Creating the Standard: Heat Pump Water Heater Best Practices

September 23, 2024

The Richard Heath & Associates (RHA) Quick Start Grant project aimed to create the heat pump water heater educational tools lacking in the industry by collaborating with a panel of industry experts, contractors, training instructors, and manufacturers. The project team created the first standardized collection of industry best practices to ensure heat pump water heater installations are performed correctly and consistently, improving the overall performance and reliability of heat pump water heater systems.

The Best Practices Manual provides comprehensive guidelines and recommendations designed to easily fit into existing curricula and training programs for efficient and effective heat pump water heater installations in residential homes.

Building from the Best Practices Manual, the project team also created visual field guides, or Job Aids, as a complimentary quick-reference guide for field installations, visually explaining and highlighting what the project should look like at each step of the installation. While the Best Practices Manual offers comprehensive guidelines, safety protocols, and recommendations for high-quality installations, the Job Aids serve as practical tools that break down these recommendations into actionable tasks.

As contractor comfort with the technology is essential to getting homeowners to make the switch, RHA established a proven pathway to increase contractor comfort through educational best practices and job aids for more complex installations.

To learn more about this Quick Start Grant, read the full report.