In many cases, heat pumps are a climate-friendly and efficient alternative to other heating systems. picture alliance / Kirchner Media | David Indian song
Heat pumps are a climate-friendly and efficient heating method that uses heat from the environment.
According to the Baden-Württemberg consumer advice center, the costs for a heat pump for a single-family home including installation are: between 20,000 and 50,000 euros.
The new federal heating funding started on January 1, 2024. Anyone who buys a heat pump heating system can save up to 70 percent.
Heat pumps for heating or hot water supply are already standard in many new buildings. One of their biggest advantages is that they are more climate-friendly and efficient than many other heating methods.
The federal government’s new heating subsidies started on January 1, 2024 – and they are significant. Anyone who buys a heat pump heating system can save up to 70 percent. The grant for replacing the heating system can be up to 23,500 euros. What is new is that there is an extra 30 percent subsidy for households that earn less than 40,000 euros a year. KfW also grants new supplementary loans of up to 120,000 euros per residential unit.
How will heat pumps be funded in 2024?
Basic funding: Anyone who replaces their heating system is entitled to 30 percent basic support. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your own property or whether you’re renting something out. This option is also available to other service companies or municipalities.
Efficiency bonus: If your heat pumps use water, soil or wastewater as a heat source or use a natural refrigerant, you will receive an extra five percent.
Climate speed bonus: You get an additional 20 percent if you replace your old heaters early. From 2029, the bonus will decrease by three percent every two years. This only applies to owner-occupied property.
Income bonus: If you have an annual household income of up to 40,000 euros, you will receive an additional income bonus of 30 percent. This also only applies to owner-occupied property. Especially pensioners could therefore benefit from installing a heat pump.
Emission reduction surcharge: For particularly efficient biomass heating systems, there is a flat rate of 2,500 euros.
When replacing the heating system in a single-family home, a maximum of 30,000 euros will be funded. So with the basic funding of 30 percent you will receive a maximum of 9,000 euros. If you combine the basic funding, the climate speed bonus and the income bonus, you will save 70 percent and receive a maximum grant of 21,000 euros. If you use a supplementary loan, you also have interest savings.
What deadlines do you have to observe?
If you live in a single-family home, you can apply for the funding from February 27, 2024 KfW apply for. Owners of apartment buildings and homeowners’ associations will probably be able to submit applications from May onwards, they said Website the federal government.
The supplementary loan
There is also a new one at KfW Supplementary loan to finance heating replacement or other efficiency measures. If you live in a house and have an annual household income of up to 90,000 euros, you can even get the loan for 0.01 to 2.26 percent interest per year. In this case it is valid for up to ten years. With a higher income, the interest rates are higher. The supplementary loan is capped at 120,000 euros per residential unit.
You can only apply for the loan in addition to a grant from KfW and/or the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), which was granted in accordance with the new funding conditions that apply from January 1, 2024.
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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 therefore more heat, which they then transfer to the respective heating system. The pump requires comparatively little electrical energy.
Here’s how it works: The heat pump absorbs heat from the environment, for example from the ground or 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 heat energy to water, which is then used for heating. Because the gas cools during this process, it becomes liquid again and the cycle can start 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 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, so that the floor is not permanently cooled by the heat pump, it is advisable to build the system quite spaciously. 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 compared to other systems and can be implemented anywhere. However, air source heat pumps are less efficient because they require large amounts of air to generate the required heat. This air is transported using fans. This uses a relatively large amount of electricity, especially in winter when the air is colder. The fans also generate noise, which is why air heat pumps require sound insulation or should not be installed near living spaces.
Heat pumps draw their energy from the environment – from the air, the ground or the groundwater. picture alliance/dpa/dpa-infografik GmbH/dpa-Themendienst | dpa-infografik GmbH
How much does a heat pump cost?
According to the Baden-Württemberg consumer advice center are the expenses for a heat pump for a single-family home including installation between 20,000 and 50,000 euros.
According to that ADAC The investment costs are higher, but the operating costs are lower than with other heating systems. As a rough guideline, it could be said that the operating costs in single-family homes, including maintenance, are: around 700 to 1700 euros annually lay.
There are also electricity costs to operate the heat pump. There are special heating electricity tariffs for this.
What power consumption do heat pumps have?
The so-called annual performance factor (Jaz) indicates how efficiently a heat pump works: the more efficient, the higher this number is. You get this number from the respective manufacturer. However, the consumer advice center points out that Jaz is usually collected under laboratory conditions and therefore often does not entirely correspond to reality.
In order to calculate your own expected electricity consumption with the heat pump, divide your current consumption in kWh by the expected annual performance factor. You can easily find out the heating energy consumption from your current gas bill. This is already stated there in kWh. If you heat with oil, you must first multiply the number of liters by ten.
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This article was previously published in May 2023 and updated in March 2024.