Stiebel Eltron NZ SHP-O 301 Premium

Review

Performance & efficiency:

Stiebel Eltron's SHP-O Premium is the brand's R290 replacement for the older WWK range, swapping R134a (GWP over 1,400) for propane (GWP 3).

On running costs it performs well — a COP of 4.27 on the 201 (4.21 on the 301) under EN16147 which means roughly four units of hot water heat per unit of electricity. That’s a 400% improvement in efficiency from your traditional hot water cylinder.

Features:

• It's quiet at 47 dB(A) at two metres: which makes an outdoor install near a bedroom window relatively low-risk.
• For solar the app: SG Ready and PV inputs let it use surplus daytime generation and push the tank to 75°C.

You're paying a premium for German design, a seven-year cylinder warranty, active hot-gas defrost, and a replaceable signal anode.

Two caveats: it heats with the compressor down to −5°C and falls back to a 1.5 kW element below that (to −10°C), so in genuinely cold spots some winter hot water comes from resistance heating. This isn't the cheapest R290 option — if lowest upfront price is the priority.

For a quiet, efficient, low-emissions cylinder from a brand with 50 years in heat pumps, it could be right for you.

Supply & service network

Stiebel Eltron is imported and supported in New Zealand by an Auckland-based subsidiary of the German parent, selling through an accredited installer network.

Its warranty is the least generous of the major brands here - five years on the cylinder and condenser, but only two years on the sealed refrigeration system including compressor, evaporator and valves, and one year on other electrical componentry - which matters because the refrigeration circuit is the expensive part to replace.

Stiebel Eltron markets the WWK range as German engineered, with manufacturing plants in Germany, Slovakia, China and Thailand.

• Stiebel Eltron Sustainability