Despite these advantages, the market penetration of heat pumps has been slow in the US. This contrasts with Japan, for example, where 90% of buildings and homes use heat pumps for domestic hot water and space heating. A major reason is that these advantages are still poorly understood by many HVAC contractors, let alone homeowners and facility managers of commercial buildings. The low penetration of heat pumps in many US regions, means that most HVAC contractors have limited experience in updating systems, making it hard to find knowledgeable contractors to do the work. Few HVAC contractors provide reliable and comprehensible estimates on the value and relative economics on heat pumps.
The few existing “heat pump calculators” available ignore the importance of electric and gas rate complexities (e.g. time-of-use or tiered rates) and address only a limited set of equipment types and configurations.
That’s why Lumina, with support from Central Coast Community Energy, set out to build a more useful tool to assess the benefits of heat pumps.