120-Volt Heat Pump Water Heater Technology Validation and Commercialization
The retrofit ready, plug-in 120-volt heat pump water heater (HPWH) is available now and poised to play a key role in decarbonizing existing homes and buildings. The low power 120-volt design can plug in to existing wall outlets without requiring expensive panel upgrades and/or home rewiring that can be required for traditional 240-volt units. The 120-volt HPWH is an ideal solution for retrofit applications to replace existing gas-fired water heaters.
With input from the Advanced Water Heating Initiative’s 120-volt Working Group, monitoring & verification contractors, and manufacturers, NBI recently completed a field study to show the potential of this new class of water heaters as a plug-and-play solution to meet the retrofit market’s needs. Actual field performance data helps electricity providers and air quality districts, as well as manufacturers, understand the customer comfort and electricity load impacts needed to build market confidence. As part of this industry-leading field study, the project team installed 32 120-volt HPWHs in California. The equipment was monitored over several months and the results confirm that plug-in HPWH models are an excellent solution for the gas retrofit market.
See the report for lessons learned as well as recommendations for commercialization of these new products.
Learn more about Plug-In Heat Pump Water Heaters in a webinar on April 27, 2023.
Four manufacturers are developing 120-volt offerings:
Project partners are at work on the next exciting phase of research. Phase one will be focused on data-driven performance validation of the 120-volt “plug-in” technology. In phase two, New Buildings Institute (NBI) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) will explore the load shifting potential of these water heaters.
Phase two of the study extends through May 2024, allowing the project team to collect valuable data across three seasons. After the study concludes, an additional report highlighting key findings will be released. This important research will blaze the trail for plug-in water heaters as a grid-connected demand response resource .
If you are interested in being a field study funder, please contact us by email at info@advancedwaterheatinginitiative.org.
