With the Trump administration eliminating incentives for energy-efficient home appliances, California is joining New York and Boston in boosting the market for affordable electric heat pumps and induction stoves to reduce climate pollution from homes.
The California Public Utilities Commission has earmarked $115 million over six years to generate business for makers of small heat pumps and battery-powered induction stoves that can plug into standard electrical outlets without requiring expensive electrical upgrades.
The project is part of a program approved in 2019 to lower barriers to the introduction of new energy-efficient technologies, which are often more expensive than their less efficient counterparts. The program focuses specifically on improving accessibility for low-income residents.
The new project follows a program in New York City that held a competition for window heat pumps and induction stoves and awarded winners contracts to install the devices in 10,000 public housing units.
“Together with New York, we are the third-largest economy in the world, and that in itself is a very strong demand signal,” said Lynette Cursoys, vice president of Resource Innovations, the company that runs the Public Utilities Commission’s California Initiative.
Cursoys said he expects a national program called CalMTA to work with multifamily managers to create a bundle of purchase agreements that will help manufacturers guarantee a market for their new products. CalMTA is also considering offering financial incentives to retailers to stock 120-volt induction stoves and small window heat pumps.
Heat pumps and induction stoves can replace fossil fuel equipment, but standard versions are expensive and often out of reach for renters and low-income people. Home appliances will become even more difficult to obtain in January, when federal incentives for consumer electronics expire under President Trump’s tax bill.
“This is a path for people to get electrified and avoid expensive upgrades,” said Rebecca Barker, senior associate attorney at the nonprofit law group Earthjustice, which campaigned for the program approved by the Electricity Commission last week.
window heat pump
Window heat pumps can be installed in minutes and can heat or cool approximately 500 square feet of space without the expensive and extensive renovations that come with installing a central heat pump system. However, this technology is new and not yet widely available.
Vince Roman, founder and chief technology officer of Gradient, a San Francisco startup that installs window heat pumps in public housing in New York City, said California’s efforts will help accelerate market acceptance of the technology. “There are real implementation barriers, like how do you get the product into big box stores, and Gradient isn’t doing that right now,” he says.
Current small heat pump models can only be installed in windows that slide open vertically. However, California would like to encourage the development of horizontally opening window devices to match the state’s housing stock. Romanin said Gradient is working with CalMTA on such a solution.
The Boston Housing Authority is also installing gradient heat pumps in each apartment at an estimated cost of $5,450, compared to previously paying $40,000 per unit to install a centralized heat pump system.
In addition to Gradient, the New York City Housing Authority has selected Chinese manufacturer Midea America to supply window heat pumps.
cheap induction stove
There are many induction stove models on the market, but few can replace a natural gas range without requiring electrical upgrades that can cost thousands of dollars. One is Charlie, an induction stove made by Berkeley-based Copper, which is powered by a battery that plugs into a standard 120-volt outlet.
Charlie is a luxury item, starting at $6,000, but the New York City Housing Authority awarded Copper a $32 million contract to develop an inexpensive, apartment-sized induction stove that can be installed in 10,000 homes.
Sam Kalish, Copper’s founder and CEO, said California’s efforts to aggregate demand for induction stoves will help Copper bring lower-cost products to market. Widespread replacement of polluting gas stoves with electric stoves would improve population health, according to a study documenting the health effects of a range of fossil fuels. Installing stoves with batteries can also help stabilize the power grid. For example, in California, Copper batteries are being used to build virtual power plants that utilities can tap into when power demand spikes.
“As a manufacturer, one of the most useful things about helping us raise capital is being able to point to large, consolidated demand,” Kalish said.
Woody writes for Bloomberg.
