Survey of Geothermal Heat Pump Shipments, 2004

This report provides information on geothermal heat pump shipments, based on the Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-902, "Annual Geothermal Heat Pump Manufacturers Survey." The survey shows that manufacturers shipped 43,806 geothermal heat pumps in 2004, a 20 percent increase over the 2003 total of 36,439. Most of the increase was for ARI-325/330 rated units. Of those shipped in 2004, 9,130 were ARI-320 rated,^[1] and 31,855 were ARI-325 or ARI-330. ARI rated shipments increased to 40,985 units in 2004, while the number of non-ARI-rated units increased to 2,821 (Table 58).

The total rated capacity of heat pumps shipped in 2004 was 144,301 tons, compared to 124,438 tons in 2003 Table 59. The average unit size shipped in 2004 was 3.29 tons, compared to an average unit size of 3.41 tons in 2003.

The proportion of geothermal heat pumps shipped to each Census Region in 2004 was as follows: the South (33 percent), the Midwest (33 percent), the Northeast (18 percent), and the West (8 percent) Table 60. The proportion of geothermal heat pumps exported was 7 percent. Fifty-four percent of geothermal heat pumps were shipped to wholesale distributors, while 31 percent went to installers. The remaining 15 percent were sold to exporters, retail distributors, end-users, or other domestic customers (Table 61).

Analysis conducted by the Oregon Institute of Technology, Geo-Heat Center, indicates that geothermal heat pumps consumed almost 29 trillion Btu of geothermal energy in 2004 and direct uses, such as crop drying, consumed 9 trillion Btu of geothermal energy (Table 62). The recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005 includes incentives for the use of geothermal heat pumps in the future. Section 1333 gives a tax credit of up to $300 per geothermal heat pump installed in a residence in the years 2006 through 2007. Also of interest is Section 206, which offers a 25 percent rebate (up to $3,000) for renewable energy systems installed in residences or small businesses, including systems that transmit or use energy from "geothermal deposits," such as geothermal heat pumps. However funds have not yet been appropriated for rebates under this section.

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