HPWH Conversion Readiness Program Focused Pilot

The intent of this Focus Pilot is to break down barriers to residential heat pump water heater (HPWH) adoption in the marketplace. We target four of the most significant barriers to test for scalable solutions that will result in faster time to market for HPWH. Those barriers are 1) Higher first costs due to additional expenses for electrical upgrades 2) Customer uncertainties around electrification impacts, 3)  Electrical upgrades required for a HPWH fuel substitution often cause complications in timing—for an appliance that customers do not feel they can live without, and 4) Potential negative customer experience and bill impacts when customers substitute natural gas units with HPWHs without appropriate sizing that considers first-hour rating and optimized heating mode and time-of-day usage, resulting in costlier-than anticipated electric bills, low COP, and/or insufficient hot water  The Focus Pilot is designed to test customer adoption impact of removing these four barriers and to test customer willingness to undertake a water heater fuel substitution project without these deterrents. The Focus Pilot will offer targeted customers a free “heat pump readiness assessment” that will clearly detail the impact of an electrification project on the customer utility bills. This assessment will include a guide to all incentives available to the customer, list the expected “readiness” tasks that will be necessary to complete the work, and showcase the offer of free electrical upgrades to prepare them for electrification if they should choose to undertake a heat pump measure. The Focused Pilot will then collect information on customer conversion rates, project costs, and incentive program uptake.