This measure is the installation of a residential-style ductless heat pump system in a smaller commercial building or within smaller spaces of a commercial spaces. The zone where the DHP is installed must have pre-existing zonal electric resistance heat, may or may not have pre-existing cooling, and must not have or be served by a non-electric heating source. Qualifying DHPs are inverter-driven, with a variable speed compressor and have a single outdoor compressor and one or more indoor blower units connected with a single refrigeration circuit. They are less than ore equal to 36,000 Btu/h in total rated heating capacity at 47 degrees F, are fully ductless or use short duct runs, and are not installed in a commercial kitchen, computer server room, or other space where heating is not required. Applicable space types are offices, schools, grocery and non-grocery retail, restaurant dining, lodging common areas, and lodging guest rooms.
The measure is approved as planning due to uncertainty in the savings estimates. The RTF has developed and adopted a research strategy for post-installation metering and targeted billing analysis to try and reduce that uncertainty.