I know, I know. I talk about heat pumps a lot,
but there’s a good reason for it. It’s a fantastic technology that uses a little physics exploit
to get more heat energy out than energy you put in. The problem is that most of the time, the
devices I’m talking about are for homeowners that can easily retrofit new installations into place
— or, in my case, drill a massive ground loop well for a geothermal system. That’s definitely out of
reach for most. So where does this leave renters? Well, there’s a new type of heat pump hitting
the market that’s a little more accessible: easy to install heat pumps that sit
on your window just like an AC unit. It seems so obvious when you look at
it that I can’t help but wonder…why didn’t we do this earlier? And how well
do they actually work and at what cost? I’m Matt Ferrell … welcome to Undecided. This video is brought to you by the CCAN
Action Fund, but more on that later. I’m sure a lot of you have been stuck
in situations where you’re at the mercy of an antiquated heating and
cooling system. For example, how do you adapt to an apartment building that’s
100 years old and heated with a gas steam boiler system that you have no control over? It’s
heating to the lowest common denominator, which means some apartments are cozy and
others are cooking. In a situation like that, sometimes the only available option is to
crack windows open in the dead of winter. Not a great way to conserve energy and save
money. This is a pretty common problem in many older buildings in US cities like New York and
Boston. I know … I lived in a unit just like it. It’s through window heat pumps that New York City
is leading by example when it comes to heat pump adoption in the United States. In accordance with
the city’s Local Law 97 of 2019, buildings in the Big Apple are now required to make massive cuts
in greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades. The goal is to reduce emissions by 40%
by 2030 and by 80% by 2050. To hit that target, the New York City Housing Authority
(NYCHA) is focusing on improving heating and cooling systems within its public housing
networks.This means landlords need to start upgrading antiquated and inefficient boiler
systems in public housing across the city, which affects more than half a million
people in over 2,400 buildings. Radiant systems and steam-based
boilers, while fairly efficient, are not as efficient as heat pumps. Large steam
systems are complex, prone to energy leaks, and only about a third of their input
energy is converted into useful heat. And that’s where window heat pumps come into
the picture. When I first saw reports of these all I could do was this. You can see right
off the bat what makes these designs unique: the “inverse U” or “saddle-style” design that
doesn’t obstruct the window’s view. It’s easy for residents to install it themselves in
about half an hour or less without the need for a professional… or wrecking existing
structures. And the icing on the cake? No electrical upgrades needed. These heat pumps
run off standard 120v AC outlets. This puts temperature control back into the hands of
residents and makes it all more efficient thanks to the power of the heat pumps. You
can have your heat pump cake and eat it, too. There’s other convenient features
that window heat pumps offer as well, like relatively smaller footprints, low
noise levels, and condensation management systems. That means no excess water
dripping down buildings, external hoses, or trays. These also help reincorporate
humidity into dry air. There are even some early anecdotal reports that they’ve
literally helped residents breathe easier. A window heat pump’s components won’t be much
of a shocker to those who are already familiar with traditional heat pumps, but here’s the
basics. It’s got a compressor, condenser, evaporator, and a reversing valve that allows it
to switch between heating and cooling modes. These are all housed within one compact unit that
fits within a window. Since heat pumps move heat rather than generate it, from something
like an electric resistive heating element, you’ll get 2-3 times more heat energy
out than electrical energy you put in. That’s why in 2021, the New
York Power Authority (NYPA), New York State Energy Research Development
Authority (NYSERDA), and the NYCHA launched the Clean Heat For All Challenge. This
involved investing $263 million into advancing electrification efforts to meet New
York’s climate and energy goals. The idea was to promote new designs that could slot into
existing infrastructure and eliminate the high costs normally associated with
rolling out heat pumps to apartments. Who ended up taking action
and rising to the challenge? Before we get to that there’s another thing you
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will be sold. Your odds have never been better. Visit evraffle.org or check the description
below.. Thanks to CCAN Action Fund and to all of you for supporting the channel. So back to
who took up the Clean Heat For All Challenge. That would be Midea US, headquartered in New
Jersey, and Gradient, based in San Francisco. As the winners of the challenge, Midea will provide
20,000 heat pump units to a NYCHA pilot project, while Gradient will supply 10,000
units. Let’s look at Midea first. Midea's Packaged Window Heat Pump, or PWHP,
not only represents the lionshare of the challenge winnings, but it also earned itself the
prestigious AHR Expo Innovation Award this year. That’s a convention held by the American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The heat pump is specifically designed
for DIY installation. As you can see here, the body has handles built into it to help
easily slide the unit over the windowsill. The PWHP can provide 9,000 BTU/hr of heating
and cooling. Then there’s its coefficient of performance, or COP. The COP is a measure of
a heat pump’s efficiency, based on a unit’s heating capacity vs the amount of electricity it
uses, it's basically just a ratio. It's a handy metric for comparing heat pumps against each
other and other forms of heating. Midea’s heat pump has a COP of 2.35 at temperatures
as low as 17°F (-8°C). For comparison, anything that burns fuel like a furnace or
boiler is going to have a COP of 1 or less. And the PWHP can operate at temperatures down to
-13°F (-25°C) without auxiliary heat and all the way up to 113°F (45°C) for cooling. Meaning that
this unit should be able to easily handle those cold New York winter nights or hottest of summer
days. On the flipside we have the Combined Energy Efficiency Ratio, which measures the efficiency of
room or window-mounted AC units. Midea’s heat pump scores a 16, which puts it at or above the scores
of most high end window AC units on the market. Now let’s look at Gradient, who are set to
supply their own All-Weather 120V Window Heat Pump. The numbers on this heat pump will look
pretty familiar to you. This heat pump also has 9,000 BTUs of heating or cooling, and an easy
to install window-mounted frame. It maintains a COP of 2.60 all the way down to 17F (-8C),
and keeps functioning down -7F (-21.7C). The high end of the range is 95°F (35°C), which
should handle the typical temperature range of New York. This heat pump also plugs into
a standard wall outlet and is made with DIY installs in mind. Gradient claims you can
do it yourself in just 15 to 20 minutes. Gradient has boasted about their use of R-32
as a refrigerant. In the past many refrigerants were pretty harmful to the environment or the
ozone layer. But R-32 scores a big fat zero in ozone depletion potential (ODP), and has a
global warming potential (GWP) of around 675. That might sound a litte rough at first, but
that’s actually close to a one-third of the GWP of more common refrigerants. Gradient’s heat
pump is efficient too, it has Combined Energy Efficiency Ratio (CEER) 10.8, qualifying it for
a coveted (but not uncommon) EnergyStar award. So, for what it’s worth it seems like
the Gradient heat pump is slightly more efficient at the mid range temperatures and
is alleged to be quicker to install. But Midea’s take on the window heat pump has
better effective temperature range and a better Combined Energy Efficiency Ratio
(CEER). Both look to be great options. What do these heat pumps
mean for New Yorkers? Well, we’ve already covered a lot of the quality
of life benefits they offer to residents, but let’s look at them versus older boiler
technologies that these window units are trying to replace. Whether it’s a gas/oil boiler,
a condensing boiler, a steam boiler … it doesn’t matter because none of these older technologies
are going to break a COP of 1. Even an electric radiator is going to score a COP of 1, so for
energy efficiency the window units win out. Things start to get fuzzier when it
comes to the cost. Traditionally, the pricey nature of heat pumps has been their
biggest stumbling block. Both companies have noted that they want to make sure their heat
pumps are affordable, and NYCHA wants them to keep the cost below $3,000 dollars. Midea
says their pump will cost $3,000 on the dot, while Gradient says their unit will be around
$2,000, but their current model runs for $3,800. For comparison a window-mounted AC unit only
costs a few hundred dollars on the low end, but it can only cool your home. These window
heat pumps heat and cool, which AC units can’t do. They’re also far more efficient than any tiny
space heaters systems you can install. On top of that they also use more eco-friendly refrigerants
than many of the aging window AC units apartments like this are probably using … but that’s
still a lot of money for all those benefits. Plus, there’s always the chance
that manufacturing or supply chain challenges could put the final market price even
higher than the hoped-for price. We’ve seen it happen with plenty of technologies before.
On the other hand, heat pumps are generally eligible for rebates or tax deductions, like the
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) here in the US, so that could help ameliorate things. Even with
rebates and tax incentives, heat pumps are still likely to be a big upfront investment for a renter
or landlord to recoup that cost slowly over time. This all makes the math of heat pumps vs
retrofitting the old boiler systems pretty hard to calculate. Instead of getting a window
heat pump for every resident, the owner of a large building could replace the old gas boiler with an
industrial heat pump. That heat pump could feed hot fluid to radiators, underfloor heating,
and the like. In these old buildings though, you’d still run into that issue of heating
to the lowest common denominator, which would undercut much of the energy efficiency gains. I’m
having flashbacks to my Boston apartment again. It also doesn’t address the need for cooling,
which can be a major issue during summer heat waves in cities like New York and Boston.
There’s an overall quality of life issue that these heat pumps can address that
makes it hard to put a number on. And again, if you’re not allowed to remodel part of
the building because it's a historical landmark or due to mold or asbestos fears, then
window mounted units would be the way to go, regardless of price. What I’m trying to say is
there’s a lot of variables to consider here! There’s also concerns about electricity usage.
In many apartment buildings heat is included in your rent, but you pay for electricity yourself.
Shifting to these window heat pumps means that renters will be taking on their heating and
cooling costs in their electric bill. That’s an incentive for a landlord to make the switch
because it reduces their cost for running the building, but the switch will hit a renter's
bottom line. However, as a renter, you’ll have complete control over how much you run the unit
and at what temperature. Collectively, 30,000 heat pumps are going to draw a lot of electricity.
The agencies involved don’t think it will strain the grid. If everything goes according to plan
and window mounted heat pumps take off, what will 3.64 million new heat pumps working night
and day do to the grid? Probably not nothing! And while there are some concerns about strain
on the grid, the efficiency of heat pumps means they’re likely to be better than all the
other climate control devices currently in use. Gradient estimates that the yearly
energy cost of running their heat pump to be between $64 and $238. There’s a lot
of variables that go into that figure, so the exact price will vary a lot. However,
that’s still a good deal. Especially compared to your average air conditioner which will cost
you between $172.80 and $2,534.40 per year. Take those operational savings and
spread it across not just New York, but other cities that are interested in
similar bulk orders of these heat pumps, like Jersey City, Boston, and Seattle.
Together, they represent almost 24,000 apartments. An estimated 39 million
Americans in general live in apartments, and that number is only going to go up. America,
of course, isn’t alone. Lots of cities like Tokyo, Toronto, or Beijing have apartment dwellers
who could benefit from heat pumps like this. While upfront cost may remain a speedbump, it won’t surprise you to hear that I’m pretty
bullish on these window-mounted-variety. Again, I know I love heat pumps, but shrinking ‘em
down a bit and tooling them for smaller spaces, like apartments, just seems like the
natural next step in their evolution. But what do you think? Would you want a
unit like this for your home? Jump into the comments and let me know and
be sure to listen to my follow up podcast Still TBD where we’ll keep
this conversation going. Thanks as always to my patrons for your continued
support. I’ll see you in the next one.
