The heat pump water heater developed in this research consisted of one evaporator, one compressor, 1st condenser, 2nd condenser, one expansion valve, one water tank, one recirculation circuit and etc. The performance of heat pump water heater was tested and analyzed. The quantities of output water changed linearly from 2380 to $660{ell}/h$, and the output water temperature changed curvedly from 29.9 to $44.5^{circ}C$ when the opening rate of recirculation valve changed from 0 to 100%. The COP of heat pump water heater increased from 3.0 to 3.8 when the quantities of output water changed from 660 to $2380{ell}/h$. When the temperature distributions of water tank were measured during 50 minutes after turning on the heat pump, the temperature stratification by the level appeared apparently. When the inlet water temperature changed from 30 to$50^{circ}C$, the output energy of heat pump hardly changed. The surface area of double pipe heat exchanger changed from 0.429 to $6.254m^2$ when the compressor capacity increased from 1.0 to 50.0 PS.