High-temperature heat pumps perform reliably even in dwellings yet-to-be-refurbished. A recent Coolproducts report by the European Environmental Bureau analysed success stories from 11 towns in Poland, Italy, and The Netherlands. From urban flats to rural homes, users surveyed reported thermal comfort and reduced bills in unrenovated buildings. These findings underscore the viability of installing heat pumps prior to building renovations, as a crucial first step towards energy efficient and fossil-free homes.
With 75% of European heating still relying on fossil fuels, heating costs remain high and contribute to pollution. However, as a generation of gas boilers die out, many homeowners might hesitate to transition to efficient, renewable heating solutions like heat pumps due to the widespread belief that this would require a deep renovation before benefiting from the savings.
A new report commissioned by the EEB found that specialised high-temp heat pumps offer a viable climate solution for buildings awaiting renovations, those only partially renovated in the past, or homes that cannot be renovated due to historical protection, limiting rental contracts, lack of time (i.e., in winter) or lack of available contractors or suitable finance, etc..
Following the case studies of 12 homes in 11 towns across 3 countries using 5 different brands of heat pumps, all working on different refrigerants, some notable findings are:
- 8 out of 8 of those who already have data reported energy savings
- 8 out 9 of those who already have data reported lower energy bills, especially coupling with photovoltaic panels
- None of the interviewees regretted the choice or planned to revert it
- Many interviewees described the overall comfort related to daily life significantly improved due to ease of use compared to oil and biomass heating
- The Dutch case study is a pilot project of 6 identical homes, which has already delivered comfort, energy savings, bill reduction and improved energy performance of buildings.
It should be noted that unrenovated homes are not optimised to deliver the full energy savings potential of heat pumps, and these heating systems stand to deliver even more with insulation. Indeed, building renovation should be the top priority, as it can reduce energy consumption by 60% and pave the way for the best performance of heat pumps. However, in cases where such renovations are not yet possible, high-temperature heat pumps offer a great intermediary solution to cut reliance on fossil fuels and mobilise energy savings.
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