Heat pumps become the norm in Germany's new homes
Clean Energy Wire
A large majority of new residential houses and buildings in Germany feature a heat pump as their main heating system, showed numbers from the government’s statistical office Destatis. The climate-friendly heating technology was installed in more than two thirds (69.4 percent) of the 76,100 homes finished in 2024, a five percentage point increase compared to 2023.
Around 15 percent of Germany's CO2 emissions come from heating buildings, meaning the vast majority of the county's 40 million homes must switch to climate-neutral heating if the country is to reach its 2045 net-zero emissions target. However, a building energy law designed to foster this transition triggered a fierce debate two years ago, spreading uncertainty among consumers.
Whereas almost three quarters (74.1 percent) of new detached and semi-detached houses used a heat pump as their primary heating source last year, less than half (45.9%) of all apartment blocks were equipped with the technology. Gas boilers were the second most important heating technology in new buildings, making up 15 percent of the total. More than four in five homes (81 percent) for which a building permit was granted in 2024 will be mainly heated by a heat pump.
Whereas heat pumps have become the norm in new buildings, this is not the case for new heating systems in existing buildings. Homeowners installed more gas boilers than heat pumps when replacing their heating systems in 2024, though the gap is closing. All in all, four in five residential buildings are still heated with oil and gas in Germany.
Despite the increasing use of heat pumps in new buildings, national production collapsed last year to the lowest level in six years: around 162,400 heat pumps were made in Germany in 2024, a drop of almost 60 percent compared to the previous year. The combined value of all heat pumps produced in Germany last year fell to 587 million euros, from 1.2 billion euros in 2023. Trade revealed a simlar picture, as heat pump imports dropped by 28 percent to 755 million euros and exports dropped by 40 percent to 480 million euros.
