Reservoir Expands to Portland, Maine, Bringing Great Hot Water to More New Englanders
Today, Reservoir is announcing our first expansion location outside Massachusetts: Portland, Maine. We’ll be bringing a lot more Reservoirs to a lot more homes out of our new, second home base.
After less than a year, Reservoir is in more than 100 homes, and we are accelerating: our teams are replacing old, inefficient water heaters at a pace of hundreds per year, making us one of New England's largest heat pump water heater installers. We are excited to expand our reach with Portland as the first city beyond Boston we officially call home.
We're building a local team that serves homes within two hours of Portland, including Maine and central New Hampshire. We're also excited to join the ClimateTech Incubator at Northeastern University's Roux Institute, which is partially funded by the Maine Governor's Energy Office.
“Maine has a strong heritage in the skilled trades,” says our Portland site lead John Harry. “We're proud to partner with local tradespeople and businesses to electrify and decarbonize Maine's homes.”
Come celebrate with us
We'd love to meet you in person at our Maine launch party on November 4 in Portland.
 | Reservoir @ the Roux: Hot Water to Save the Grid Wednesday, November 4 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM The Roux Institute at Northeastern University |
Come meet the team, see a Reservoir unit up close, and enjoy a hot drink on us. Local tradespeople, neighbors, and curious tech enthusiasts are all welcome.
Why Maine?
Maine already believes in heat pumps.
Efficiency Maine reports more than 200,000 heat pumps installed statewide, on the way to a goal of 275,000 by 2027. Mainers know what an HVAC heat pump is and what it can do. We're bringing that same technology to the second-biggest source of home energy use: hot water.
Oil is expensive right now.
Heating oil recently hit a record $6.02 a gallon, and about half of Maine households heat with it, according to Maine Public. The state is encouraging residents to improve efficiency and install heat pumps. That guidance is mostly about space heating, and Reservoir is a water heater. We don't replace your boiler or furnace. But in many oil-heated homes the boiler also makes the hot water, and a heat pump water heater can take that job off the boiler, so you burn less oil.
A water heater is a bigger energy user than most people think.
A typical tank water heater uses more energy over a year than an electric car, typically around 18% of a home’s energy use. Our units use up to 80% less energy than a conventional tank, with operating costs up to $800 a year lower.
The grid could use a little help.
Central Maine Power reported 15,000 customer outages from heat-related issues this summer. Our water heaters store energy as heat, like a thermal battery, and shift when they draw power based on rate signals, so they can use cheaper off-peak electricity. CMP offers an opt-in time-of-use rate that pairs well with this. Water heaters alone won’t fix the grid, but we can be part of the solution, deployed almost immediately with no new infrastructure builds or consumer behavior change.
Maine needs more people in skilled trades.
Like most of the country, Maine's plumbing and pipefitting workforce is aging out rapidly. Our install crews get trained on next-gen technology, specialize in the growing field of heat pumps, and work on exciting technology early in their careers. We're hiring in Portland and are partnering with local tradespeople and businesses to help Mainers save money, reduce their environmental impact, and get more long hot showers.
Recent Reservoir installations in Maine homes.
Why Reservoir?
Mainers already love heat pump water heaters. Now we're adding predictive intelligence and capabilities.
Predictive heating saves money and energy.
Like all heat pump water heaters, ours pulls heat from the surrounding air instead of generating it. Ours also pays attention to when your household uses hot water, whether you have rooftop solar, and when electricity is cheapest. Your savings will depend on your home and your current system, but if you're on CMP's opt-in time-of-use rate, you could save $800 a year on water heating costs.
Protect your home from leaks, bacteria, and frozen pipes.
A water heater is usually out of sight until something goes wrong. Ours is built to catch problems early. It helps protect your home from leaks and frozen pipes, which matter in a Maine winter, and from fumes and bacteria in your water. Because it's connected, it can alert you to an issue while you're at work or on vacation, instead of leaving you to find it when you get home.
Modern service for modern technology.
Any water heater has to be installed well. We make our own units, and our own crews install them, so one team is accountable from your first call to the finished job. Most installs take about a half day, and we can do the intake process without a site visit. If your home needs a new electrical circuit, we coordinate the electrician, so you don't have to manage a second contractor. Our Portland team is local, and we train our installers on heat pumps specifically, which is a growing specialty in a trade that Maine needs more people in.
What it's like to switch
“We don't think busy homeowners should have to be the project managers,” says Luke Winston-Almanzar, our CEO and co-founder. “We make it easy and affordable to upgrade in just a morning, with our own world-class install teams.”
You don’t have to take our word for it. A few homeowners have said it best themselves in 5-star ratings on Google:
“I was a bit worried about the switching from gas to heat pump, but we've had it about two months now and NO ONE has complained. Hot water all the time we need it. The customer service has been great and the installation team was really good, handling everything involved with both a normal heater replacement but also the switch from gas.”
“I couldn't have asked for a better experience. My boiler, which also covers the hot water use, croaked about 6 years earlier than expected while I was on vacation. With 3 apartments looking for hot water, I needed a quick solution and was determined to take this opportunity to move away from using gas. Reservoir picked up the phone and was lightening quick to get me on the schedule including the necessary electrician to wire in a new 240V line within 24 hours. Phew!”
“The entire process from first contact to job completion was, simply put, first class. I would not hesitate to recommend Reservoir to anyone needing a water heater and desiring a first rate experience.”
Or, as Luke puts it: “We're first and foremost about homeowner comfort.”
Get in touch
Live in the Portland area or central New Hampshire? We’re installing in your area now. Get started with a simple 5-minute Virtual Assessment survey, and make sure to come celebrate with us on November 4 in Portland.