Almost two thirds of all new buildings heat with heat pumps

05.06.2024

Source: Energie & Management Powernews

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the proportion of heat pumps as the primary heating system in new buildings has doubled since 2014. 64.6 percent of buildings constructed in 2023 will be heated with them.

In more and more new residential buildings in Germany, heat pumps are being used for heating. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on June 4. Almost two thirds of the almost 96,800 residential buildings completed in 2023 used heat pumps as their primary heating system. The proportion rose by eight percentage points compared to the previous year alone. Compared to 2014, it has more than doubled.

Heat pumps are mainly used in detached and semi-detached houses. Only 41.1 percent were installed in apartment buildings. In four out of five new residential buildings, various renewable energy sources are used for heating. In addition to geothermal or air heat pumps, renewable energies in heating systems also include wood, for example in pellet heating systems or stoves (3.7 percent), solar thermal energy (0.5 percent), biogas/biomethane (0.3 percent) and other biomass (0.2 percent). Renewable energies are also used as a supplement, for example with a wood-burning stove.

One fifth of new builds are primarily heated with gas

The second most important primary energy source in 2023 was natural gas, which was used in 20.1% of new builds. The proportion of gas heating systems as the primary energy source has more than halved within ten years: in 2014, it was still at 50.7%. 8.2% of new residential buildings were primarily heated with district heating (2014: 7.9%). Oil heating was only used as the primary heating system in 300 new residential buildings, accounting for 0.3% of new buildings (2014: 1.2%).

According to Destatis, the trend towards heating with renewable energies is also evident in the planning of new residential buildings. 80.7% of the approximately 67,900 residential buildings approved in 2023 are to be primarily heated with renewable energy. Most of these will also be heat pumps. They are to be used as the primary heating system in 76.3% of approved new buildings. Natural gas, the most common conventional energy source, is also playing an increasingly minor role in the planning of residential buildings with a share of 7.3 percent.

Heat pump production on the rise

The increasing use of heat pumps in new buildings is also reflected in production: in 2023, a good 400,000 heat pumps were manufactured in Germany, 14.0 percent more than in the previous year. However, the production of heating appliances recently declined after a significant increase in 2022 in particular. In the 4th quarter of 2023, 41.4% fewer were produced than in the 3rd quarter, and only around half as many as in the same quarter of the previous year.

A similar trend can be seen in foreign trade with heat pumps: in 2023, heat pumps worth one billion euros were imported, an increase in value of 39.2% compared to the previous year. However, foreign trade in heat pumps has recently declined. A similar trend can also be seen in the export of heat pumps.

Author: Susanne Harmsen