The heat pump is becoming increasingly popular as a primary heating source. This can also be seen in the increasing production. That's what the numbers say.
The number of heat pumps in newly built residential buildings has increased significantly: As the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Tuesday, 64.6 percent, or almost two thirds, of the residential buildings completed last year used heat pumps as their primary energy source, i.e. primarily for heating. This was an increase of eight percentage points compared to the previous year, and the number has more than doubled compared to 2014.
The energy source is used primarily in single- and two-family homes, but less frequently in new multi-family homes. The trend towards heat pumps is also evident in the permits: 80.7 percent of the residential buildings approved in 2023 are to be heated primarily with renewable energy – heat pumps are considered a renewable energy source and are to be used as the primary heating in 76.3 percent of approved new buildings.
According to the statistics office, renewables were used as the primary energy source for heating in a good 69 percent of new residential buildings, compared to just 38.5 percent in 2014. Gas is the second most important primary energy source: As the statisticians in Wiesbaden further reported, gas was used as the primary source in a good 20 percent of new buildings last year. In 2014, the proportion was still 50.7 percent.
As a result, the production of heat pumps increased significantly last year – by 14 percent compared to the previous year to just over 400,100 heat pumps. In addition, heat pumps worth one billion euros were imported in 2023, which was an increase in value of 39.2 percent year-on-year. Exports rose by 3.2 percent.
