© Adobe Stock/Fokke Baarssen
Heat pumps touring Germany
A climate-neutral building stock depends on an environmentally-friendly type of heat supply. Heat pumps use renewable ambient heat and meet the requirements specifying that new buildings must source 65% of the heating energy they use from renewables.
Heat Pump Week saw more than 500 events taking place throughout Germany, giving interested citizens information on using heat pumps in new and old buildings, their cost and the funding programmes available.
All across Germany: Fact-checking on heat pumps
A question that was frequently asked at the events was: “Would a heat pump work in my uninsulated house that has normal radiators?” Answers to this and other questions were provided in experts talks, exhibitions and in personal dialogue with energy advisors, heating technicians and other experts.
In Vallendar (Rhineland-Palatinate), visitors were able to see an air source heat pump in a hanger. An expert explained: “The heat pump is currently running – even this close to it, you can’t hear anything.”
Already the first choice for single-family and two-family homes
The events of Heat Pump Week also separated myth from fact. For instance, many visitors were surprised that four in five heat pumps fitted in 2023 were installed in existing buildings. Heat pumps are not only suitable for new buildings. They are often the first choice for single-family and two-family homes – irrespective of municipal heat plans.
Another issue being debated was the economic viability of heat pumps. Over its operational life, it is cheaper than gas or oil-fired heating systems – and also the cost of CO2 emissions and thus fossil fuels is set to rise. Funding rates of up to 70% make it even more attractive to invest in a heat pump.
Videos, photos and other impressions can be found online
If you have missed Heat Pump Week, you can find a great wealth of information at www.wochederwaermepumpe.de (in German), including videos of the virtual and analogue events that took place in all German Länder, along with impressions, quotes of visitors, and photos. For instance, there are house owners from Kulmbach (Bavaria) and Theley (Saarland) telling visitors about their heat pumps in a video. A master craftsman heating technician provides some insights about his daily work with heat pumps in a video (in German only). All important information on planning and installing a heat pump and on funding programmes available can be found at www.energiewechsel.de (in German only) or here (in German only).
In 2022, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action teamed up with other ministries and partners to launch a heat pump campaign that would accelerate the ramp-up of this technology and promote renewable heat for a climate-neutral building stock.
Heat Pump Week was implemented by about 30 regional institutions that will now act as points of contact for house owners. Heat Pump week was organised by the German Energy Agency (dena) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and supported by events hosted by the heat pump campaign.