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If President Trump really wants to support his friends in the oil and gas industry, he better do something about those electric heat pumps. Oops, too late! The previous administration encouraged home appliance makers to improve the performance of cold climate heat pumps. Now all those new energy-saving products are beginning to trickle into the market, including a “mystery” heat pump to be introduced on February 11 by the firm Worksport.
More & Better Cold Climate Heat Pumps
Residential air-sourced heat pumps are fairly common in temperate parts of the US, but the older technology of the past was considered unsuitable for homes in colder regions. Well, that was then. Since the early 2000s, performance improvements and subsidies have stimulated interest to the point where sales of heat pumps are now outpacing gas furnaces by a wide margin.
Yet another next-level sales boost is at hand, as appliance makers introduce a new generation of cold climate heat pumps to the market. Worksport, for example, has tasked its Terravis Energy subsidiary to market its new heat pump under the name AetherLux as a “groundbreaking heat pump solution” aimed at vaulting over the performance speed bumps of the past.
Terravis is playing its marketing cards close to the vest until the February 11 launch, when more details about cost and performance will be available. For now, the company emphasizes that its cold climate heat pump is an all-weather device that delivers AC efficiently during periods of extreme heat as well as delivering heat during extreme cold.
AetherLux also sports an AI-enabled control system that adjusts itself in real time to account for energy efficiency and personal comfort. That’s of particular interest because older heat pumps are designed to function more efficiently on a “set-and-forget” basis.
“This isn’t just a heat pump — it is an ingenious system that integrates seamlessly into modern homes, offering a responsive comfort experience powered by AI technology,” Terravis enthuses.
To gild the green lily, Terravis expects its cold climate heat pump to “lower cost barriers.” By how much remains to be seen, but that’s an important consideration in the context of rising electricity rates in some parts of the US.
What About The 800-Pound Energy Policy Elephant In The Room?
In related matter, Terravis takes note of the key role of government policy. “The global heat pump market is experiencing rapid growth, bolstered by rising energy efficiency demands and government subsidies,” the company observed in a press statement last week.
Terravis cites a rebate of up to $8,000 for heat pumps under the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Act in the US. HEEHRA is part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in 2022. It provides assistance for low- and middle-income households that replace older, inefficient appliances with more efficient ones. New windows, insulation, and other weatherization projects are also eligible for rebates under HEEHRA.
Exactly zero Republican members of Congress voted for the IRA, and now that Trump is in office with both the House and Senate under Republican control, all those federal energy efficiency standards and subsidies could come crashing to an end.
That depends on how assiduously President Trump pursues his pledge to support domestic fossil energy producers. He may or may not succeed in the end. After all, just look what he did for the domestic coal industry. However, one thing is for certain. State-based policies will continue to push the market for new cold climate heat pumps in the US, largely due to the influence of California’s position as the fifth-largest economy in the world, topped only by the rest of the US, China, Germany, and Japan.
Besides, Terravis is aiming at new markets around the world where extreme weather has previously quashed interest in heat pumps. If Trump puts a damper on the US market, they can just pack up and take their business elsewhere.
An Army Of Cold Climate Heat Pumps Is Coming For Your Fossil Fuels
Terravis is just one among many appliance makers to jump all over the idea that they can sell more goods to energy consumers who would like to save money on their utility bills without sacrificing comfort.
Here in the US, the Department of Energy has been pushing the energy efficiency envelope for cold climate heat pumps, with both performance and cost-cutting in mind. In 2021 the agency enlisted the EPA and Natural Resources Canada in a joint effort with industry stakeholders under the mantle of the “Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge.”
The aim was to get new technology into production market by 2024, just in time for incoming President Trump to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, again. He can pull all he wants, but the leading firms Bosch, Carrier, Daikin, Johnson Controls, Lennox, Midea, Rheem, and Trane Technologies already set the table for a global cold climate heat pump revolution as participants in the Challenge.
Last October, the Energy Department announced that all eight companies completed a required round of field tests as the last step towards commercial production, so keep an eye on those firms, as well as Terravis.
In the meantime, the Energy Department is not letting the heat pump grass grow under its feet. Last year, the agency enlisted nine manufacturers in a new technology challenge aimed at introducing rooftop heat pumps to commercial buildings.
“Compared with conventional packaged rooftop units (RTUs) with natural gas heating, heat pump RTUs are estimated to reduce GHG emissions and energy costs by up to 50%,” the Energy Department notes, describing the new Commercial Building Heat Pump Accelerator program. The timeline for that program extends into 2027.
No word yet on whether or not that initiative will be suspended. If it is, there will be a whole lot of unwinding to do. The Energy Department lists AAON, Addison, Carrier, Daikin, Johnson Controls, Lennox, LG, Rheem, and Trane Technologies as technology participants.
The program also includes A-list firms as field validation partners including Amazon, General Motors, Ikea, Target, and Whole Foods among others, with a focus on cold climate performance.
Speaking of fossil fuels, it’s fair enough to ask where the electricity for all these new cold climate heat pumps will come from. US grid planners are already stressing over the exploding demand from data centers, leading to talk of leaning on fossil energy for solutions.
That won’t necessarily be needed, at least not over the long term. Among the solutions in development are new energy storage technologies and new transmission lines that bring more clean energy to ratepayers. Futuristic renewable energy solutions are also beginning to emerge, such as launching data centers into low earth orbit where they can run on solar energy 24/7. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread.
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Image (cropped): A new generation of high performance, energy efficient cold climate heat pumps is coming to the US home appliance market, Trump or no Trump (“AetherLux” air-sourced heat pump courtesy of Terravis).
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