Source: AFP
On a hot summer day, contractors run wiring in the basement of a southeast Washington mansion to install a heat pump, a key component of the United States’ multibillion-dollar push for more home electrification.
Less sexy than an electric car, darker than solar panels, heat pumps are an energy-efficient system for replacing both a heater and an air conditioner in one appliance. There are also heat pump water heaters.
And the clumsy machines are seen as a critical weapon in the war to steer the United States into more climate-friendly habits.
Common in Asia and Europe, the technology has seen slow adoption in the United States — something the White House hopes to remedy as part of a multibillion-dollar spending and subsidy plan.
Sue Balasubramanian, who spoke as contractors at her home below, told AFP she previously “didn’t know much about it”, despite being an environmentalist.
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In 2023, homes accounted for about 18 percent of US energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) — a figure that less gas and more electrification can reduce.
Source: AFP
Hoping to boost heat pump uptake, President Joe Biden’s landmark Climate Inflation Act of 2022 provides up to $2,000 in tax credits for those who install either type.
Thousands more IRA dollars in rebates are also on the way for low- and moderate-income households who buy a heat pump. In addition, individual states provide their own incentives.
Balasubramanian qualifies for Washington’s Affordable Home Electrification program, which provided her with full home electrification at no cost.
The 44-year-old social worker is getting a heat pump air source, heat pump hot water heater, induction stove and a “heavy” electrical panel power upgrade, worth about $27,000.
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Balasubramanian said she “definitely wouldn’t be able to afford the project on her own.
Rather than dealing with so much electrification at once, which can be cost-prohibitive, proponents recommend electrifying one device at a time when it breaks down.
Source: AFP
Heat pumps can, in many cases, be more affordable than a gas furnace or hot water heater.
In fact, an April report published in the scientific journal Joule estimated that heat pump air systems would be cost-effective without subsidies in 59 percent of U.S. households.
“Among the early adopters, those who are very climate-motivated, I think electrification is taking off,” Rebecca Foster, CEO of the energy-focused nonprofit VEIC, told AFP.
However, he added, there is still “a lot of work to be done on awareness”.
In Balasubramanian’s program, for example, participants are more often “seniors on fixed incomes,” Kalen Roach, director of marketing and communications for the DC Sustainable Energy Utility program, told AFP.
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“I’d say some decent customers need some convincing,” he added.
Full adoption of air-to-air heat pump systems in the United States would reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by five to nine percent, according to the April Joule report.
“Role to Play”
Heat pumps are set to outsell gas furnaces in the United States in 2022 and 2023, according to the Institute of Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration.
Source: AFP
An air-to-air heat pump system, which is installed outside, uses electricity to transfer heat instead of producing it. During winter, warm air is brought from outside into a house. During the summer, the warm air is carried outdoors.
Southeastern states had the most adoption, with South Carolina leading the way with 40 percent penetration by 2020, according to EIA data.
Key to these states’ high uptake is cheap electricity, low natural gas infrastructure and the need for air conditioning, Panama Bartholomy, executive director of the non-profit Building Decarbonization Coalition, told AFP.
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Meanwhile, some of the biggest heat pump sales are in new construction, he said.
Deane Coady, a retired teacher, lives in a leafy, historic neighborhood in Brooklyn, Massachusetts, a state that has just six percent heat pump penetration.
“I’m terrified and petrified thinking about the future,” she told AFP shortly before installing a heat pump in the second unit of her two-unit home.
“I decided to electrify for climate reasons, primarily,” he said, adding that the solar panels he has already installed will keep his electric bill low.
Source: AFP
Last year, more than 267,000 U.S. tax returns were filed claiming the credit for an air system heat pump and more than 104,000 for a heat pump water heater.
Also critical to uptake are informed contractors who encourage heat pumps, but Bartholomy warned that there is sometimes “a lot of institutional inertia”.
The IRA offers additional money to states for electrification contractor training.
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“Everyone has a role to play,” said Balasubramanian, who as a social worker said she believes progress happens when “there is impact at all levels.”
Source: AFP
