AHRI commends Energy Star designation for geothermal heat pumps

ARLINGTON, VA. — The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) today commended the Environmental Protection Agency for the agency's recent announcement of new requirements for residential geothermal heat pumps, which enabled water-to-water geothermal heat pumps to earn the Energy Star label for the first time.

The stringent specifications for this new category of geothermal heat pumps, which were requested by AHRI's applied packaged equipment section, will help protect the environment and reduce energy costs because the geothermal heat pumps that meet the new standards will be up to 45% more efficient than conventional models.

AHRI noted that the EPA worked with industry stakeholders to revise the requirements in response to growing consumer demand for water-to-water geothermal heat pumps —demand partly brought on by the significant federal tax credits that are available for the products.

"We are grateful to the EPA staff for their willingness to work with AHRI to add this new GHP category to the Energy Star program," said Karim Amrane, AHRI's vice president of regulatory and research. "The designation, combined with the tax credit, will help our manufacturers sell more highly efficient products, which will create more jobs.”

The new requirements for water-to-water equipment complements existing efficiency and performance requirements for water-to-air and direct geoexchange geothermal heat pump models. Homeowners who install geothermal heat pumps with the Energy Star are eligible for a 30% federal tax credit.

Additional information about the heat pumps is available at Energy Star.