Gas heat pumps are coming: But by a different name

摘要

Gas heat pumps are coming, but by a different name. The manufacturers have elected not to call these products heat pumps because advertising by gas distributors has been so effective at associating the term air-source heat pump with cold blowing air. Nonetheless, gas-fired air-source heat pumps of the engine-driven and absorption types will be marketed starting in 1994 and in 1997, respectively, according to current plans. This paper identifies the generic participants that have been and will be involved in the gas heat pump deployment effort, and it reviews the underlying forces that caused (or likely will cause) those participants to act as they do. The participants include technology developers; the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry; the utility industry; and state utility regulators. The driving forces include the drifting of unitary HVAC products toward a commodity-like status, the decline of the domestic component of global HVAC markets, the restructuring of the HVAC and gas utility industries, the anticipated restructuring of the electric utility industry, the strengths and weaknesses of gas distributors, and state utility regulation. Also reviewed are technology status, manufacturer commitments, and timetables for introducing products. The road to widespread domestic market acceptance of gas heat pumps will likely be very different from that experienced by electric heat pump manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s.