The demand for heat pumps as an alternative to oil or gas heating is still high. In the first three quarters of 2022, almost 243,200 heat pumps were produced in Germany, almost half more (48.9 percent) than in the same period last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday in Wiesbaden. Compared to 2017, the number of heat pumps manufactured more than doubled in the first three quarters of 2022 (plus 132.9 percent).
In 2021, heat pumps were used as the primary heating energy source in a good half (50.6 percent) of new residential buildings, and in 2016 the proportion was almost a third. Heat pumps are used in detached and semi-detached houses, less so in apartment buildings.
Heat pumps use environmental heat from the air or the ground to heat buildings. If sustainably generated electricity is used in the process, there is no environmental pollution from CO2 emissions. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is promoting the use of heat pumps in order to achieve climate targets in the building sector. The Federal Economics and Building Ministries are working on a draft law to ban the installation of new gas and oil heating systems from 2024. Details are still pending.
According to the statistician, foreign trade in heat pumps also increased significantly. In 2022, heat pumps worth almost 738.3 million euros were imported to Germany, a good quarter more than in the previous year. Compared to 2017, the value has more than quadrupled. The export of heat pumps also picked up strongly. In 2022, heat pumps worth almost 769.4 million euros were exported from Germany – over a third more than in the previous year. Within five years, the value of the exported heat pumps has more than tripled.
