Heat Pumps Overtake Gas in Germany – Is UK Next?

Commercial heat pump installations are a popular choice for businesses looking to slash their carbon footprint and reduce their energy bills and are gaining ground in the domestic market as well.

According to Cooling Post, our friends in Germany are taking on more and more heat pumps for both business and the home and now heat pumps are said to be even more popular than some traditional heating systems.

Indeed, official data for the country revealed that in 2017, heat pumps overtook gas for the first time to become the single most popular technology for domestic heating in the country – and with a population of over 82 million people, that is a significant demand for heat pumps.

The news source revealed these figures were posted by the Federal Statistical Office based on reports from the German heat pump association BWP which showed that heat pumps were installed in 43 per cent of residential buildings last year.

This just pips gas heaters to the post, with the traditional heating system garnering 42 per cent of the residential market.

In the overall market including commercial installations, the race is still a closely fought one, with heat pumps holding 41 per cent of the market, just behind the gas market’s share of 42 per cent.

Martin Sabel, Managing Director of BWP was quoted by Cooling Post as saying: “The heat pump is increasingly being recognised by builders, planners and specialist contractors as the standard heating system for new buildings. The big advances in device efficiency, usability and design are driving demand. We expect that share to continue to rise significantly.”

Sabel’s views are shared in the report Geothermal Heat Pumps Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014-2020, which estimates the global geothermal heat pump market will balloon to $130.5 billion (£93.5 billion) by 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.1 per cent over the six-year period.

Even though geothermal heat pumps have been in use since the 1940s, their popularity has only recently been given a boost thanks to the rising price of utilities and a growing environmental awareness among consumers and businesses.

Furthermore, more governments are offering incentives such as payback period associated with installations in new buildings, reports The Technical Progress.

The report also states that Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific are driving growth. In Europe in particular, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and France have been identified as the mature markets, while growth from China is expected to accelerate.

The commercial segment is identified by report publisher Transparency Market Research as ripe for growth, anticipating “significant demand in the near future”.

This is due to demand within the geothermal heat pump retrofit systems segment as well as the new building systems segment, while both retrofit and new build systems are also popular in the residential market. Within these segments it is closed loop systems that are dominating, with 85.7 per cent of the overall market as of 2013 including vertical, horizontal and pond and lake systems.