Heat pump situation report in 2024
Heat pumps are the trend. The term "heat pump" was googled 301,000 times on average in the last twelve months. This means that the regenerative heating system even beat the search interest for "virtual reality". There is also a lot of discussion in the (social) media. As a heat pump manufacturer, we are naturally delighted about this. But the constant media barrage sometimes clouds our vision. That's why we now regularly publish a status report here. So that you can make a decision for your new heating system based solely on facts.
Electricity prices fall - also thanks to renewable energies
The fact is that green electricity, i.e. electricity generated using renewable energies, will reduce electricity prices on the stock exchange in the long term - and therefore also the electricity price that we consumers pay with a time lag. Various studies, including a study by Fraunhofer ISE from 2021, show that newly installed PV systems and wind turbines will have significantly lower electricity generation costs than conventional gas and coal-fired power plants in the future. Technological progress in plant technology will reinforce this effect. The higher the proportion of renewable energies in the electricity mix, the better for the electricity price.
While the share of renewable energies in german public electricity generation was 60.9% in July, it amounted to 69.5% in November 2023. Onshore and offshore wind power had by far the largest share at 9,107.9 GWh.
This is of course good news for heat pump owners. They are becoming more and more independent of rising prices for fossil fuels and are also making a contribution to climate protection.
Old heating - (still) the rule in German homes
How many old heating systems are there actually still under German roofs? Who should know better than our chimney sweeps. The latest structural data on the heating stock in Germany, which was collected by the chimney sweep trade, shows that more than 75 percent of oil heating systems and around 65 percent of gas heating systems are more than 20 years old. So not only is there a huge need for renewal, but there is also huge energy-saving potential in replacing heating systems. Since 2024, 65% of newly installed heating systems must be operated with renewable energies in accordance with the GEG (Building Energy Act).
You have the following options:
- Heating network
- heat pump
- Direct electricity heating
- Hybrid heating (e.g. heat pump with peak load boiler)
- Biomass heating
- Solar thermal heating
- "H2-ready" gas heating systems
Zoom imageQuelle https://www.wwf.de/2023
Unfortunately, many homeowners in germany were unsettled by statements that were not based on facts and invested in a new gas or oil heating system before the GEG came into force. A decision they may regret sooner than they would have liked. Thanks to the attractive state subsidies for replacing heating systems and the electricity price trend described above, heat pumps are also the better alternative for your new heating system in financial terms.
Even with the actual german basic subsidy of 30 percent, the heat pump is the cheaper option compared to a gas boiler over 15 years - and that in a single-family home with energy efficiency class F - as WWF Germany shows in a sample calculation presented in August 2023. If the heat pump is operated in conjunction with a photovoltaic system, the additional costs of a heat pump are amortized even faster, as self-generated electricity is significantly cheaper than tariff electricity.
Increasing the value of your property - with energy-efficient refurbishment and a heat pump
Falling property prices have also dominated the news in recent months. Unrenovated houses and properties with high energy consumption tend to be slow sellers at the moment. For homebuyers, this offers an opportunity to fulfill their dream of owning their own property despite rising interest rates. If you own an unrenovated property or are planning to buy an unrenovated old building at a reasonable price, there is no alternative to energy-efficient renovation if you want to increase the value of the property in the long term and save on heating costs at the same time. In the vast majority of cases, an existing oil or gas heating system can be replaced with an energy-efficient heat pump. Contrary to all prophecies of doom, the maximum flow temperatures required for space heating are significantly lower than expected. High-temperature heat pumps such as our HYBROX air/water heat pump are now available for old buildings that are not optimally insulated and can be connected to the existing heating system while achieving excellent efficiency. In our article Heat pump for old buildings, we have compiled information for you on when retrofitting a heat pump in an old building makes economic and energy sense.
