full-fledged idea of what they want or need,” she says, so HVAC contractors need to be prepared to have a conversation with “an educated approach to home comfort.” A customer may be inter- ested in switching over to electric for their heating and cooling but haven’t thought through what that means for gas-powered water heaters, stoves, etc., or even understand how such a switch will affect their utility bills and home comfort level. Contractors need to be familiar with heat pumps, especially
if they haven’t worked with them much in the past. Heat pumps used to require some type of auxiliary heat and the heating capacity of the heat pump decreased as it was colder outside, explains Ed Lehr, president of Jack Lehr Heating, Cooling & Electric in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and vice chair of the ACCA codes subcommittee. More recently, he says that heat pumps can “provide a relatively constant heat capacity down to low outdoor temperatures.” According to Canary Media, the states with the most heat
pumps per household are largely in the South (and Arizona), with the Carolinas leading — 46% of housing units in South Car- olina and 42% in North Carolina used heat pumps in 2022. This means that HVAC contractors and businesses should expect a lot more interdisciplinary work, says Hale — after all, gas is plumb- ing, and heat pumps are electric. “We’ve been looking at our staff and saying, who could get an electrical license? Who could do an apprenticeship?” she says. HVAC contractors and businesses also need to be clear on
which local, state, and federal regulations affect their area. “Know what your inspector is going to look for versus what the state says you need,” says Hale, and to become familiar with the incentives available to customers. The IRA includes “a large amount of money directed to the states to each formulate their own plan for distributing rebates to homeowners at certain income thresholds,” says Lehr, although those details are still being worked out and it’s unknown how long the money will last. Hale has also noticed that the propane and gas industries have started offering or reintroducing their own rebates as part of their pushback against electric.
Challenges to Electrification
One major challenge with using heat pumps is that they’re still not always the best choice for every case. Across the U.S., but even within states, the climate varies considerably. Additionally, different houses and buildings have different heating and cool- ing needs, the electric grid has different capabilities in different neighborhoods, and different customers have different personal
Unlock your ACCA Member Benefits when you attend the Member
Benefits Webinar. You will learn:
What resources are available to you as a member of ACCA.
Where you can get engaged with your peers. Answers to any questions you may have about membership.
Register Now
acca.org/events
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41
