Ed Hudson, MBA
August 29, 2024
New Trends Revealed in HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Systems
The roller coaster ride continues in the market for new home building materials, with economic and housing industry uncertainty fueling changes in buying behavior. Home Innovation Research Labs’ annual Builder Practices Survey polls about 1,200 home builders to learn what’s happening from actual purchasers of materials. The 2024 data is in, revealing how the industry trends continue to evolve.
Domestic Water Heaters
In the mechanical, electrical, & plumbing (MEP) area, builders are increasingly spec’ing to purchase tankless water heaters in new homes, taking advantage of their space saving and energy efficiency despite their higher upfront cost. This year's data shows tankless water heaters finally evening out with tanked water heaters in overall market share across single family homes.
![Graph showing shares of tanked and tankless water heaters with tanked holding 65% and tankless holding 35% in 2017 with steady middling until 2023 when tankless and tanked water heaters in new single family homes are each 50%](/-/media/Images/Blog/2024_Water_Heaters_in_New_SF_Homes.png?h=341&w=525&hash=6DFB4517EA807518CEA2D046DE6B69B5)
(click to enlarge)
Based on the 2024 survey findings, new luxury homes were twice as likely to have tankless water heaters as the primary supply as tanked water heaters, but in starter homes, the opposite is true—tanked water heaters were twice as likely to be found here. West builders were most likely to embrace tankless heaters, but Midwest the least.
Water Distribution Piping
Also in plumbing, PEX plumbing piping continues to gain share primarily at the expense of copper. PEX now commands about 73% of new home distribution piping, due undoubtedly in part to the ever-increasing price of copper piping. PE-RT (Polyethylene-Raised Temperature), a newer contender in the residential piping market, is showing up at about 2 percent of new homes. This contrasts the whole-house re-piping market, where PE-RT is establishing itself as a primary player more quickly according to our 2024 Consumer Practices Reports.
Home Standby Generators
COVID inspired an initial boom in the standby electric generator market for new homes, but as the threat of the pandemic subsided, so did the demand for standby generators in new homes, particularly in regions where severe weather events are more likely to occur. The Builder Practices Reports reveal that, after growth in this category stalled in 2022, it began to rebound in 2023, signaling that resiliency in electrical power supply in homes is part of a longer-term trend.
![Graph showing percentage of new single family homes with standby generators starting at 6% in 2019 and trending upward to reach 11% in 2023](/-/media/Images/Blog/2024_Standby_Generators_in_New_SF_Homes.png?h=327&w=525&hash=047DE7F2524085E56BE7597189C88270)
(click to enlarge)
HVAC Ducts
Our Builder Practices Reports have also highlighted some rapidly changing trends in how we heat and cool homes. For example, more and more builders are moving supply and return ducts into conditioned space—by creating “conditioned” spaces in attics and crawlspaces by moving insulation from ceiling to roof deck and from floors to crawlspace walls. Further, we are seeing a new type of duct insulation take hold in the market: the use of reflective bubble wrap insulation for metal ducts has doubled in just one year—from rom 8 percent to 16 percent since 2020.
Regarding new home HVAC systems, gas stubbornly remains the most popular heating fuel in new homes despite widespread promotion of all-electric homes. This compares to about one-third of new homes that had a heat pump with electric backup.
Builder Practices Reports
These are just some of the highlights of the rich, detailed data provided in Home Innovation’s Builder Practices Reports that span nearly 50 different product categories. If you want to more fully understand how well your product category is faring, market by market, then you need the 2024 Builder Practices Report. Contact us today.
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