A report outlining improvements to heat pump technology, created with the Australian Industry Group’s support, was released in late July.
The Energy Efficiency Council’s Roadmap for Heat Pump Hot Water Systems in Australia provides a path to scale up the market to address household and business energy costs and meet net zero emissions.
The document, funded by the Victorian and New South Wales Governments, includes 17 recommendations such as revising standards, end-of-life stewardship, industry training, product quality, consumer protections, Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and auditing of installations.
Presently, there are no MEPS for heat pump hot water systems.
Tim Piper, the AI Group Head of Victoria, chaired the industry stakeholder group for 10 months.
Water heating accounts for nearly a quarter of a home’s total energy use in Australia.
By replacing a gas hot water system with a quality heat pump hot water system, up to $250 a year can be saved, in addition to the additional savings from going all-electric.
Ai Group Lead – Standards and Product Regulation, James Thomson, said, “We’re excited to welcome the roadmap – an important piece of work developed through consensus-driven consultation with industry across the country.
“The sign-off by 25 stakeholders was a significant consensus achievement.
“We are looking forward to seeing the roadmap roll out as the market continues to scale up to meet consumers’ demand for heat pumps.”
Mr Thomson said the lack of a star-rating system for heat pumps in hot water systems had significant ramifications.
“It means policymakers cannot set a minimum performance level for heat pump efficiency levels for Australia,” he said.
“This has a secondary impact of allowing poor quality products to be sold into our market.
“To address this, Ai Group hot water system members, along with their counterparts at AREMA (Air-conditioning and Refrigerant Equipment Manufacturers Association of Australia), have been hard at work developing a test procedure that could be called up in a future MEPS standard.
“This would be another interesting journey, this time with Standards Australia.”
The roadmap has already generated momentum, with Australia’s energy and climate ministers agreeing to work together to speed up the implementation of minimum performance standards for heat pump hot water systems.
Ai Group Director – Climate Change and Energy, Tennant Reed, said this is a significant step.
“A huge thank you to the committed industry leaders who contributed to the roadmap and the New South Wales and Victorian Governments that funded its development.
“Ai Group also acknowledges Solar Victoria, which continues to provide leadership among the Victorian Government agencies that collectively manage the regulatory frameworks for heat pumps and continues to strengthen the regulatory safeguards on heat pumps for consumers.”
Image: Quality Stock Arts/stock.adobe.com
Original source by Wendy Larter, Australian Industry Group – https://www.aigroup.com.au/news/blogs/2024/ai-groups-push-for-heat-pump-hot-water-system-improvements-sparks-action/
