A new generation of heat pump water heaters (HPWH) has been introduced into the U.S. market that promises to provide significant energy savings for water heating. Many electric utilities are promoting their widespread adoption as a key technology for meeting energy conservation goals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There is, however, considerable uncertainty regarding the space conditioning impact of an HPWH installed in a conditioned space. There is also uncertainty regarding the potential for deployment of HPWHs in demand response (DR) programs to help manage and balance peak utility loads in a similar manner as conventional electric resistance water heaters (ERWH). To help answer these uncertainties, controlled experiments have been undertaken over 30 months in a matched pair of unoccupied Lab Homes located on the campus of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington.
Revised: December 7, 2015 |
Published: October 5, 2015
Citation
Parker G.B., S.H. Widder, K. Eklund, J.M. Petersen, and G. Sullivan. 2015.Heat Pump Water Heaters: Controlled Field Research of Impact on Space Conditioning and Demand Response Characteristics. In 8th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL 2015), August 26-28, 2015, Lucerne, Switzerland. Brussels:Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy and Transport (IET).PNNL-SA-112192.