Air-to-Water Heat Pump Field Study

Active Pilot Programs and Demo Projects Air-to-Water Heat Pump Field Study

About the Pilot

An air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) is an electric heating system that pulls heat from the outside air and transfers it to water pipes delivering heat to radiators and in-floor radiant systems, doing the work a boiler or geothermal system would normally do. They can operate at up to 500% efficiency and can work in tandem with a backup boiler, saving substantial amounts of energy and potentially reducing energy costs. Air-to-water heat pump systems have been used in Europe for years and are already gaining traction in the Northeast.

Project Timeline: October 2023 - September 2025
Customer Segment: Single-family Residential, Multifamily Residential

Demonstration Project Objectives:

Demonstrate the impacts of AWHPs in three single family buildings and one multifamily building in Wisconsin including both retrofit and new construction applications. This will include a combination of combined domestic hot water and space heating, cooling, and load shifting using a storage tank and controller.
Define key characteristics (i.e., climate zones, age, fuel type, level of weatherization, hydronic distribution emitter type, and size) that make a home a promising candidate for an AWHP and identify high-opportunity archetypes for AWHP.
Identify the installation barriers for AWHP in Wisconsin, including potential supply chain issues.
Understand the comfort impacts of AWHP as retrofits to existing hydronic heating systems including whether the systems can provide both sufficient heat and hot water.
Document the electricity consumption, backup fuel consumption, and system efficiencies of AWHP. Analyze the impacts to these factors as compared to baseline space heating sources.
Investigate the load shifting potential of smart AWHP systems with storage tanks.
Meter performance before and after installation and model the operations of the proposed AWHP using building energy modelling software to estimate the expected savings from the installation.
Document system failures, changes to operating parameters, and adjustments required throughout the monitoring of the system.
Quantify costs associated with AWHP systems and retrofits, including product, installation, and operating and maintenance costs.
Understand the perspective of the following stakeholders through surveying:
- Users: ability of the equipment to meet user needs and provide a good customer experience.
- Installers: installation lessons learned, technology limitations, and training needs.
- Builders: installation lessons learned, sales pitch for technology to buyers.
- Determine any field limitations and opportunities of the technology.
- Draft a TRM workpaper to support eligibility of AWHP as a prescriptive measure within the Focus on Energy portfolio.

Awhp air to water heat pump Adobe Stock 738389181

Demonstration Project Updates

This demonstration project is currently in the outreach phase and looking for owners of single-family homes or multifamily properties in Wisconsin to participate in our study of this next-generation air-to-water heat pump technology.

Get Involved

Why Participate?

Take the opportunity to heat your home or building with one of the first air-to-water heat pump systems deployed in Wisconsin, paid for by Focus on Energy. You will play a crucial role in this field study by giving feedback on your satisfaction with the system and allowing Focus on Energy to monitor the system as it heats your home or building. By participating, you contribute to advancing the understanding of air-to-water heat pump technology and its applications in Wisconsin’s colder climates.

	Retrofit	New Construction
Single-Family	Full cost with installation up to $35,000, paid to the homeowner	$10,000, paid to the builder
Multifamily	Full cost of design and installation up to $100,000, paid to the building owner	N/A

Participation Requirements

Eligibility requirements:

Participant must own the single-family or multifamily building where the heat pump is being installed.
The building site must receive electricity from a participating Focus on Energy utility.
75% or more of the heating load is currently delivered by a natural gas or electric boiler.
The home or building must have a hydronic space heating distribution system capable of delivering sufficient heat from low temperature (<130⁰F) water, including:
- An in-floor radiant heating system.
- A radiator system in a building that has seen substantial envelope improvement from weatherization.
- A radiator system in a building where rooms have sufficient space to upsize the radiators.

Participating homeowner obligations:

Complete a pre-installation survey to characterize existing equipment and household characteristics.
Allow Focus on Energy staff to conduct an in-person or virtual walkthrough to verify the air-to-water heat pump will work well in your home.
Sign a participation agreement with Focus on Energy.
Allow Focus on Energy to add an air-to-water heat pump to your existing heating distribution system, and potentially make other changes such as replacing radiators.
Allow Focus on Energy to install monitoring equipment to measure and verify the performance of the water heater for a 6-to-12-month period after the equipment is operational. Monitoring equipment will be removed after the study.
Share your experience with the equipment through quarterly check-ins and a closing interview.

Apply Today

If you are single-family homeowner interested in participating, please complete the pre-screening questionnaire to see if your home qualifies. A team member will reach out to you after you complete the survey.

If you are a builder or installer that is interested in participating in the study, please contact Cynthia Segura at cynthia.segura@focusonenergy.com.

Questions?

For more information, contact Cynthia Segura at cynthia.segura@focusonenergy.com.