Why we need urgent action to solve the heat pump dilemma

Fundamentally, heat pumps are remarkable, quality products that are ‘impossibly’ efficient, achieving up to 600 percent efficiency. They can also last a long time - many fridges still work well after 20 years operation.

Large commercial chillers - which are just heat pumps used for cooling - are widely used to cool commercial buildings and for food storage. So heat pumps are a proven technology.

Heat pump technologies are evolving rapidly though, thanks to the global recognition that we must transition from fossil fuels as fast as possible. But we are coming from a very low base of sales, and with an immature, poorly governed supply chain, along with general community and business unfamiliarity with heat pumps.

There are numerous issues to traverse as we transition to heat pumps for heating and cooling and these vary across sectors, services and new and retrofit situations.

Although there are lots of articles, information sheets and online debates about heat pumps, accessible via a web search, there is a lot of confusing debate and conflicting information, with much of it involving complex technical issues.

When framing the action we need to take to transition to heat pumps, we need to recognise that people and businesses don’t want energy or specific technologies for their own sake. They want useful or essential services that are delivered with minimum hassle, and are affordable (up-front and in operation), reliable, durable, deliver quality service standards, and help us decarbonise.

Buyers need independent, informed advice. The up-front cost of these appliances is an issue. Limited space, noise, limited wiring capacity, grid voltage variation, out-dated standards and regulations, and inefficient legacy equipment don’t help.

To address all these issues requires much more space than I have in this article, so I will just focus on a few ‘hot’ issues.

The design and implementation of heat pump incentive schemes is challenging. Present approaches involve substantial up-front funding, and benefits from multiple schemes can be ‘stacked’.

In many ways, this is good, but when we have limited independent information (and real-world experience) on the performance and durability of products, it can create distortions.

If multiple incentives reduce the cost of a heat pump hot water system by $2-3,000, this may allow an importer of a low-cost product to offer it at a very low, very attractive, price.

In contrast, a supplier of a low sales volume ‘premium’ product may still have to charge thousands of dollars. This may distort the market towards low-cost products of unknown quality. If these provide unsatisfactory consumer experience, community support for heat pumps in general may potentially be undermined.

On the other hand, as we have seen with solar PV, low-cost can be combined with high quality through economies of scale, manufacturing innovation and cheap labour.

But currently we don’t know how good specific heat pump products are because we don’t have up-to-date, comprehensive standards that are easily understood so we can’t make informed decisions.

Governments must act fast to build consumer trust. Few consumers understand the meaning of indicators used to promote heat pumps, and this is complicated by the lack of consistent methodologies and verification of published information.

As I pointed out in a recent SwitchedOn article, the temperature at which the efficiency - as indicated by Coefficient of Performance, COP - of a heat pump hot water system is measured has a big impact on its efficiency rating. For instance, a COP/efficiency at 30 degrees could be 30% higher than the same product measured at 15-20C.

The noise measurement scale of heat pumps is also non-linear, so a 3-decibel difference is a doubling of noise level. Different ways of measuring the noise can also influence the rating.

The design of the heat exchanger and fan system can have a big impact on the likelihood of ‘icing up’ problems in cold weather.

If a product has a booster heating element, the way it is programmed to operate could have a big impact on cold weather energy consumption. This is a significant issue for rooftop PV owners and peak day winter loads on the electricity grid.

Lack of independent verification of the modelling used to set the number of Small Technology Certificates (STCs) allocated to a product means it can be gamed. There are some anecdotal examples of this. This determines the size of the federal government incentive, as well as influencing the consumer experience.

Electricity network operators also affect the performance of heat pumps, and many other appliances. In my own case, high voltages that are within legal limits seem to have caused a capacitor in my 6-year-old heat pump hot water system (HPHWS) to fail outside the warranty period.

In many other countries, relatively cheap voltage management devices are widely available, but I couldn’t find one certified for use in Australia which would protect my HPHWS from my network’s quirks.

This is not to say that progress on the adoption of heat pumps isn’t being made.

As councils struggle with high gas prices and commitments to decarbonise, several are recognising the enormous savings that can be made by replacing gas boilers with heat pumps in their aquatic centres. The Australian government has announced a $100 million program to help councils.

The Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP) has been funded by the Australian government to develop resources for Councils, and are building on experience from other countries such as New Zealand and Europe where cheap gas has not diverted aquatic centre operators from high efficiency electric solutions.

The Energy Savings Industry Association (ESIA), the peak national body that represents businesses accredited to create and trade energy efficiency certificates, has developed Best Practice Guidance: Hot Water System Upgrades - Minimum Installation Requirements which is publicly available.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has funded industrial feasibility and demonstration projects in industry.

The Green Building Council among others, has been working with the commercial sector to drive heat pump adoption.

The long-established Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air-conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) emphasises decarbonisation and electrification in its magazine, Ecolibrium.

The Energy Efficiency Council is developing a Heat Pump Roadmap, with a focus on heat pump hot water systems. Consultation is open until the end of January.

Federal and state government incentives, and state level regulatory changes, are removing barriers and supporting heat pumps, particularly in the residential sector.

Retraining of plumbers to install heat pumps has begun through groups such as Victoria’s Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre (PICAC).

Momentum behind ‘one stop shops’ to support consumer decarbonisation is building. A recent tour by Josephine Maguire from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, which has adopted a highly regarded energy efficiency model, seems to have focused efforts to act. I hope so.

So progress is happening, but for many it is too slow and too little.

In particular, policy and regulatory change is slow, and has been widely criticised for lack of quality control and compliance verification.

We really need to sort out these issues, and others I haven’t had space to mention, fast.