The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance has recently completed its fourth Market Progress Evaluation Report on the NW Ductless Heat Pump Project (Project), with positive findings. Consumer awareness and satisfaction are both strong. Here are some excerpts from that report. They are taken straight from the report without comment.
In total, since the Initiative launch, utilities have rebated 36,158 DHPs in Northwest homes. An additional 60,991 units were reportedly installed and non-incentivized since the Initiative launch (48,152 heating and cooling and 12,240 cooling-only units)5. Based on the total market size of 728,047, all incented and non-incented units combined represent market saturation of 13 percent.
Households that installed DHPs continue to have high satisfaction with the product and recommend the product to others. Almost 95% of participants said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their DHP. In addition, over three-quarters of respondents say they have recommended a DHP to others.
Master Installers are proving to be a strong driver for activity through the Initiative and tend to be more sophisticated in their DHP business than other installers. Master Installers are more likely to: have been offering DHPs longer; install more DHPs on average; Mitsubishi is the most popular DHP brand among applications processed by CLEAResult in 2014;
…nearly all (87%) participants installed a DHP in their living or family room. Bedrooms were the second most popular installation location with 29% of respondents installing one there.
Three-quarters of participants are using their DHPs for both heating and cooling, one uses it for cooling only, and the remaining homeowners are using it for heating only.
Aesthetics does not appear to be a concern for households. As shown previously in Table 5, only 10% cited the appearance of the DHP as a concern prior to installation and that concern remained for only 3% after installation. Furthermore, almost 60% said they no longer even notice the DHP unit on their wall. Thirty-seven percent of those participants stated it took less than a month for them to stop noticing the unit, 44% stated it took between one and six months, and 12% stated it took six months or more to stop noticing the unit.
These indoor units seem to blend into the room
Further evidence of customer satisfaction with their DHPs is provided in their likeliness to recommend the technology. Out of all the participants, only two would not recommend a DHP to a friend, colleague or family member. Seventy-nine percent have already recommended a DHP and 19% say they would recommend a DHP in the future. The top reasons for recommending
DHPs were energy efficiency (43%), lower energy bills (41%), and improved heating comfort (34%).
The report is showing that Ductless Heat Pumps are not a fad, but a great value for your comfort and your budget.