Rheem EcoNet App walkthrough - Rheem Hybrid Water Heater EcoNet Application walkthrough

[@hanke9498]

After watching all your videos about hybrid heat water heater , I finally get mine too. Love it so much! Finally don’t need to pay oil for heat! Thank you

[@FamilyDIYtv]

I’m glad they helped you decide either way ! Enjoy your new water heater!

[@davidbonang8650]

Just installed my new Rheem 65 gallon heat pump tank a few days ago and everything is going well. The recovery rate is a little slower than my old gas tank but that’s to be expected. The only thing I can’t figure out is the colors on the little water tank that tell you hot water availability. I assume the the red means there is no hot water and the green means it is full but have no idea what the blue means and I can’t seem to find any info anywhere. I wish Rheem would have done a better job on the hot water availability so you would now how much hot water is in the tank. Maybe down the road they will upgrade their app and we will get better info on hot water availability.

[@junkvista61]

I wonder about the same thing. It's not clear red color is alert sign of low level of hot water or available of hot water.

[@pauldavidschwartz]

Thanks for doing this. Very helpful. I didn't an explanation of the "I'm Away" and "I'm Home" settings and what they do - and how that relates to the "off" setting. I am interested in understanding that. Separately, it was hard to see what you were doing on your phone to get to various screens. I figured it out, but suggest you point that out as you go in the future.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Thanks Paul, appreciate the comments. -Mike

[@ReflectionsHdmstrss]

The app is have is different from yours. On the usage screen, I'm wondering what the dotted lines and solid bars mean. Its 9 am and i have dotted lines making a path through the rest of the day today, and a few solid bars showing the unit was using energy overnight even though it was turned to "disabled " all night. What the meaning of the dotted line, anyone know?

[@jzumba6849]

Thank you for taking the time to walk me through the app.

[@carlrosen3899]

Have a rheem electric water heater with the leak sense and leak guard. If turn unit off at circuit breaker then I assume these functions will not work. But if turn off water heater by pressing the off button on the unit will the leak sense and leak guard still work? In other words does pressing the off button just stop the unit from heating water and still maintain electric current and allow the leak functions to work?

[@billrough6045]

Thanks for this video. Super helpful. I have a question about how does the unit know what time, and what day it is. If I want to do certain schedule on Wed between 4pm and 9pm, how does it know that it is 4pm Wed? I looked at how to set the date and time for the unit, but didnt' find anything. Thanks

[@FamilyDIYtv]

This is a great question ! I assume it knows the time because it's connected to the internet. Mine seems to just know...

[@willflourish]

We’ve been trying to make sense of the scheduling part of this app. It seem obvious except it doesn’t allow us to save any changes to the defaults or to delete any entries. Very confused.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Yes I agree. It’s very odd. I’ll try to post a quick video on it.

[@JenniferF2882]

My Rheem electric smart water heater with EcoNet app is weird - I don't have the hybrid I have just the electric one.... mine shows on the schedule it is set yet it is running even at 11pm... when my schedule is M-F 7a-10a & 6p-10p.

[@cryptocomplete]

Thank you for your video. Does the app have any ability to show faults and errors as well as potential solutions?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

I don’t think so ;(

[@HappyDoesYoutube]

I might have missed it, but what does the little orangee sliding tab on the side of the main screen do?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

I believe you’re talking about the temperature control. It increases and decreases the temp.

[@HappyDoesYoutube]

@@FamilyDIYtv It's confusing because the slider is set to 0, but the temp is at 120. Stupid technology, lol

[@ronduthaler4383]

Any idea how to run the self test mode. every couple weeks the alarm goes off , code 126 . Rheem sent me a new thermostat / relay for the upper conterol but still the same alarms every few weeks. Annoying , goes away if i reset a few times in a row by turning off then on again. Trying to get ahold of customer service is only monday thru friday and takes hours to talk to the right person. I've pushed the self test button but the test seems to never stop. how long does take ? Not impressed with them.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Rony- i’m sorry to hear that. no, i don’t know how to put in self test mode.

[@tonifonseca9178]

im trying to set up optimal settings you said heat pump and eco are basically the same but i have no need to have it come on at 9 pm unless its just doing it to stabilize the water temp for morning? should i just set the temp for 65?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

i set mine to 132 for when i need HW and 120 during off peak times. i wouldn’t go lower than 120.

[@tonifonseca9178]

@@FamilyDIYtv ok thanks I'll do that.. 😊 and is there a way to get the Eco net to stop changing it to the energy saver mode I can't get heat pump to stick cuz it's got to be 120° in my garage! There should be no reason for me to have to use even a nanosecond of electricity? Or is this possibly just a glitch for the econet people?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@tonifonseca9178 you might have a schedule that’s setting it back.

[@tonifonseca9178]

@@FamilyDIYtv appreciate you 👍 so far I'm using the default but every time I go into it is set back to economy not heat pump... So weird I keep doing save, & use schedule

[@davidshrimpton4446]

Super helpful thanks. On setting a schedule if I want to run the hot water from 7am to 9am, should I set it to off at 9am and turn it on from 4pm to 8pm for example. I’m worried if I don’t turn it off on the schedule it will be on 24/7? So does it stay on for ever heating to whatever temp I set unless I turn it off?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

I would set to two set points. For example 120 when you don’t need hot water and 135 when you need hot water. I wouldn’t turn it off. Example - 8am set to 135 and at noon set back to 120. Like you set your hvac thermostat. Did that help ?

[@junkvista61]

@@FamilyDIYtv I want to set mine turns on from 7AM to 7PM as nobody in my family use hot water from 7PM to 7AM so I want it off during the night. Please do a video to help me do that. Thanks

[@nestorperez3033]

Do you have a video on how to connect it to the wifi mine is not connecting

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Nestor, not right now - i'll try to see what i can do

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Check this out ! Hope it helps! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3zKgWyDYqqcpqM Mike

[@philiphowell2586]

To be clear. I understand that the geo fencing feature will change the mode to vacation mode when I leave the radius distance that I have selected. This doesn't seem to work as described properly. I got one notification the first time I used the feature but never again. Solution?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Yeah that doesn’t work anymore…

[@philiphowell2586]

@@FamilyDIYtv strangely enough it worked today but only once?

[@clsylvester3]

Is there a way to delete or add time slots in the schedule? By default there are 4 but I don't need that many.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Not that I know of, just fill out multiple with the same temp. That's what I did. I agree I only needed two. Thanks Mike

[@clsylvester3]

@@FamilyDIYtv thanks for the response! That's what I ended up doing.

[@jban4457]

I use this in conjunction with my clothes washer. When I want to use the "sanitize" cycle on my washer I set the water heater to a higher temp, and then back down after my clothes are washed. Otherwise the washing machine won't operate the way it was meant to.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

John - now that's some planning ! I love it -Mike

[@kimobailey2926]

Hi! I read that the unit exhales about 71F degree air- is this not correct? Is the temp of the outgoing air relative to the interior ambient temp? Because if your basement is going down to 59 degrees (!!!) then it is breathing out some chilly air. Can you say more about your experience? Thank you!

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Kimo- it not really about what temp it's exhausting. It more about how much heat it's stealing from the environment because cold is the absence of heat. Like an air conditioner- it doesn't work by exhausting cold air, it works by removing the hot air. So it might be correct that the exhaust is 71 but it's sorta irrelevant (kinda). Does that make sense ? And the colder ambient temp the more it runs because there's less heat so the more it runs and so on and so on ... you can see how it can get pretty cold. Thanks you ! Mike

[@DCSIDPA]

It would work better (more efficiently) in a hotter environment.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@DCSIDPA agree !

[@ReflectionsHdmstrss]

The new heater is in my laundry room, and in February our house is usually around 63 overnight. The thermometer i put in the laundry room said the water heater had brought it down to a balmy 50• at 7 AM. The air coming out is very cold. I wish I could connect the water heater to my refrigerator and then I'd save tons of kwh.

[@juanosorno8153]

Hi. I just installed this water heater and I am trying to connect it to my wifi. Do you have a video showing how to do it?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Check this out ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3zKgWyDYqqcpqM

[@juanosorno8153]

@@FamilyDIYtv Got it working and I am already loving this unit. I love the connectivity with the app

[@manjumoman719]

Is there a simple button that will switch the device Off or On like I used to be able to by simply clicking "I'm Home"/"I'm away". I'm not looking to use Geo Fencing etc.

[@manjumoman719]

Sorry, I located it.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Can you share where it is ? i can't find it ! Thanks -Mike

[@manjumoman719]

@@FamilyDIYtv On the main screen press on the temperature, on the next one press the mode at the bottom. Off is one of the modes. Quite well hidden : )

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@manjumoman719 o my gosh .. it was right there the whole time. I missed it for like ten minutes when I was looking, I even clicked that button but missed the "off" button. Lol Thanks ! Mike

[@brianford9522]

I swear, I'm computer literate. haha... but this vacation mode is not very clear when setting up. I've used the scheduled away/vacation button and I think I put the right dates in... but the app (nor the actual display on the unit) gives you any indication it's accepted your settings and is going to run the hybrid water heater at 65 degrees. Any tips would be welcome. Planning on being away from vacation home for 30 days.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Does any setting work from your app or is just vacation mode not working ?

[@petek6522]

I would like to monitor mine but I can't get it to link to my phone

[@EazySteve]

do you ever have an issue when you use the app the toggle temp on the right side says zero and only goes up to 100, but really does nothing? I have to quit the app several times to get it to work correctly and show the set temp. Using Android

[@FamilyDIYtv]

no, i’ve never had that issue. i’m sure you did, but make sure the app and your phone has the lastest software updates. Thanks for watching ! Mike

[@EazySteve]

@@FamilyDIYtv yes, and showing I'm losing 75% of my hot water availability after washing a few dishes on a 65 gal. version.

[@jodischultz5758]

Ours is doing the same thing, did you find a way to resolve?

[@EazySteve]

@@jodischultz5758 tech support said it's a known issue and they're looking to update the app eventually but no time frame

[@jeffjohnson2792]

Thanks for the walkthrough, but one thing not explained. Does setting the 7am to 132 mean it will be at 132 by 7am, or does it mean it will adjust it to 132 at 7am? I would assume the former.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Jeff, This is a great question! I have no idea though. I'd say set it to the time you want it to be 132, if it doesn't seem to work maybe set it to that temp 1 hour earlier than needed. wonder if the owners manual says... Thanks for watching and thanks for your COMMENT !! -Mike

[@davidecasassa8679]

It means the set-point changes to 132F at 7 AM. When the tank actually reaches that value depends on the model, mode selected, ambient temperature and input water temperature.

[@speedot40]

So we have the same water heater and on our app it shows a water tank symbol under the tempurature and started off red and now its blue. But we are getting 120°. What is that for looks like a battery meter on a phone. We have android

[@FamilyDIYtv]

120 is the temperature of the water -Mike

[@craigmellott6339]

I’m confused on the home or away button, am I supposed to use this every time I come or go ? And in the scheduling it only shows 6am 8am 6pm 9pm is this my only choices, meaning i want to program from 5 am to 8am and then 4 pm to 7 pm is this possible ?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

The home and away button is kinda useless. might be helpful in a vacation home, but in your primary home it doesn't really do anything. The idea was that it was suppose to integrate with Nest and when you were away the water heater would also go in away mode(off), then when you returned home it would turn on, in theory this is neat but it doesn't work. The water heater needs alot of time to recover(make hot water). So in practice it doesn't work - in my opinion. There will always be four time slots, which I think is weird. What if you you only want two for example.. Which is what i do. I just overlap the times. Click on the time and you can change the times. The schedule is not set, you can change the times. hope this helps ... Mike

[@joecox9958]

does it have the most important - diag or service mode? thx

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Nah

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Correction it does have all kinds of tests and sensors you could use to diag this thing. So the answer is kinda yes. And kinda no.

[@michael4h]

I've been trying to find out what the different color bars mean on the hot water availability screen. I think the green bars indicate the best availability and I would assume the red bar means very low. What does a blue bar indicate?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Michael I'm not sure, I don't see red and green bars ... hmmm Can you send screenshot ? I think you can add to my community page on KZbin. Be the first one - ha ! Thanks Mike

[@michael4h]

@@FamilyDIYtv I don't see how to upload an image.

[@caddyzig]

Thanks for all the info. about these. Do you know if the home/away setting can be tied into the automatic settings of something like a Nest thermostat? Also, for those of us with time of use electric rates that go down overnight, how much higher would you recommend setting the temperature so it doesn’t have to run as much when the rates go up? (And, if the unit is installed in a hall closet outside the master bedroom, would you say it’s loud enough that it would be disruptive if it ramps up early in the morning?)

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Hi ! thanks for watching and thanks for comment. Initially yes, this could be tied into the nest thermostat but that function has been removed, you can no longer set the away/home automatically, unfortunately. I learned this after I bought the unit :(. but realistically it prob wasn't that useful since a water heater needs time to make hot water, I guess this could be argued both ways as I've learned from my short youtube career ! LOL I would set it high, but the beauty of this app you can play around with the temps and time and see how much power it consumes. With your setup you may benefit greatly from using a mixing valve. So you would heat the water up to 140 degree at night (when rates are cheaper), and the mixer valve will extend your hot water output, then you can turn it down during the day,....do some research on mixer valves. you may be able to get some cheap hot water this way... As far as the sound, I'd say it prob wouldn't be loud enough to bother me...its a gentle hum so I kind of doubt someone would notice it while sleeping. Anyway if your making your bulk of hot water at night, it really shouldn't be running to much in the morning- right? Maybe i need to do a video on sound... hmmmm Hope that helped ? consider subscribing, I have more videos about this unit that could help you. Thanks -Mike

[@caddyzig]

Thanks for the great answers, Mike, especially about the mixing valve. That’s a requirement for our utility rebate. One other question, which could probably be a whole video by itself, is how to compare the cost/efficiency to a gas water heater. (Oh, and I did subscribe...glad I came across your channel as you’ve posted a lot of interesting videos! Thanks!)

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@caddyzig John - thanks for the nice words, appreciate it ! Thanks for the video idea- I'll try to put something like that together. Thanks for watching - Mike

[@Trompunitalphapropan]

The scheduling part of app never seems to work for me. Did you have better luck?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@Trompunitalphapropan I'd try to check the firmware on the waterheater and make sure the app on your phone is the most up to date. See if that works ... if that doesn't work, maybe try to power cycle the waterheater. Turn it off and on.

[@johnhendrick4673]

Thanks for the review. You did not actulay set the away schedule, and mine fails. PS Many reviewers really dislike this APP because it is so glitchey.

[@laurenofis7335]

Has anyone been able to get Econet to connect to a Google or other Mesh network. I've been unable to get this to connect or stay connected.

[@larkins621]

Super helpful! I'm coming from your other video, and our plumbers are installing the 80 gallon today. One question... I see you have your mode set to electric for your schedule. Is that what you normally use, or was that just as an example for the video? Might have missed that in the video, but wasn't sure if there was some reason.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Ben, thanks for watching. I set mine to electric during the winter to keep it from cooling my basement down to much. Normally I leave it in 'energy saving' mode. Here's a video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/boW1i3h7i6qem9U

[@christinehelwick6726]

My app does not open to a screen where I can set vacation away dates. When I push "vacation," it just appears to retain the water temperature at 120.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

there might be something wrong with the app, mines not working. i’m trying to change my schedule and it won’t take. wondering if there an issue, might have to give it a few days ? also, i think that the way vacation/away mode works. it puts it down to 120. if you want to turn off, just switch it to off.

[@Rrosent710]

I was able to use the schedule function without issues, but the vacation mode is a problem. I put it on the off mode first, but I noticed that the unit would turn on every 6 hours and use .1 Kw each time for a total of .4 Kw. I would like to get that lower. When I put it on the vacation mode it started the compressor and use .4 Kw on one shot. Do I need to schedule a start and stop date tue the vacation mode?

[@Rrosent710]

To use

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Ronald, I haven't used vacation mode that much. Why are you putting it in vacation mode? Are you leaving the building for extended times ? (like days) ? Mike

[@PopeJareth]

Does the app let you know if your pilot light goes out?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

This is an electric water heater, no pilot light. Not sure if the gas ones do.

[@justarandomdude9023]

What does the water heater tank indicate? The water level or the amount of hot water available?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Andy - do you mean the temp ? Not sure what you mean by the “water tank indicate” The temp number indicates the temperature of the water exiting the water heater. Mike

[@Quixuhz]

My hot water availability won’t go up any solution ?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

running out of hot water ? did you try turning the temp up on the water heater ? also look into a low flow shower head if you don’t have one. Thanks Mike

[@BobL]

Unfortunately, this app seemed to be not compatible with my state-of-the-art Android phone (OnePlus 11). Econet customer service admits issues; the app will not allow me to even set up an account. Your video suggests only iPhones work with the app. Finally after calling econet Wi-Fi connectivity support I got after 7 days the seventh different customer service person who knew how to solve the problem. He walked me through the creation of an account which I could not do locally from my phone but he was able to do it wherever he was working for Rheem and then the app began to have functionality. Thanks again!

[@buddycorbin2786]

Any way to see the current hot water temperature rather than the set point temperature?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Yes, but not from app. got to unit and goto to STATUS>SENSORS this tells you exactly the water temp in the top and bottom of tank...pretty neat ! Thanks Mike

[@buddycorbin2786]

@@FamilyDIYtv Thanks

[@jackarnold7887]

I wish you had started from downloading the app because there are a couple to choose from

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Jack, exactly why I made this video ! Hope it helps you kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3zKgWyDYqqcpqM Enjoy, Mike

[@UnitedStates.]

Also, would you choose this hybrid even if you would run it on electric mode only 12 months of the year? I saw your vid that said you did save money even in electric mode.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Prob not - instead I would just the nicest normal electric water heater. Rheem has some good options IMO. That also have the app I believe.

[@UnitedStates.]

@@FamilyDIYtv Yeah I ended up going with a regular one. I called Rheem and asked about the space and they said it needs 700ft3 if the thing is by itself. 965 or whatever I had was not enough because the furnace and dryer takes cubic space away and maybe I end up with 500 instead of the 700 in total. I am not going to argue with Rheem tech support lol. They also said the same exact thing that they have some nice smart electric heaters. Cheers, bro.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@UnitedStates. great ! Good luck !!!

[@UnitedStates.]

I almost installed this heater when the pro guys came they told me they couldn’t since it didn’t meet the space requirement. Weird since the utility closet is 960 ft3 and they only need 700 per the manual. Guy said since it was next to the dryer it would be a no and couldn’t be run together. Then he said since it was next to the gas furnace that’s also a no. Bruh. But wouldn’t the dryer help with the efficiency of the pump? I get it the dryer would pull air restricting available air for the pump BUT really?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

I agree with you, those things would only help the unit. Only issue would.be if you were asking them to exhaust it out side then maybe. Bit of you were just putting the unit I'm the second room as furnace and dryer. I don't see issue. Maybe get another quote...

[@vroor32]

I just installed this electric hybrid water heater unit .... Same room as my electric dryer...guess what ...I'm getting free heat from the bucket style vent (dryer is venting into a bucket) ...and now I'm using it on 100% hybrid mode. Could not be happier. Also, it was a DIY self install.

[@mrblanche]

If you set a time in the scheduler, is that the time it switches to that set temperature and/or mode, or is it the time it reaches the set temperature? In other words, if I set it for 135 degrees at 7 a.m., will it be at 135 at 7, or will it start trying to reach that temperature at that time? If I want to take a shower at 7 a.m. every day, do I need to set it at 135 at 5 a.m. for it to get to that temperature by 7?

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Great question -other had the same. I don't know 100% but my assumption is in your scenario you'd want to set it for the temp you want around 6. I don't think it anticipates ... if that make sense Thanks Mike

[@mrblanche]

@@FamilyDIYtv On the other hand, my "smart thermostat" does exactly what I asked. You want to get up a 7 and have the house a comfortable 72 in the winter? Set it for 72 degrees and 7, and it will be there.

[@FamilyDIYtv]

@@mrblanche agree ... not not sure the WH works that way.

[@erutheone6473]

Thanks

[@KieranMullen]

Now the app doesn't work with Android

[@FamilyDIYtv]

Sorry to hear that - that’s annoying!