The pace of home electrification

Oct 19, 2023

This podcast discusses the goal of having heat pumps in 140 million U.S. homes by 2050. It explores the adoption targets for water heaters, induction stoves, and other home appliances. The episode also covers the $9 billion in incentives that could accelerate adoption, the need for more data to speed up adoption, and the impact of heat pumps on the heating and cooling market. Additionally, it discusses progress and challenges in electrifying water heating, pricing and competition in the home electrification market, and the importance of product innovation.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The Importance of Home Electrification in Decarbonization

01:53 • 8min

Progress and Trends in Electrification: Focus on Heating and Cooling

09:41 • 8min

The Challenges of Home Electrification and Economic Power Disparity

17:43 • 4min

Electrifying Water Heating: Progress and Challenges

21:29 • 11min

Pricing, Competition, and Product Innovation in Home Electrification

32:29 • 4min

Heat pumps in 140 million U.S. homes by 2050 — that’s the goal laid out in Rewiring America’s recent report on the pace of home electrification. It’s a daunting target for a country that had heat pumps in only 17 million homes in 2020.

But we’re not that far off. According to Rewiring America, the U.S. is currently on track to install about five million heat pumps by 2025, only about two and a half million short of the pace we need to reach 140 million homes by midcentury.

So what can we do to close the gap? What about other major categories of home electrification like water heaters and induction stoves — are we on pace to reach net-zero targets there?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Stephen Pantano, head of market transformation at Rewiring America, about the organization’s Pace of Progress report. They cover topics like:

The adoption targets for water heaters, induction stoves, and other efficient home appliances
The roughly $9 billion in incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act that could accelerate adoption
The need for more data to get a better understanding of where and how to speed up adoption
Why heat pumps are a growing share of a shrinking heating and cooling market, and how that’s impacting slumping heat pump sales

Recommended Resources:

Rewiring America: Pace of Progress
Canary: New plan aims to quadruple heat-pump adoption in 25 states
Canary: Heat pumps outperform boilers and furnaces — even in the cold
Catalyst: How has US industrial policy impacted climatetech investment?

Sign up for Latitude Media’s Frontier Forum on January 29, featuring Crux CEO Alfred Johnson, who will break down the budding market for clean energy tax credits. We’ll dissect current transactions and pricing, compare buyer and seller expectations, and look at where the market is headed in 2024.

Catalyst is brought to you by BayWa r.e., a leading global renewable energy developer, service supplier, and distributor. With over 22GW in their project pipeline, BayWa r.e. is rethinking energy every day and at every level. Committed to being a solid partner for the long run, BayWa r.e. wants to work with you to help shape the future of energy. Learn more at bay.wa-re.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Sungrow. Now in more than 150 countries, Sungrow’s solutions include inverters for utility-scale, commercial and industrial solar, plus energy storage systems. Learn more at us.sungrowpower.com.