Heat pump sales up 37% due to high energy prices

High gas prices really pushed the sales of heat pumps in the Netherlands last year. Nearly 100,000 heat pumps were installed in 2022, an increase of 37 percent compared to a year earlier, NOS reports based on figures from the Dutch heating industry.

The sale of heat pumps grew faster than that of central heating boilers both in percentage and actual numbers, the Dutch heating industry said. But the number of boilers sold was still much higher at 440,000 units, slightly more than in 2021.

The upswing in heat pump sales is a logistical consequence of the war in Ukraine, Doekle Terpstra of Techniek Nederland said to NOS. “Because of the high gas price, sustainability has never been so rewarding,” he said.

From 2026, homeowners will be obliged to opt for a more sustainable option - a fully electric heat pump, a hybrid heat pump, or a connection to a heat network - when replacing their central heating boiler.

Techniek Nederland, therefore, expects a massive switch to heat pumps in the coming years. “We are working hard to prepare enough mechanics for this.” But in the immediate future, the trade association expects the sale of central heating boilers to remain high, comparable to 2022, as people replace old ones before being forced to switch to other technology.