Ginkgo All-in-One Heat Pump Water Heater

Against electric resistance heating, the Ginkgo All-in-One saves up to 75% of the energy used to heat water, because it moves ambient heat rather than generating it. The saving against a gas unit is smaller and depends on your gas tariff, electricity tariff, solar generation and usage pattern — so it is worth modelling against your own bills before deciding. If you already have rooftop solar, the picture is usually considerably more favourable, because the heat pump's compressor draw is small enough to run largely on your own generation.

R290 is propane, used as a refrigerant in very small quantities — 0.45 kg in this unit. It matters for two reasons. First, R290 has a negligible global warming potential compared with the synthetic HFC refrigerants used in older heat pumps, so it is a genuinely lower-impact choice. Second, the Australian government is phasing down the use of HFC refrigerants, so a unit running on R290 is not the appliance you will need to replace or have serviced in a few years.

Yes. The unit operates down to −7°C ambient, and includes a 1000 W backup element that supplements the heat pump on the coldest mornings so the tank still delivers hot water. In practice the heat pump does the bulk of the work even in winter — cold air still contains heat, it simply takes a little more energy to extract it.

At 42 dB(A) the unit is comparable to a quiet office or a fridge running — quieter than normal conversation. That makes it practical to install near a bedroom wall or a patio where a split system would be intrusive. Your installer will still position it to respect the clearances in the manual, since restricted airflow affects performance.

Eco mode runs the heat pump alone, which is the most efficient way to recover heat and is right for the majority of the time. Rapid mode brings in the 1000 W backup element alongside the heat pump, delivering hot water faster when you need a full tank quickly — after a large family gathering, for example, or ahead of a busy morning. The touch screen display shows which mode is active.

Yes. The integrated intelligent controller includes Wi-Fi, so you can check tank status and manage the unit remotely from your phone. For many households the most useful part is simply knowing how much hot water is available before everyone gets in the shower.

Think of it as your household's hot water reserve, because this is a storage system. A single-person or couple household is comfortably served by the 270 L. A family of three to four, or a household with teenagers using showers in quick succession, is best served by the 300 L. The 330 L is the choice for larger families, homes with multiple bathrooms used together, or anyone who wants a longer reserve before the heat pump needs to catch up. Your installer can size it against your household's actual usage.

The inner tank is 2.5 mm vitreous enamel with a 36 STC 10-year rating, and the outer tank is galvanised steel with polyurethane insulation. Vitreous enamel is one of the most durable tank linings used in water heating, and is why the whole unit carries a 10-year STC rating. The R290 refrigerant charge and 42 dB(A) operation are also designed to reduce long-term wear on the compressor.

No. The unit runs perfectly well on grid electricity alone. Solar simply makes it dramatically cheaper to run, because the compressor draw is well within what a typical residential solar system generates during the day. If you do not have solar, the heat pump still delivers the up-to-75% saving against electric resistance heating.

It is genuinely all-in-one: compressor, storage tank and controls integrated into a single floor-standing unit. There is no separate split system, no refrigerant pipe run to route between an outdoor unit and an indoor cylinder, and only one service point. That simplicity is what makes installation faster and the footprint smaller than a conventional split heat pump system.