Affordable Space Conditioning and Domestic Hot Water Systems with Low Emissions and High Performance
This project will develop, test, and demonstrate a novel combined water heating and space cooling & heating system.
Franklin Energy Services, LLC
Recipient
Oakland, CA
Recipient Location
7th
Senate District
18th
Assembly District
$1,013,237
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
In 2024, The project is continuing progress towards equipment installation in the identified project sites. The team has been working to gain approval for the necessary permits while also
coordinating with homeowners, landlords, and contractors. Installation is underway for two multi-family project sites in San Jose.
Furthermore, the team, primarily AEA and Harvest Thermal, have been working to identify additional project sites and secure tenant/landowner agreements. Harvest Thermal has ensured that engineering development is on schedule and has available Harvest Thermal POD systems in finished goods inventory ready for deployment as installations progress.
The Issue
Heating, hot water, and cooling represent the top three energy uses in California households. While air conditioning GHG emissions will go down as renewable generation increases, reducing site emissions from natural gas space and water heating will require fuel substitution. Electric heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions will help meet the state's climate goals, but the options currently available are expensive. They often require the use of separate heat pumps for heating and hot water, and typical operation patterns overlap with grid peak times, resulting in higher customer bills, higher grid operation costs, higher GHG and criteria pollutant emissions.
Project Innovation
This project will develop, test, and demonstrate a combined electric space conditioning and hot water system that incorporates built-in load shifting and will deliver clean, affordable space conditioning and domestic hot water to existing and new homes. The integrated pod will be installed in residential buildings to evaluate cost-effectiveness, load flexibility, and GHG emissions reductions.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
This project intends to achieve technological advancements and breakthroughs in thermal storage and load shifting. By developing a shared heat-pump system for air conditioning and water heating, along with advanced controls, the new technology proposed under this project will provide (1) Between 70 and 90 percent GHG emissions reductions compared to natural gas and 85 to 95 percent compared to conventional heat pumps without load shifting; (2) Up to 30 percent operational cost reductions compared to existing heat pump technology and 30 to 40 percent compared to existing natural gas technology.
Affordability
The single heat pump and storage tank design being demonstrated in this project could reduce equipment and installation costs relative to having a separate gas furnace/electric AC systems. Its higher efficiency and load shifting capabilities reduce energy costs compared to standard systems. The combined unit also minimizes the need for additional piping in between its components.
Reliability
The control unit will provide greater grid system reliability for optimized operation by automating response to price or demand response signals rather than relying on occupants to manually adjust controls or behavior.
Key Project Members
Ashley Burns
John Shipman
Subrecipients
Association for Energy Affordability
Harvest Thermal, Inc
Kohlex, LLC
RFI Soft, Inc.
POEIO Enterprises Inc.
Match Partners
Franklin Energy Services, LLC
Harvest Thermal, Inc
