What Could Chill Heat Pumps

The obstacles to installing a transformative technology

By Joan Fitzgerald

Many cities and states are banning or restricting fossil fuel hookups in new buildings as part of a broader strategy to reduce carbon emissions from buildings. Electrification of buildings is a key climate strategy because space heating, cooling, and water heating comprise 46 percent of residential and commercial building emissions and more than 40 percent of the primary energy used. In addition, getting fossil fuels out of buildings has health and equity benefits.

Heat pumps could accelerate electrification. The story of why heat pump adoption is going so slowly reveals what a complex policy environment surrounds a simple technology.

Heat pumps take heat from outside and move it into your home in the winter and take heat from inside in hot weather and move it outside. Some systems use ducts like hot-air furnaces and some are ductless— you’ve probably seen these on a restaurant wall. Heat pumps offer considerable energy savings because the quantity of heat and cooling brought into your home is considerably greater than the quantity of electricity used to power the system. Households that go all-electric by installing heat pumps for space and water heating, adding rooftop solar, and using an electric car will save an average of $1,800 annually.

A recent study by University of Texas at Austin professor Thomas A. Deetjen estimated that 32 percent of U.S. houses would benefit economically from installing a heat pump, and 70 percent of U.S. houses could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Added to the 8.7 million homes that have heat pumps already, these new installations would create an economic benefit of about $7.1 billion annually and an 8.3 percent drop in carbon emissions annually, which would avoid $1.7 billion in climate damages annually.

Some 15 states and almost 100 cities and counties have policies to promote heat pump adoption. Only four of them—Cali- fornia, Massachusetts, Maine, and New York—have set targets for the number of heat pumps to be installed, and meeting the targets will be difficult.

Regulatory and Permitting Obstacles. Local regulations and the permitting process are often confusing and difficult to navigate for both installers and customers. Heat pumps can violate local noise ordinances, particularly in cities with small lots. If the heat pump makes noise beyond the legal level, the contractor usually is responsible for rectifying it.

In most states, each city and town has specific regulations that contractors have to take the time to master before starting a job. One contractor told me of a recent job he completed that required multiple permits. After the assessment of the home’s heating and cooling needs (referred to as a Manual J) specific to town inspector’s requirements, the permitting required sign-off from the home insurance company and a certified plot plan (cost of $2,000) for placement of the condensing units. If the requirements are not adhered to, there are fines and costs to reconfiguring and changing equipment.