The Northwest Ductless Heat Pump Initiative: Market Progress Evaluation #8 Addendum - Ductless Heat Pumps in Cold Climates Installer Research, posted in August 2020, has been updated as of October 9, 2020 to incorporate additional survey data from installers to address a sampling error that was discovered after the release of the report.
In 2019, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Cadmus to complete the 8th Market Progress Evaluation Report (MPER) for the Ductless Heat Pump (DHP) initiative. MPER #8 determined that, although it is likely that the DHP market will continue to grow across the region, some gaps remained in NEEA’s understanding of installers in heating zone 3 (HZ3, the coldest areas in the Northwest region), including installers’ familiarity with, opinion of, and sales and promotion of DHPs in HZ3.
To address these knowledge gaps, Cadmus completed a follow-up survey of a representative sample of HVAC installers located in HZ3. Key findings are that the DHP market is likely to continue to grow in HZ3, customer demand for DHPs is increasing, and DHP product capabilities and customer demand for DHPs are the two primary motivators for installers to offer DHPs. And, installers oriented to DHPs through NEEA’s Northwest Ductless Heat Pump Project are more likely to recommend DHPs to customers and to have a more positive opinion of DHPs than non-oriented installers. NEEA's continued tracking of DHP diffusion across the Northwest will be critical for indicating signs of backsliding in the market.
