What will a possible ban on conventional heating technology mean for you?Why heat pumps will help Europe reduce its carbon footprint
The drive to decarbonise is accelerating, and a possible ban on fossil fuel boilers is on the way, so rolling out renewable heating sources is vital
The countdown to Net Zero has begun. The EU’s plans to decarbonise by 2050 mean greenhouse gas emissions must halve. Buildings are a major consumer of energy and source of emissions. So installing more energy-efficient heat pumps can make a huge difference.
Heat pumps have a lower environmental impact than traditional fossil fuel-based heating systems. Our research shows that a Daikin heat pump uses between 2 and 24 times less carbon than a high energy-efficiency gas boiler. That saves 0.2-2 tons of CO2 each year per house.
Those individual savings add up. Overall, Europe is expected to use 21 billion cubic meters less gas to heat buildings in 2030.
Heat pumps can help decarbonisation efforts in many ways. They are highly energy-efficient and use renewable energy. This helps reduce reliance on fossil fuels and enables heating systems to be electrified. They can be retrofitted into existing systems, so are easy to install. They can also be used to cool buildings, making them very versatile.
Accelerating the green transition
Heat pumps are set to become increasingly widespread in homes across Europe. The EU’s Heat Pump Action Plan has a target of 10 million more heat pumps to be installed by 2027, and it is looking at how to support this rollout with funding.
The EU has said it plans to ban the sale of standalone fossil fuel boilers before the end of this decade. Therefore, the impetus for households to embrace renewable energy technologies such as heat pumps and solar panels has increased.
More and more people are recognising the benefits of heat pumps due to their energy and cost savings and their sustainability. Their ability to make homes feel comfortable in any season with optimised temperature control is appealing too. Increasingly, they are the top choice for environmentally-conscious and forward-thinking homeowners.
Switching to a smaller carbon footprint
Consumers often find it hard to understand how much difference switching to a heat pump can make to environmental performance. So, we analysed this to put it into perspective. We compared one of our heat pump models (a Daikin Altherma 3 R 180L) with a high-efficiency gas boiler. We tested them in several European countries with different average temperatures.
