Trends for the installation of heat pumps in the US residential buildings

Abstract

This paper quantifies recent trends in the installation and deployment of heat pumps in the U.S. residential buildings. To meet this quantification, this study characterizes the 2020 Residential Building Energy Survey (RECS) database in the U.S. and provides discussions on the potential technological advances that have occurred in recent years. Without a detailed review, the number of heat pumps in U.S. residential building stock in 2020 RECS is increased compared to 2015 RECS. The analysis provides a detailed distribution on the trends of heat pumps installed in the U.S. This paper also shows that the increase of heat pump from 2015 to 2020 is relatively low through our analyses. The paper concludes with a comprehensive discussion on the heat pump incentives in the U.S. and a few practical recommendations for the installation of heat pumps to ensure future electrification aspects are included in a holistic development of any decarbonization pathway. Finally, this study compares the heat pump installation in the U.S. with other countries. The results have implications for the future policies and technological advances needed to electrify residential buildings in the U.S. given the concerns over climate change.