Emergency Replacement Heat Pump Water Heater Market Study

This project will assess the decision processes of residential customers and contractors related to emergency water heater replacement (e.g., What priorities drive customer choices? What priorities drive contractor recommendations?) and technical solutions for emergency water heater replacements that best support heat pump water heater installations.  Emergency replacement situations will have two options for replacing hot water heaters: a low load, 120V heat pump water heater model or,  a larger capacity 240V model with the option for the installation of a temporary gas loaner water heater to provide same day hot water service  The project will assess the tradeoffs of customers’ preference for in-kind replacements, upfront incremental costs, valuation and impact of state and federal incentive, as well as site specific limitations (e.g. location, space, electrical service upgrades, noise, etc.), as part of emergency replacements. The project will define and quantify the potential opportunity for this emergency replacement strategy in California for significantly scaling heat pump water participation in energy efficiency and demand-side management programs. The project team will review the growing knowledge about customer and contractor barriers, new heat pump water heater technology solutions, as well as coordinate closely with the CalNEXT “Increasing Heat Pump Water Heater Deployment” project (ET22SWE0056), national and other state-wide initiatives and California programs such as TECH Clean California, Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), and the CA Market Transformation Program. The project team will engage Energy Solutions to understand learnings from the Increasing Heat Pump Water Heater Deployment project.  Based on customer, contractor and manufacturer interviews, and installation data, the market study will identify the key barriers, customer and contractor decisions, as well as provide recommendations for boosting acceptance of heat pump water heaters for emergency replacements.  In addition, the project will investigate participating contractor awareness and planned approaches for leveraging SGIP rebates, new federal tax credits and regional specific rebates offered by municipalities, Regional Energy Networks (RENs) and Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) organizations.