1. Heat Pump Water Heaters: Interior, Ducted Installations Presentation to the Regional Technical Forum December 13, 2011 Ben Larson, Ecotope ben@ecotope.com 1

2. Background In October 2011, Provisional UES approved for heat pump water heater (HPWH) for: – Northern Climate Specification Tier 1 Buffer space installs Interior (non-ducted installs) – Northern Climate Spec Tier 2 Buffer space installs Northern Climate Spec Tier 2 Interior Installations require exhaust ducting – Left as TBD in October – Todays presentation covers ongoing analysis 2

3. Overview Equipment airflows and installation Analysis method Analysis output and findings Discussion and continued research 3

4. Equipment Exhaust Airflows Flow range of interest: 350cfm to 150cfm Flow measurements in lab: – Static pressure variation created with damper at duct outlet – Different models have different fans and flow characteristics Field airflows will depend on specifics of each installation – 4 duct, 10 feet long with 3 elbows at 160 cfm creates 0.72 static pressure 4

5. Analysis Inputs Used the same assumptions as with earlier HPWH analysis – 45 gallons per day of hot water water temperature rise: 72.5F results in a little less than 4 hrs per day of runtime for indoor temperatures ranging from ~64F – 78F – house characteristics the same tightness: 7ach50 ducts: sealed 4 HVAC system types – baseline tank EF: 0.92 (50 gallon size) 5

6. Analysis Updates Using updated version of SEEM which allows direct infiltration modeling in combination with exhaust airflows HPWH exhaust air ducted outside Water heater runs based on draw schedule Water heater COP varies as indoor temperature changes – Ex: higher inside T in summertime for houses without cooling gives better performance than wintertime situations 6

7. 7 Interior installation temperature range.

8. DHW Energy Use Only – No HVAC System Interactions Baseline DHW Energy Use: ~3100 kWh/yr Measure DHW Energy Use: 1130-1280 kWh/yr – varies because indoor temperature varies with season and climate DHW Energy Only Savings: 1820-1970 kWh/yr – Houses without cooling have higher summer temperatures and therefore better water heater performance so more savings HPWH Interior Install Annual COP: 2.3-2.5 8

9. Overall Savings Estimates Impact on house heating + cooling system depends on climate, exhaust airflow, and HVAC system type Combining DHW energy savings with heating + cooling impact produces the overall energy savings estimate 5 scenarios in 5 climates considered on next slide: – Interior non-ducted (0 cfm flow to outside) – 4 levels of exhaust ducting to outside 150, 200, 250, and 300 cfm 9

10. Heating System Interaction CFM is airflow ducted to outside (0 corresponds to no ducting) Negative values are a heating system debit 10 Zonal Resistance Heat (kWh/yr)Electric Resistance Furnace (kWh/yr) CFMPDXSEASPOBOIKALCFMPDXSEASPOBOIKAL 300-1143-1210-1529-1263-1764300-1296-1374-1758-1450-2036 250-913-967-1234-1014-1431250-1037-1099-1413-1162-1641 200-707-747-970-793-1130200-801-847-1104-903-1288 150-530-558-730-597-853150-597-630-827-678-969 0-1334-1455-1491-1316-15970-1511-1647-1702-1501-1830 Heat Pump HSPF 7.9 (kWh/yr)Gas Furnace AFUE 90 (therms/yr) CFMPDXSEASPOBOIKALCFMPDXSEASPOBOIKAL 300-619-660-1277-962-1700300-59-64-84-70-98 250-487-527-993-749-1325250-47-50-67-55-78 200-369-400-754-570-1018200-36-39-52-43-61 150-271-292-552-421-750150-26-28-38-32-46 0-558-598-833-690-9970-59-65 -58-69

11. Cooling System Interaction None for houses without cooling system (Zonal Resistance and Electric Furnace) Cooling savings for ducted installations nearly negligible but not so for nonducted ones CFM is airflow ducted to outside (0 corresponds to no ducting) Positive values are a cooling system benefit 11 Heat Pump SEER 13 (kWh/yr)Gas Furance: A/C SEER 13 (kWh/yr) CFMPDXSEASPOBOIKALCFMPDXSEASPOBOIKAL 3002527161930024271619 250222415218250222415218 20020 1451720020 145 15017 137 15017 137 01661161481971250165115147195123

12. Analysis Outputs: Savings Estimates DHW Savings Combined with Heat+Cool Interaction 12

13. Analysis Caveats Caution: as yet, analysis does not include performance variation of HPWH with airflow – Performance at lower airflows could be expected to decrease but what is the critical airflow where performance drops significantly? Space heating heat pump sizing – Analysis used constant size for both measure and base – Ducted HPWHs sometimes increased house load enough to trigger auxiliary resistance heat which shows as a nonlinear response in the heating interaction Especially relevant for 250-300cfm flows and coldest climates 13

14. Measured Airflow Variation Effects NEEA lab testing of ATI66 at 40F ambient found a decrease in COP of 10% for an airflow decrease from 338 to 177cfm BPA HPWH lab evaluation observed Voltex compressor performance for 3 flow scenarios at 67F ambient temperature – Full flow: 475 cfm – filter area blocked: 372 cfm – filter area blocked: 284 cfm Small changes in performance 14

15. Analysis Discussion Space heating impact (and therefore overall savings) is highly dependent on amount of exhaust airflow – Also, climate dependence due to increased infiltration rate: more outside air at lower temperatures increases heating load Is there a optimized airflow which might reduce HPWH performance but at the same time provide a minimal space heating impact? 15

16. Continued Research – Next Steps Field Measurements: – NEEA project with 10-15 ducted, indoor installations will measure airflow as installed – Project will also provide incremental install cost estimates Lab Measurements: – Plans to measure AirGenerate compressor performance at 200cfm and 150cfm at 67F ambient air. Installation Specification: – Is it desirable to write a spec to limit airflow upon installation? Analysis for houses with Ductless Heat Pumps – Where is the HPWH? Is it heated by the DHP or the resistance heating system? 16