Energy Savings and Breakeven Costs for Residential Heat Pump Water Heaters in the United States

Maguire, Jeff¹  Burch, Jay¹  Merrigan, Tim¹  Ong, Sean 

[1] National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

关键词: Water heating;    heat pump water heater;    breakeven cost;    electric water heater;    gas water heater;    HPWH;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1220122
RP-ID  :  NREL/TP--500-58594
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1220122
Others  :  Other: 6356

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) have recently re-emerged in the U.S. residential water heating market and have the potential to provide homeowners with significant energy savings. However, there are questions as to the actual performance and energy savings potential of these units, in particular in regards to the heat pump's performance in unconditioned space and the impact of the heat pump on space heating and cooling loads when it is located in conditioned space. To help answer these questions, NREL performed simulations of a HPWH in both conditioned and unconditioned space at over 900 locations across the continental United States and Hawaii. Simulations included a Building America benchmark home so that any interaction between the HPWH and the home's HVAC equipment could be captured. Comparisons were performed to typical gas and electric water heaters to determine the energy savings potential and cost effectiveness of a HPWH relative to these technologies. HPWHs were found to have a significant source energy savings potential when replacing typical electric water heaters, but only saved source energy relative to gas water heater in the most favorable installation locations in the southern United States. When replacing an electric water heater, the HPWH is likely to break even in California, the southern United States, and parts of the northeast in most situations. However, the HPWH will only break even when replacing a gas water heater in a few southern states.