valve manufacture.

The relief valve is also supplied with insulation which my installer did not use but I took from the box and added myself.

The relief valve drain pipe should also have insulation to stop the creep of heat loss from this pipe.
(Put your hand on the pipe (if not insulated) and you can feel the heat loss going down the pipe. I also added insulation from the bottom of the tempering valve to the T junction of the water inlet and from the T junction to the cold water inlet.

This has dropped my overnight heat loss considerably.

Also try and get out of the habit of running your hot water to rinse your hands, to get hot water you use cold water to push the hot water out. Therefore you are cooling your hot water every time you run the hot water.

If you really need to wash your hands in hot water use the tap closest to your hot water unit. Then as the water is warm enough for you. Wet your hands and quickly soap, and then rinse and then turn off the tap.

Remember most people have got these units to save money (power), so cut down on the amount of water you use in showers, if your washing machine machine uses hot water try and do cold washes.

There is absolutely no reason for you to have the water pelting you in the shower nor for most people to spend more than 5 minutes in the shower.

Make sure you read the manual and understand the instructions.

Don't bag the supplier because you had a bad install,

I had two crap Holden's and will never ever buy another and yet the issues I saw with mine existed in most Holden's but they were Holden lovers (and had never owned any other car).

Next read ever bit of feedback on a product.

Most people only do feed back when they think they have an issue very few people give feedback if they have no problems.

Cheers

This has to be the best investment we’ve ever made! I don’t understand the bad reviews - we’ve had this unit for over 12 months with no issues whatsoever. Delivery and installation were faultless. Our electricity bills have been halved and we are singing this product’s praises to everyone we encounter!

I got one of these recently to replace a Dux unit that was out of warranty and Dux just didnt want to fix it even if I was offering to pay. Dux are so useless they design units they are redundant - so much for 'sustainability'. Anyway this unit is somewhat quieter but has WOEFUL insulation. I have set the timer for it to run from 8 am to 8pm, this morning when I got up, water was at 30C!! My Dux was so well insulated at least it reattained heat when it switched off overnight/. This is system is better as a pool heater than a domestic HotWater system. It's not such a 'smart' system if you have to keep it on all day to keep sustainable hot water. Big FAIL Chromagen.

This thing seriously comes up short in some very obvious design flaws that can cost you money.

Firstly, if the power goes out, even for a second, ALL presets are lost and if you don't notice this has occurred then when you do want hot water it could well be lukewarm or cold, depending on the duration before next use and/or noticing it has occurred.

Secondly, the tank insulation is pathetic, you can almost watch the degrees dropping away on the readout after your preset timer has switched off so basically you need to overheat your water way above 60c for it to be warm enough 20 hrs later. Heat loss is just terrible compared with my old straight electric Rheem.

Thirdly, and most importantly to me, if you have it set to 'Economy Mode' then that's where you'd want it to stay, bearing in mind that you no longer have 'cheap' overnight electricity tariff because it is a heat pump and not only a standard resistive load element heater like your previous, so therefore cannot work efficiently at night and has been wired directly to your FULL price tariff during the day.
Your new 'smart' meter no more recognizes your new heat pump water heater than an electric oven or electric bar heater. Not so 'smart' for you and very 'smart' for your power provider.

Now whenever the parameters of the heat pump aren't met and the ambient temperature (the air temp around it - and you) is outside of normal running temp i.e. 40c then it switches to "eHeater mode" without you even knowing it (no one is going to be standing in front of the heater watching the panel to see if this occurs).

Now keep that in mind when on stinking hot days, which is common as hell (literally) in an Australian summer, this stupid thing will automatically default to 'eHeater' Mode'. So what is 'eHeater Mode'? A hot water tank element, or resistive load, EXACTLY the same as your old water heater that was running on CHEAP tariff.

You see the dilemma here? You are now paying top dollar for electricity to run your water heater that once was relatively cheap to run, and that's the clincher, that this occurs on REALLY hot days when the last thing you are looking for is hot water i.e. 30>40cents per kWh to heat your water when you least want it.
It will even do it out of your preset timer settings if your water didn't reach the preset thermostat cut-off temp before timer timed out.
The only option is to manually change your settings or just switch the stupid thing off at the wall, that of course causing problem #1 all over again.

Last but definitely not least, this is a 'mechanical device' with back up static resistive heating element. That means it is the same as your old hot water service BUT for the great big reversed cycle air conditioner (heat pump) sitting astride the standard heater (that's how it gets it's dalek looks)
That means a whole raft of parts including a compressor, fan, condensor, evaporator, and of course 134a gas looking for quite a few places to leak. NONE of which were on the standard heater. Remember, this sits out in the elements in most installations as it is not efficient indoors (same issue as overnight setting)

These are not even compatible with solar hot water panels either, making them almost redundant.

Incidentally all the cold air produced as a 'by-product' of the heat pump cycle just gets pumped straight back into the surrounding air, completely going to waste. I intend on re-routing this after the warranty period, that's assuming it lasts that long.There is so much wrong with the design of these things that could have been easily rectified pre-production BEFORE sales.
BTW, my old hot water service was about 12 years old when it was removed and because it had had the sacrificial anode replaced regularly had nothing wrong with it. Part of the government rebate was that it got a hole drilled in it so it couldn't be re-used. It's just the 'pink batts' pencil-necked geek thing all over again, some genius in a 'government think-tank' (oxymoron) looking for ways to use up the budget.

The product was faulty, supplying either inadequate hot water or none at all, and yet my tenant received an increase of 15% on their water bill. When confronted, Chromagen were both ignorant and unhelpful. After many attempts and a week of no hot water, a service provider was contacted by Chromagen and sent to repair the unit. After being informed there would be no cost should the unit be dysfunctional, I then received a bill. I have just been the recipient of a highly abusive and threatening call as a result of questioning this account, being told "I will come to your suburb and make it worth my while!". This matter is still unresolved and I will be taking it further. I highly urge anyone considering this product to seriously reconsider!!!

Very happy with the service we received after a problem was detected ‘ notified them on FB and they rang me that day, no fuss tradies and simply set it on economy mode without the timer and away it goes, I’ve recommended it to friends and they are going on with it to. Great system

Got one of these units installed august 2016 when our 40 year old (second hand) unit died. Chromagen we very happy to sell us one immediately, and had a crew out in oh, lets see, maybe a fortnight. Well it takes ages to heat water on economy, and every time the weather gets cold, it tries to switch to straight electrical, as it is supposed to. Our poor choice of unit I suppose. The real gripe though, 10 months in, every time it gets cold and it switches to straight electrical, it error codes, get home from work and no hot water. Still in warranty, so we ring chromagen, (June 2017), "we'll get some one out to look at it". It is now september 2018. Many phone calls to chromagen, Many phone calls to the subcontractor, "2 weeks", "call you next week", "I don't know why no one has fixed it yet", Just got told "wednesday". 14 months waiting, customer service rating of 0. Rate the unit at 2, it's slightly better than a 44 gallon drum over a fire.

I think the people giving bad reviews are either on the receiving end of faulty installation or a faulty product, because we have been running the 170L model since 2106 and and have never had a problem. I suggest you download the manual and have a look at what you are doing wrong? Our household fluctuates between 3-5 adults and 1 child. We are able to shower twice a day, and take baths, run a dishwasher and wash up. We have only run out of hot water once after an excessively long shower (ridiculous) was taken by a guest at night.

We have no complaint with our Chromagen Hot Water System at this point in time, the proof of which is stated in our Electricity Statements. dodo Power & Gas: "Your Average Daily Usage was 18.63 kWh for this bill". "Your usage was 25.86 kWh for the same time last year." You would have to be happy with that! We are.

I replaced a good 120 lt off peak unit for the 170 lt Midea heat pump believing the hype that they were cheaper to run plus being larger I would have lots more hot water when visitors stayed, what a joke. My off peak was always hot, the 170 lt Midea we cant even get 2 full showers out of it and most times when I walk outside it's heating up I think it's on more than it's not. My advice don't touch them.

Had this installed and am so pleased that we did. The hot water is virtually instantaneous and not at all like the other unit we had - anything up to a minute before the hot water tap ran hot!
Adjustable so that it can be turned right down for when the little ones come to visit.
So far, very pleased with the unit but of course, time will tell.

Since installation electricity bill is 1/3 what it was i have it set so it only heats during the day as we have 5 KW of solar on the roof.
We are just two but it fulfils all our needs.
Mother inlaw has had hers put in got first bill an is over the moon with the savings

Mongrel landlord installed these so he could get all the govt kickbacks. Power bill has TRIPLED> NO OFFPEAK power in the house at all.
I have 2 x 70+ year old neighbours who turn their hot water off all day 4 days a week due to costs.
I get 23 mins hot water in the morning, and then have to wait 4+ hours for it to reheat. We have 190L units.
Absolute CRAP. Now stuck with HUGE bills as the landlord is a fool.

I have the exact same problem. I too purchased the larger unit 280 liters, on chromagens advise. My power bill has gone up by $8.00 per day. I live in Ballarat, and have always read my meter on a weekly basis, and know exactly what costs money and where it costs. I can totally eliminate every thing else, and as such it is purely the hot water service. I have rang chromagen twice, and had zero response from them. They duck shove you from one person to the next, and the comment is "I don't know why they sent you to me, I am in the --------- department, I will put you through to the correct department, and guess what, the same response. I have been told that the technical department will ring me back on three separate occasions, and the calls never come. Chromagen did at one stage say that it was all on the installer in Ballarat. I have contacted the installer Seba Developments, 11 Wilsons Lane Sebastapol, Ashley Evans, and have been told that the plumber, and electrician will be coming out asap, to check it out. That was 2 weeks ago.
It seems like once the money has been paid, and the government rebates collected, they don't want to know you.
I can't believe that in this day and age, shoddy products, and dubious business practices can be accepted.
Please carefully consider my words, and weigh it up for yourself.

Had a chromagen heat pump after seeing the add on television for a free new hot water system but l paid for the larger system as l have four adults living on the property, big mistake during the summer l get similar results as l had with the off peak storage but during the winter my bill skyrockets as a result l pay around $500 month that's right a month not a quarter. l rang them all last winter and asked them to send somebody out to have a look at it and all l go was try this try that and of cause everytime l try something else l have to wait another month to see if it worked. the system appears to be crap but how would l know if they will not send anybody to have a look at the dam thing and see if the settings are correct or if it is faulty, if you get a good one that's fine but if you get a lemon then the after sales service is none existent, l hate bagging anything but have reached breaking point and struggling to pay my electricity bill l cant afford a new hot water system and l cant afford to continue to pay $500 a month for electricity, so think very seriously about grabbing what looks like its too good to be true deal, as you might end up in the same boat as me.

Had this unit installed in conjunction with 30 solar panels. It is very efficient, using solar output to supplement the heat pump. You can set the times you want it to use solar energy being produced, and when to switch off. The various settings seem daunting, but if you carefully read the (downloadable) manual it's pretty DIY. I had to do that as the installer made a mess of the settings and we had no hot water the following day. Assume I need to do a complete reset every time there is a power outage or blip. Will see. Overall, very happy with the economic benefits.