A report created with the support of the Australian Industry Group that outlines improvements to heat pump technology was released this week.
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 governments of Victoria and NSW, 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.
Ai Group Head of Victoria Tim Piper, pictured above, far right, chaired the industry stakeholder group over a 10-month period, and our hot water system members made a significant contribution to the development of the document.
In Australia, water heating accounts for nearly a quarter of a home’s total energy use.
By replacing a gas hot water system with a quality heat pump hot water system, savings of up to $250 a year can be made, on top of additional savings in going all-electric.
Ai Group Lead - Standards and Product Regulation James Thomson said: “We're excited to welcome the roadmap, which is an important piece of work that has been developed through consensus-driven consultation with industry across the country.
“The sign-off by 25 stakeholders was a major consensus achievement.
“We are looking forward to seeing the rollout of the roadmap as the market continues to scale up to meet the demand of consumers 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 policy makers 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.”
Already, the roadmap has inspired momentum.
Last week, Australia's energy and climate ministers agreed 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 big step.
“A huge thank you to the committed industry leaders who contributed to the roadmap, and the NSW and Victorian governments that provided funding for 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.”
Photo: NSW Energy and Climate Change Minister Penny Sharpe; EEC CEO Luke Menzel; Victorian Climate Action, Energy and Resources Minister Lily D'Ambrosio and Ai Group Victoria Head Tim Piper at the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council Meeting in Melbourne.
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at the Australian Industry Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter, features writer, contributor and sub-editor for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK.
