Hooking up a Nyletherm-1 to a Marathon
Q: What the heck is a Marathon water heater???
A: A water heater that not only can beat efficiency of a conventional water heater, including instant water heaters, but also has a lifetime warranty and will not rust.
Q: What the heck is a Nyletherm-1 heat pump water heater???
A: An add-on for an existing electric water heater that uses a heat-pump instead of resistance elements - saving 40-60% on water heating bills.
Why?
Why not? Ok, bad answer. Actually, there are many reasons for both items, but I'll start with the Marathon...
Ok, why go with a Marathon water heater instead of a conventional?
Many reasons.
1) These units are made in the USA. Most water heaters you will find today are made in Mexico (thanks, NAFTA!).
2) LIFETIME warranty. The Marathons are guaranteed not to leak as long as you own your home.
3) Efficiency. The design of the Marathon allows for the heated water to stay hot longer in the tank. These things have inches of foam insulation - not a layer of fiberglass, as most conventional tanks do. Quick story: My power was out for a few days - the water in the tank was still hot on the fourth day!
Caveats, etc.
During installation (I've thus far installed two units (one in my home, one in a friend's home)) there is nothing unique - it is just like any other water heater, with the exception that you know you won't be doing this again in 5-10 years like a standard unit!
Why should I get a Nyletherm-1? I already have a nice Marathon!
Because you will save EVEN more money and energy. The Nyletherm-1 works just like any other heat pump - it MOVES heat, it doesn't CREATE heat. A standard electric water heater uses resistive elements. This is a very inefficient way of getting heat from electricity. When coupled with a standard water heater, the Nyletherm-1 (depending where you look) can save you from 40-60% on water heating. However, when coupled to a Marathon, I'd expect this to increase substantially.
Connecting the two
Connecting the Nyletherm-1 to my Marathon was fairly simple. The only caveat is that when connecting to a Marathon, you can not use the "tube-in-tube" device that comes with the Nyletherm-1. You have to, instead, connect the "Water In" to the cold supply line to the Marathon, and connect the "Water Out" to the drain connection, as usual. This is due to the shape of the tank in the Marathon - it doesn't allow the water to circulate correctly with the tube-in-tube adapter, so the Nyletherm-1 will cut out due to high water temperature. According to Nyle, some Sears models have this same issue.
MORE INFORMATION TO COME - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Here is a picture of the Marathon
Here is a picture of the Nyletherm-1 (along with a conventional water heater tank)
Here is a wiring schematic I bastardized from the original Marathon and Nyle pics)
...and some pics of my installation (NOT FINISHED YET! I haven't hooked up the condensate drain, and the utility room still needs drywall/flooring!!!)
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