Benefits of heat pumps for Southwest homes 2022 STUDY

In our analysis, we compared the life-cycle costs for the above scenarios, over a 15-year life of the equipment for the heat pump.28 The life-cycle costs include the initial installed costs of the equipment, and the net present value (NPV) of the 15-year fuel costs for heating. [...] Also note that for an all-electric new home, the avoided cost of the gas piping to the home will also help offset the incremental costs for the heat pump and HPWH. [...] The annual heating costs will be about the same, as shown in Table 17.45 However, the incremental initial costs will be significantly higher for the all-electric retrofit compared to the dual-fuel retrofit, because of the higher cost of the cold-climate heat pump systems compared to a 2-stage heat pump, plus the costs of duct system improvements. [...] In many homes the size and configuration of the existing duct system, which is sized and designed for high temperature furnace heating, will limit the ability of the cold-climate heat pump to provide adequate heat output during the coldest temperatures and will require supplemental heating from the built-in electric strip heat. [...] For the all- electric configurations, the heat pump system was set to have the backup electric strip heating elements cycle on when necessary to supplement the heat pump, while minimizing the use of the electric strip heating to reduce the annual heating costs.