Commercial Heat Pump Water Heaters
Project Number ET13SDG1061 Organization SDG&E End-use Water Heating/DHW/HPWH Sector Commercial, Public Project Year(s) 2013 - 2015Project Summary
A heat pump water heater (HPWH) offers a considerable opportunity for energy and demand savings over a conventional electric water heater. This report examines HPWHs for commercial applications by evaluating the performance of a HPWH installed in a condominium building at a time-share resort outside of San Diego, California. The HPWH was installed and monitored for 12 months at the site, and its performance, energy efficiency, and costeffectiveness were compared to a baseline electric resistance water heater (ERWH) installed previously at the facility. Results of this analysis show 52% energy savings over baseline ERWH technology, with payback of 3.2 to 4.4 years under the San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) existing commercial rate structure. Commercial HPWH technology is estimated to provide potential savings in lodging, restaurants, and healthcare facilities of 41.5 GWh in California and 6 GWh in the SDG&E territory. Findings from this work provide the basis for consideration of commercial HPWH technology in utility rebate and incentive programs to target these reductions in end-use energy.