Check out the beta version at dw.com.We’re not done yet!Your opinion can help us do better.
We use cookies to improve our service to you.You can find more information in our data protection declaration.
With oil and gas prices exploding in Europe, heat pumps could be a meaningful alternative.In Germany, generous state subsidies make the idea even more attractive for single-family homes.
Massive backlog of heat pumps due to supply chain issues and lack of qualified technicians
With high summer temperatures in much of Europe, it can be difficult to convince people to consider a heat pump.But the push for more renewable energy, coupled with the ongoing war in Ukraine and cuts in Russian gas and oil, means there has never been a more pressing time.
A heat pump is a system that moves around thermal energy.There are many different types of equipment, including exhaust, ground and water, depending on the equipment used.
Ground source heat pump equipment utilizes an almost constant temperature below the soil surface.These geothermal heat pumps draw heat into buildings in winter and push hot air out in summer, just like air conditioners.This type of system uses a network of water-filled pipes that are either laid horizontally several feet underground or vertically drilled deeper into the Earth’s core.
Advocates say these systems can be used almost anywhere and are cheaper to run than other heating and air conditioning systems such as boilers, furnaces and electric radiators.As energy costs have skyrocketed, they have become a local way of obtaining energy.Most importantly for many customers, heat pumps run on electricity rather than natural gas or oil.
Installing a heat pump system can be expensive and the technology is often not suitable for older buildings
Heating and air-conditioning maker Viessmann is showing the way.It is one of the market leaders in Germany.In early May, when the company released its annual earnings report, it announced that it would spend an additional 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) on heat pump production.
The company, which employs 13,000 people worldwide, saw sales in the heat pump industry increase by 41 percent in the last fiscal year, while total sales rose only 21 percent to 3.4 billion euros.
These figures reflect trends in electric heat pump technology.Not least because the federal government provides substantial subsidies to support the technology.Initially, the subsidies were aimed at reducing climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions.Now, rising energy costs have brought these incentives into the national spotlight.
Heat pumps are much more expensive than gas or oil heaters because of their more complex technology and design.Installation is also more complicated and takes longer.Many components are located outside the building.The building itself must have good insulation.Underfloor heating systems or oversized radiators make heat pumps more efficient.
“In almost all cases, the retrofit goes hand in hand with structural changes, and is often accompanied by a more energy-efficient retrofit of the entire building,” Thomas Orr, professor of building technology and climate-friendly architecture at the Technical University of Munich, told DW.
The necessary investment will soon reach tens of thousands of euros.The state covers up to 35% of the cost of installing old buildings and 45% if the oil burner is replaced.Most of the cost of a professional energy check can also be reimbursed.
With incentives like these, it’s no secret why demand for heat pumps is growing.This results in long wait times for energy consultations or workers to come and install the system.Like many other industries, the industry is facing labor shortages, supply chain issues and sudden price increases.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and the price of fossil fuels are another reason to keep people away from oil and gas for heating.But can electric heat pumps solve serious energy problems?
“There is a very simple answer: heat pumps can completely replace today’s heating technology, if hybrid heat pumps that combine gas and electricity are considered,” said Thomas Nowak of the Brussels-based European Heat Pump Association, the majority of the European heat pump industry.
Christian Stolte of the German Energy Agency (dena) told DW that heat pumps are one of the key components in the energy transition and in making the building sector climate neutral.”Heat pumps use renewable energy and can generate three to four units of heat from one unit of electricity,” he said.
Of the millions of heating installations in German buildings, just over 1 million are heat pumps, compared to more than 19 million for gas and oil systems.To meet current climate targets, between 450,000 and 6 million heat pumps will be needed by 2030.The German government has set a target of 6 million units.This is indeed a daunting task.According to the federal statistics agency Statista, only 880,000 heat pumps have been installed in the country over the past 10 years.
“In 2021, 154,000 heat pumps were installed. That’s an increase of at least 28 percent over the previous year. This rate has to accelerate,” Stolt said.Even a large increase in the number of heat pumps cannot make up for the high proportion of gas and oil heating in buildings in the short term.
Manuel Frondel, an energy expert at the RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen, agrees.”In the short term, heat pumps are not the solution to reduce our dependence on Russian gas and oil,” he told DW.
In new buildings, heat pumps are the most commonly used heating technology in Germany, far ahead of oil or gas heating systems.But new construction represents only a fraction of the country’s roughly 20 million residential buildings.In older buildings, retrofitting a heat pump is an expensive solution, both in terms of initial investment and operating costs.
Frondel, head of RWI’s environment and resources division, said even huge government subsidies would not change that.He calculated that if 2 million heat pumps were subsidized for older buildings by 2024, the government would cost at least 42 billion euros.”There’s no justification for such an amount, especially the climate protection argument,” he said.
To make matters worse, there’s no guarantee that a poorly insulated home will actually get enough heat from the heat pump.“Therefore, experienced heating engineers are right to recommend against installing heat pumps in poorly insulated homes,” says Frondel.This inefficiency means that buildings may have to retain their traditional heating systems in addition to any new heat pumps.
Jens Schubert, an energy expert at the German Environment Agency (UBA), told DW: “For every household, switching to a heat pump is certainly a big step forward in moving away from natural gas. ”
He believes it is time to encourage more renewable heating for heating and do more to make buildings more energy efficient, even if they will only have an impact in the medium term.Until then, customers will have to wait in line to update their heating systems and can incur huge installation bills afterwards.
© 2022 Deutsche Welle|Privacy Policy|Accessibility Statement|Legal Statement|Contact|Mobile Version