Ratings & Reviews for A.O. Smith Signature 900 80-Gallon Tall 10-year Warranty 240-volt Smart Hybrid Grid Capable Heat Pump Water Heater with Leak Detection and Automatic Shut-off

Broke after 2 years

Worked well for the first two years - very well actually - supplying all our hot water needs for 2-4 kWh per day while also dehumidifying our basement. Really quite remarkable. But after only 2 years, electricity usage skyrocketed, it started throwing off 084 error codes (compressor error), and it was unable to supply our hot water needs in heat pump nor hybrid mode. So to avoid cold showers, it is now running it in full electric mode using the resistance elements. Energy usage has skyrocketed, ...

Crazy Energy Savings

I love the energy savings of a heat pump system of any kind. I also love that it has stand alone heat strips as a backup, so if something goes wrong or needs repairing on the heat pump system, you can manually switch over to electric mode and keep on trucking. It runs 2 - 4500 heat strips on ONE 30 amp breaker! That’s efficient. The only downside is the app doesn’t seem to work or connect my water heater to the Internet and phone as advertised.

Strike Two!

I purchased two of these units. They each lasted about a year.

When it works, it works

I just got a replacement code from AO Smith due to failure. My first 2+ years it ran great. Heat pump mode supplied all my needed hot water. Then the trouble started. I switch to Hybrid as it wasn't keeping up. At times it worked then at other times I would not have hot water. I called, they sent a new controller and daughter board for the cost of shipping. Put them in and I still have the problem. Hot water will be low, I check the unit and the fan is running but the compressor is not. I cyc...

Very unreliable model. DO NOT BUY!

The heat pump failed 8 months after installation on this product. I called A O smith. They can't replace just the heat pump, so the whole water heater has to be replaced. Though the warranty is supposed to include labor for 1 year, they initially would only pay $150 towards replacing the water heater. The replacement costs $1000. I complained several times and finally someone higher up the food chain in customer service agreed to live up to their warranty and pay to replace it. Now 15 months...

Very nice unit, with expected AO Smith quality.

This new unit was provided to me as a warranty replacement for a 7-year-old model that was operating inconsistently. This new model has incorporated several things I always felt were missing or substandard for an AO Smith product. I’m a retired HVAC professional, and sold/installed/serviced more AO Smith water heaters than I can count. They were always a solid manufacturer. The fan has been greatly improved, replacing the original model’s weak propeller style. I never understood why they chose t...

Two units broken, work for barely more than a year

My first unit worked for a little over a year, was replaced eventually by AOSmith (no labor covered, and you have to physically bring the unit into Lowes to exchange). Second unit now throwing the same compressor errors after 14 months. DO NOT BUY.

piece of junk....

It completely failed after only 2 years. Still waiting on my reimbursement from them for the bill from the plumbing company. Will NEVER purchase another A O Smith water heater.

Good product, good service

Delivered when needed,

Broke after 2 years, incompetent support

Support: is your water heater electrical? Me: it's a heat pump water heater. Support: so ... gas or electrical? That interchange ought to tell you their level of competence. I called them because my WH would not produce hot water on HP-only mode, and not enough (two people showering at the same time, water goes cold within 10 minutes) on hybrid / eletrical mode. I owned it for only 2 years.

Get the Lowe's product protection plan!

We like this water heater very much for it's energy efficiency when in heat-pump mode. We had one installed in mid 2023 and it was great. However, in 2025, we noticed that the water was not heating well somewhat sporadically with just the heat pump running, and the temperature of the exhaust air was about room temperature rather than much cooler for normal performance. (Hot water was still possible with the electric heating elements engaged). When we contacted A.O. Smiths technical support and e...

Ask knowedgeable person

Rebate not available

garbage

takes 12 hours to heat up in hybrid mode only 6 in electric mode

Poorest Excuse for a Water Heater

Like the numerous other reviews, do not buy this product. The first one lasted less than 2 years. It was replaced at a cost of $700. The tech support is poor. The replacement has now failed within 2 years.

This water heater is a game changer

I finally decided to go all in and try this heat pump water heater. let me tell you, this works, and works fantastic. the power consumption has been cut by 75% absolutely amazing. highly recommend this.

Worst piece of equipment

This water heater is the worst. We thought if we bought top of the line it’d be good. We’ve had a plumber to our house 4 times in the last 2 weeks attempting to fix it. Every part of it has gone bad in the 1 year of owning it. Nobody should ever buy this water heater.

The Absolute Worst

This water heater has given us nothing but problems. The first one leaked in the first month and they replaced the entire thing. Then the heating elements went bad in the first year. Now it is leaking all over the floor. For the cost, we’ve had nothing but problems. Do not buy this water heater.

Good

Good

warranty

this is my 3ed AO Smith hybrid, 10 yr warranty, in 4 years