Research & Papers

Residential Heat Pump Water Heating Market Characterization Report

January 27, 2026

This Market Characterization Report is an output of the Phase II research for the Residential Heat Pump Water Heating (HPWH) Market Transformation Advancement Plan, finalized in September 2024. The plan outlined a high-level research approach that focused on investigating the target market, barriers, and opportunities with the goal of supporting the development of the California Market Transformation Administrator (CalMTA) Residential HPWH Market Transformation Initiative (MTI) Plan.


This report examines the California market for residential HPWHs, with a focus on key barriers to and opportunities for achieving the envisioned impacts of the MTI. This report focuses specifically on residential unitary HPWHs (in which the heat pump is integrated into the water heater tank) and split system HPWHs (in which the heat pump is separate from the tank) that serve only one household.

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The California Market Transformation Administrator (CalMTA) develops and manages market transformation initiatives in the state to reduce energy use and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

CalMTA seeks to help meet California’s energy efficiency and decarbonization goals by accelerating adoption of energy-efficient products and practices through market transformation. Market transformation is a proven strategic process of intervening in a market to create lasting change.
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