Heat pumps are a climate-friendly and efficient heating method that uses heat from the environment.
There are different types of heat pumps: air heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps and groundwater heat pumps.
Depending on the type of heat pump, prices vary between 15,000 and 25,000 euros plus maintenance costs.
In many new buildings, heat pumps for heating or hot water supply are already standard. One of their biggest advantages is that they are more climate-friendly and more efficient than many other heating methods.
In the past few months in particular, heat pumps have once again become more relevant, as private households and politicians want to increasingly rely on alternative energies in view of the energy crisis caused by the war.
What you need to know about heat pumps:
How do heat pumps work?
Heat pumps work according to a simple basic principle: They use heat from the environment – from the air, the earth or the groundwater – to generate energy and thus more heat, which they then transfer to the respective heating system. The pump requires comparatively little electrical energy for this.
And this is how it works: The heat pump absorbs heat from the environment, for example from the ground or from the groundwater, using a special liquid. When heated, the liquid becomes gaseous. In a second step, the gas is then compressed. This makes it very hot and gives off thermal energy to the water, which is then used for heating. Because the gas cools down during this process, it becomes liquid again and the cycle can start all over again.
These heat pumps are available:
Depending on the type of heat pump, different heat sources are used. The groundwater heat pump is considered the most efficient heat pump because the groundwater remains comparatively warm even in winter. However, the installation for this is quite complex because, among other things, two wells have to be drilled. This, in turn, requires approval and is not permitted everywhere. In addition, not all groundwater is suitable for heat pumps.
Also geothermal heat pumps work quite energy-efficiently because there are hardly any temperature fluctuations in the ground. However, to ensure that the floor is not cooled down by the heat pump in the long term, it is advisable to build the system quite extensively. However, corresponding ground drilling is not permitted everywhere.
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air source heat pumps are popular because they are easy to set up and can be implemented anywhere compared to the other systems. However, air source heat pumps are less efficient as it takes large volumes of air to generate the heat needed. This air is transported by fans. This consumes a relatively large amount of electricity, especially in winter when the air is colder. In addition, the fans generate noise, which is why air heat pumps require sound insulation or should not be installed near living spaces.
How much does a heat pump cost?
- Sea Consumer Center costs to buy one air source heat pump between 20,000 and 25,000 Euro.
- One geothermal heat pump according to the consumer advice center costs between 15,000 to 20,000 euros. In addition, there are costs for probes that absorb the heat in the ground. Here the consumer advice center costs between 50 and 75 euros each Meter at. Especially in areas with a lot of stones in the ground, probes sometimes have to be up to 100 meters deep.
Alternatively, so-called ground collectors can also be built in width. The size depends on the living space to be heated. As a rule, about twice as much space is required for the surface collectors as the living space is to be heated. With a living area of 140 square meters, this corresponds to a collector area of around 280 square meters. According to the consumer center, there are additional costs around 25 euros per square meter an.
- for one groundwater heat pump become about 20,000 to 25,000 euros due for the device as well as development costs of 5,000 to 10,000 euros.
In addition, heat pumps – like other heating systems – cause regular maintenance costs. However, these are usually lower than with other systems. According to consumer advice, users with about 100 euros annually calculate. Chimney sweep costs are completely eliminated.
There are also electricity costs associated with operating the heat pump.
What is the power consumption of heat pumps?
The so-called annual performance factor (Jaz) indicates how efficiently a heat pump works: the more efficient, the higher this figure. You get this number from the respective manufacturer. However, the consumer advice center points out that this number is usually collected under laboratory conditions and therefore often does not quite correspond to reality.
In order to calculate your own probable power consumption with the heat pump, you divide your current consumption in kWh by the expected annual performance factor. You can easily see the heating energy consumption from your current gas bill. This is already specified there in kWh. If you heat with oil, you must first multiply the number of liters by ten.
A comparison of the costs of heat pumps and gas heating
An example: According to the heating mirror, detached houses with gas heating consumed an average of 166 kilowatt hours per square meter in 2021. For a house with 140 square meters, that makes 23,240 kWh.
23,240 kWh : 4 = 5810 (Heat pumps should have at least Jaz 3 to be worthwhile. In this example we calculate with Jaz 4).
There are special ones for heat pumps Heating electricity tariffs, which are cheaper than domestic electricity tariffs. On average, 22 cents instead of the usual 27 cents per kilowatt hour are due, writes the consumer advice center.
In this example that would mean that the electricity costs for the heat pump amount to around 1280 euros per year – plus the monthly basic price.
For comparison: The average price for gas is currently 9.34 cents per kWh. In our example, the annual heating costs are over 2170 euros (plus the monthly basic price).
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