It’s always fun and exciting when you get likeminded people together. In our case last week it was meeting and reconnecting with installers, designers, manufacturers, vendors, government officials, non profits, and interested customers in the heat pump space at Heat Pump Summit 2024 here in Denver.
I volunteered for the two days and my partner Xerxes even gave a great talk in the main room. I thought it was the best one, but of course I might be biased.
Hundreds of people came, including a lot of big heat pump manufacturers in the space, heat pump installers from all over the country, vendors, and many of the Colorado state, city, county, and utility partners to help us all with rebates and incentives.
There are too many good points and takeaways to go through and it would be way too long of a post, but I just wanted to highlight a few of the takeaways that I took from it this year.
Good Heat Pump Technology Is Here
While Europe and many other countries have been ahead of the USA for awhile with their implementation of heat pump tech, it’s here now!
There are so many great cold climate heat pump systems out there now, especially air-to-air source heat pumps, that can heat efficiently well into freezing levels and below zero. It must come with a good install though.
Emphasis on Correct Design and Installation
There were many great talks on correctly sizing, designing, and then installing heat pumps for not only the best performance for the homeowner, but for reduced maintenance calls and upset clients.
Heat pumps are very different from just using old rules-of-thumbs in HVAC sizing, and the technology works differently as well.
The very short version is that manual J’s (design) should be a requirement, and they’re needed for many of the rebates and incentives anyway. Humidity and quality of installation should also be a massive focus.
Planning Pays Off
To kind of go along with the above, more time spent on the first onsite visit, design, and more thought put into the homeowner’s needs can really pay off in terms of happy customers and heat pump performance.
Customers Are Getting Confused With Proposals
This was our founder’s Xerxes talk, and an informative and entertaining one at that! He had a lot of crowd interaction and did some live surveys where 100+ people could chime in with their thoughts on heat pump pricing estimates, questions that customers want answered most, what critical questions there are to ask when you’re speaking with them, and much more.
Check out the video of the entire talk here if you like:
One of the key points was to zone in on customer needs, put your best foot forward with equipment package and offering, and to not quote so many systems (confusing them even more), amongst other great advice.
Here’s the slidedeck from his presentation as well:
Humidity Control
While not so much an issue in Colorado (at least not as much as in other states), humidity control and behavior in a home with a new heat pump in it can behave much differently than a traditional single-stage air conditioning HVAC system.
Given the variable speed compressors and other components that allow heat pumps to throttle and ramp the system up and down in terms of speed, heat pumps may not remove humidity from your house, or at all if designed incorrectly.
Be sure to ask about, or at least double check the humidity situation with your newly designed system.
Rebate and Incentive Streamlining is Key
We had one panel on the first day that included six of the head rebate administrators from all around Colorado. Each one of them went over their own incentive programs, and in total it added up to thousands.
The trick with incentives and rebates is to really stay on top of all the changes, the different requirements, how the customers get these, and when. They really should be integrated into the entire sales and installation process for any company.
It’ll take a lot of upfront legwork, but it’s worth it.
Total Home Electrification
We had many total home electrification, home builders, architects, and other home professionals there. They did both talks and were in the crowd.
It’s clear that heat pump HVAC systems go hand-in-hand with home electrification projects such as energy audits, air sealing, air infiltration, indoor air quality, insulation, heat pump water heaters, solar, electrical panel upgrades, and much more.
The more we can streamline or integrate our heat pump process into these other projects, the better off the homeowner can be. It’ll save everyone time, money, and overall will lead to a more comfortable and better designed home.
Wrapping it Up
A lot more came up at the Summit, but I hope these help with a bit of insight into what was learned and talked about this year.
Check out their official website to see who was there, and to keep posted on next year’s Summit, which will no doubt be bigger and better!
