Forward-looking contractors working with heat pump technology say their skills in installing them are rapidly paying off.

“The last quarter of 2023 was our highest grossing month, because of the 100 heat pump water heaters we installed,” said Chris Flores, the owner of Water Heater Warehouse in Fullerton, California. “With everything going electric, heat pump water heaters are becoming the new Teslas, they will be everywhere soon. The best thing we can do for the company’s growth is to work on all the heat pump water heaters we can get.”

Giving contractors the necessary tools is at the heart of an innovative state initiative, TECH Clean California. The State of California is targeting the installation of 6 million heat pump systems in homes across California, as part of a push towards clean energy and overall carbon emissions reductions.

That’s why it created TECH Clean California, a market transformation initiative authorized by the California legislature.

Contractors drive an estimated 85 percent of the decision making on these products and having a contractor workforce that sees their benefits is essential.

Recognizing their importance in customer decision making, the program focuses on the need for skilled contractors, well versed in what heat pump technology offers. To do so, TECH Clean California has combined educational training and incentives to make sure they are well prepared for the new technology.

TECH Clean California provides a broad range of courses focused on the technical side of HVAC equipment. It has partnered with the National Comfort Institute (NCI) to do so. NCI offers courses that provide contractors with the necessary knowledge, not only to properly install equipment, but to accurately be able to assess and select the right equipment for a particular home.

Because the technology is fundamentally different from a gas furnace, there are new considerations, explained Ben Lipscomb, who oversees contractor HVAC training programs at the National Comfort Institute.

“What a heat pump does is it moves heat from outside to inside, and it can also operate in reverse as an air conditioner and move heat from inside to outside,” Lipscomb said. “For that heat transfer to take place, those indoor and outdoor air flows have to be within a certain range, or things start not working right, and that can cause like issues with the equipment breaking down, or just the air being delivered, not being at the right temperature.”

For Tom Walsh, a contractor and owner of DaVinci Mechanical, TECH Clean California’s educational courses have made a dramatic difference in the quality of the job he can offer.

“I try to distinguish myself from the other contractors by taking these classes,” Walsh said. “They are fantastic, talking about how to do proper duct design and how to explain the heat pump benefits. I stand out by being educated and educating the customers so that they can go benefit from this new technology.”

Contractors typically also need to explain to customers why it is beneficial to move from gas heating, even if there is an initial upfront investment.

For this reason, in conjunction with Electrify My Home, TECH Clean California gives courses on the contractor’s business model and whole-home electrification.

“We teach them how to understand electrification on a case-by-case basis for each home, and how to design the systems properly,” said Larry Waters, owner of Electrify My Home. “We teach them about all the new products that are available that are better choices to help reduce the overall need for energy.”

Educating contractors on the benefits of heat pump technology for their own businesses is a message that has resonated in the community.

“When you see it side by side and get a comparison with the gas technology, you realize - this technology actually makes great business sense, especially when you have these incredible rebate programs,” said Ben Shamoon, owner of LivSmart Home Services. “I'm not going to do our customers a disservice by selling them equipment that's going to be less efficient and drive their energy prices up.”

Contractors say these courses are invaluable in getting better at installations and in learning how to communicate their benefits to their customers. In fact, more than 95 percent of contractors who participated in a survey by Opinion Dynamics said that they will use the learnings from these courses on a daily basis in their work.

“I took myself and my apprentice to the classes TECH Clean California offered, and it blew his mind how helpful the classes were,” Walsh said. “They are free classes through TECH Clean California. I have paid for these classes before, and they can be as much as $900 per class.”

Contractors who participated in a May 2024 survey of the program by Opinion Dynamics say that the education and technical support provided by the TECH Clean California team has made the transition to the new technology possible.

“I think the TECH team has done a great job at being accessible to contractors,” said one survey participant. “I’ve even heard from friends who work for really small plumbing companies that say anytime they have a question, they get it answered immediately.”

For Flores, the initial exposure he and his team got to heat pumps came through manufacturers in 2021, but the TECH Clean California courses gave them a lot more expertise that enabled them to feel confident in offering installations by 2023.

“A lot of plumbers are not confident or comfortable with the technology, but we are now partnering with a company who is consistently pushing the technology, and we feel comfortable doing the installations,” Flores said. “TECH Clean California has been there every step of the way, offering trainings, supporting us, and it has made a huge difference.”

TECH Clean California also offers a way for its participants to market their new skills.

To become a TECH Clean California certified-contractor, they first must register at switchison.org, provide documentation about their business and license, and complete the TECH Clean California training, including a range of installation-related courses. Additional technical and sales training from manufacturers is also available. TECH Clean California contractors are listed in the dedicated contractor search tool on the Switch Is On website. Successful completion of the coursework then enables the contractor to be identified as such via the Switch Is On, which includes a dedicated contractor search tool.

For contractors, being included on TECH Clean California recommended contractor lists also generate leads that are much more likely to result in an accepted bid, Walsh said.

“I close about three out of 10 customers who are not educated about the benefits of heat pump systems,” Walsh said. “For the kind of energy-educated customers that use these contractor lists, it is almost 90 percent closing rates.”

Contractors have also found that the incentive programs for adopting the technology have played a critical role in helping stimulate customer interest. These incentive programs are an important part of TECH Clean California’s broader implementation strategy, and it is planning to launch new heat pump HVAC and HPWH incentives later in 2024 with a new incentive structure. Contractors have also found the support provided by TECH Clean California has been invaluable in determining how best to process rebates. To let contractors weigh in on how the incentives system could be further improved, TECH Clean California offers an “office hours” program every week. In these sessions, contractors can meet with each other and with program managers to discuss how best to navigate new incentive requirements and optimize incentive application process to minimize waiting periods for rebates.

“We have established a dedicated time to bring up specific topics that may be pain points for contractors, and we talk about them via Zoom,” explained Lauren Gray, a program manager with Energy Solutions involved with overseeing contractor engagement issues.

As the rebate program has evolved, so too have the strategies for helping contractors adjust to any changes. Weekly office hours are part of the help that the program provides contractors, said Sam Khamseh, a senior program manager at Frontier Energy, which has partnered with TECH Clean California to administer contractor incentive programs. The TECH Clean California team has learned that providing direct support and discussing rebate issues with contractors has made a huge difference in their ability to navigate the program.

“I think that the forefront of the success of the program has come from the program representatives that we have been in touch with,” Shamoon said. “I've had some moments where we didn't know if something was going to be able to be pushed through - a lot of things did change, from the 1.0 program to the 2.0 program, for example - and these guys held our hand throughout the process and are still doing so today.”

One of the challenges ahead for the program is how best to get the word out to the thousands of contractors that could benefit. Contractors like Flores and Walsh say that one of the best strategies is for contractors like themselves to spread the word.

“The heat pumps are more efficient, and the energy savings are nuts,” Walsh said, explaining that households that already have solar power could easily utilize this power with their heat pump system, removing much of their utility bills. At least 40 percent of Californians with solar panels do not use all their solar energy, meaning heat pump technology would give them the opportunity to save more by putting that solar generation to use.

“If you have solar plus capacity back up, you are just throwing money away if you are still mucking around with gas,” Walsh said.

And it is a great message to share with their colleagues: heat pump technology makes excellent business sense for contractors, right from the start, because of the training and the rebate incentives, and how it positions them for the future.

“If a contractor participates in TECH Clean California, they can be on the leading edge of this trend,” Lipscomb said. Indeed, more than two-thirds of contractors surveyed by Opinion Dynamics said that the training they received led to additional work opportunities, including promotions and raises.

“Long term, those leading companies are going to be the companies that people continue to look for first when they need a new heat pump or just need HVAC work done in general,” Lipscomb said. “It puts them at the forefront of this curve.”