Room Heat Pumps

Heating and cooling represent the largest energy consumption end-uses for homes in California, with more than 3 million individual air conditioning units in use across the state and 50% of households using gas appliances for heating.

In coordination with California’s decarbonization goals, room heat pumps offer an affordable and highly efficient alternative to central heating and cooling systems.

Room heat pumps are self-contained products that provide efficient heating and cooling for small spaces, such as single rooms, modest apartments, or small homes. They offer both heating and cooling using efficient heat pump technology and can be installed without a certified technician. CalMTA’s Room Heat Pumps market transformation initiative (MTI) seeks to grow market adoption of these efficient alternatives to air conditioning (AC) window units in the summer and small-space electric resistance or gas heating in the winter.

Barriers to their adoption include the need for product improvements to make them ideal for California’s varied climates and the lack of clear product differentiation from non-heat pump options, including the fact there is no ENERGY STAR® designation for room heat pumps.

CalMTA is planning strategic interventions to meet these barriers. These include forging partnerships with manufacturers to pursue technical improvements suitable for the California market and pursuing national specifications and ENERGY STAR certification with the Consortium for Energy Efficiency.

This potential MTI could provide a significant opportunity to deliver benefits to environmental and social justice communities, including enhanced household occupant comfort by combining cooling and heating options in a single product. Because they are more affordable than central or mini-split heat pumps and are moveable, they are primed for adoption by renters, who represent nearly half of all households in California.  They can also be easily purchased during climate events when supplemental heating or cooling is needed.

We envision a future where the market share of room heat pumps grows, and standalone AC window units and electric resistance heaters decline.  Read the Room Heat Pumps MTI Plan FAQs to learn more

Illustration of a window heat pump operating in winter, with a woman sitting on a sofa indoors while it snows outside.

Market Transformation Initiative Status

The Room Heat Pumps MTI was submitted for application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in December 2024. Upon approval, the MTI would advance to Phase III: Market Deployment.  

Graphic illustrating the phased development process of market transformation initiatives.
MTI poised to advance to Phase III pending approval of the Application from the CPUC

FEATURED RESOURCE

Room Heat Pumps MTI Plan

CalMTA’s Room Heat Pumps (RHP) Market Transformation Initiative (MTI) aims to accelerate market adoptions of room heat pumps to provide efficient heating and cooling in existing small, single family, and multifamily households.

Want to learn more about the Room Heat Pumps MTI Plan?

Related Resources

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.
Young Korean female chef working in restaurant kitchen

CalMTA follows a rigorous process for reviewing, scoring, and then developing relevant, timely market transformation initiatives. The process supports market transformation initiative creation from concept to program development to market deployment, as well as the eventual exiting of the market.

The Market Transformation Advisory Board (MTAB) provides expertise and unbiased, non-binding recommendations on CalMTA’s market transformation initiatives. Register here for an upcoming advisory board meeting.
Learn more about CalMTA’s planning and research on energy efficient technologies and our work to build California’s market transformation portfolio, and access quarterly and annual progress reports.
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