Hot water heating makes up about 30% of the average New Zealand household’s energy use. However, heat pump water heaters (HPWH) are still an emerging technology — particularly in the residential market. There are only an estimated 12,000 installed in New Zealand homes, out of a total of around 2 million systems overall (including electric storage, solar, and gas instantaneous or storage systems).
EECA is working on a research series to understand more about the real-world performance of heat pump water heaters, and the market for them in New Zealand.
This page will be updated regularly with our findings and reports from the project. (Last updated: May 2025).
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EECA research into heat pump water heaters
To encourage the uptake of HPWH technology in New Zealand EECA is undertaking research to understand:
- more about the performance of these products
- differences between products and product types
- how the technology functions in different climate zones and households
- suitability for demand flexibility opportunities, given water can be heated off peak and stored for use.
To gain these insights, EECA is installing and monitoring about 70 heat pump water heaters in a variety of New Zealand homes.
Understanding the real-world performance of HPWHs in New Zealand homes
We are installing and monitoring about 70 heat pump water heaters in a variety of New Zealand homes.
- Installations will take place during 2025.
- The project is expected to run through to 2026.
- Installed products will be monitored for at least 12 months.
- Interim insights will be provided over the course of the project.
- A final report will be published in 2026.
Most of the homes within the scheme will be social housing or owned by low-income New Zealanders, however, the homes used are primarily being selected because they meet the criteria for the research.
We are not seeking applications for this research directly from homeowners.
Stay up to date on the results of this research and other EECA news by signing up to the EECA newsletter.
Heat pump water heater market insights report
This report summarises the findings of market scan conducted from late-2024 to early-2025. It outlines the current state of the heat pump water heater market in New Zealand, with insights on:
- available products
- claimed performance
- importers and manufacturers.
The report also describes EECA’s approach to understanding real-world product performance. The market research findings presented in this report will be compared to our real-world findings.
What are heat pump water heaters?
Heat pump water heaters, also known as hot water heat pumps, are an energy efficient and low emissions way to heat water in homes.
They use heat pump technology meaning they work similarly to space heating heat pumps. Instead of creating heat, they work by pulling heat from the air around them and using that to warm the water in the tank, which makes them much more efficient than traditional electric element storage water heaters (ESWH). They’re cheaper to run and can be particularly cost effective for households that use a lot of water.
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