While 2012 was an overall weak year
for GHPs in the US, key states
continued growth. Some have state
incentive programs and some didn't.
In some cases, it was simply dogged
determination from local
distribution, in others the state
incentives helped to drive the
market.
There is no question that the
current 30% Federal Tax Credit is
helping to drive demand. Read more
here about the tax credit. For
long-term consistent growth, the
real driving force has to be
consumer and contractor education.
There is a small percentage of
contractors offering geothermal heat
pump systems, if you can expand that
base correctly you'll expand the
education both in the contractor and
the consumer sector. A solid
contractor base would be one which
has proper training and installs
geothermal heat pumps often enough
to do it properly each and every
time.
I recently read an article by Chris
Williams of Heatspring Magazine. In
his article, Chris addresses what he
believes to be the top 4 items the
industry needs to drive adoption of
the technology. Here are my thoughts
on his trends to drive adoption.
Trend #1 - State Policy will
Drive Adoption - while the Federal
Tax Credit is helping and State
assistance would also help, these
should be temporary measures. The
technology can and will stand on its
own. The industry is viable and
sustainable, but the major players
are all simply bit players in the
overall HVAC market. It will take
major level adoption from HVAC
manufacturers to make a major
impact. Why don't the majors get
involved? The truth be told, they
don't have a vested interest.
Equivalent equipment cost is
essentially the same as what they
currently sell and geo technology
requires an entire new level of
training and dealer development. Why
invest in the 3% that's geo when you
already have a substantial piece of
the 97%? They pick up no revenue
from the excavation cost and this is
typically the additional cost over a
conventional HVAC system. This is
the continual hurdle the industry
faces, no buy-in from the big guys;
Carrier, Goodman, Lennox, Trane,
York. While Bosch has started to
make their presence known in the geo
market, they are not an overall HVAC
player in North America and have
struggled adapting to the difference
in distribution between HVAC and
their other divisions. They do bring
a recognizable name and legitimacy
to the industry, this MUST be backed
up with consumer marketing,
infrastructure support and training.
