Heat-pump sales plummet by almost 50pc across Europe

Fewer than 1.5m appliances likely to be sold in 2024 – the lowest level since 2019

Heat-pump sales in Europe plummeted by 47 per cent in the first half of the year, as fewer households switched from gas boilers.
Just 765,000 heat pumps were sold in 2024 across the 13 European countries that represent 80 per cent of the market, the European Heat Pump Association said.
Over the same period in 2023, 1.44 million heat pumps were sold in countries including France, Italy, Germany and Sweden.
It means fewer than 1.5 million heat pumps are likely to be sold in 2024, which is the lowest level since 2019.
Sales were hit by dropping gas prices, which soared after Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, wavering government subsidies and the cost of living crisis.
After the war began, the EU set a target of installing at least 10 million more heat pumps by 2027 as part of efforts to lessen its dependence on Russian gas but a subsequent boom in sales is now over.
The UK Government is reported to be planning to introduce heat-pump targets in Britain next year in what has been branded a “boiler tax” on households.
Homeowners in countries such as Germany rebelled against government drives to install more of the green technology, which is expensive to set up, during the cost of living crisis.
Olaf Scholz’s under-fire coalition has since watered down its proposals to make heat pumps compulsory from 2024 in the face of public anger.
In Italy, heat pumps have become a lightning rod in the backlash against EU net zero plans, which includes opposition to an effective ban on petrol cars in 2035.
The new Right-wing government in the Netherlands also plans to tear up rules forcing homeowners to buy heat pumps .
The heat-pump industry, which policymakers see as vital in decarbonising the housing stock, has blamed fewer and inconsistent government subsidies for the slowdown.
Heat pumps cool or warm buildings by using electricity to transfer heat to and from a place, rather than by generating it. If powered by renewables they can cut emissions from housing.
Their widespread adoption has been slowed because they are initially expensive, although cheaper to run, and there are not enough qualified installers.
The European Commission has promised an action plan to boost heat-pump sales, which was due at the end of 2023 but has been delayed.
Paul Kenny, director of the European Heat Pump Association, also blamed supply-chain issues for the slump.
“The people who don’t have a heat pump and want a heat pump crash into the barrier of a really poor supply chain,” he told the EurActiv website.
He added that the important thing was to “get people to think heat pumps are a good thing” and then “actually make them a good thing” by ensuring they were cheap to run and installed correctly.