The rising trend towards heat pumps – a more environmentally friendly way to warm up

Discover how different types of heat pumps are transforming the way homes are heated across Europe and beyond – and why they’re good for the planet

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From Charlotte Lock

There is a growing trend across Europe to install heat pumps for homes, with plans for the UK to follow suit to limit carbon sources in the future. With 40 percent of global emissions coming from buildings, and most of that coming from the way we heat them, heat pumps are a great way to achieve a greener footprint in the home.

But what exactly are heat pumps, what types are there and why should we think about installing them in our homes?

What are heat pumps?

Heat pumps are a relatively low-carbon alternative for heating residential and commercial spaces, absorbing heat from the air, ground or water. They use the same technology as an air conditioner, which cools homes using a refrigerant. The only major difference is that a heat pump has a diverter valve, which means it can also heat homes.

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Therefore, the devices are useful all year round, as they heat spaces in winter by extracting heat from outside and transferring it inside, and cool places in summer by transporting indoor heat back outside.

They have been proven to work even in extreme temperatures – making them all the more tempting as we enter a period of climate instability.

There are different types of heat pumps. Which is best for a building depends on several factors, including the heating needs of the occupants, the location of the building and its size.

Here are the different types that are popular for home heating:

Air source heat pumps

Air source heat pumps remove heat from the air and bring it to a higher temperature. There are two types of air source heat pumps: Air-water heat pumps And Air-to-air heat pumps.

Air-water pumps absorb heat from the outside of the building and feed it into a central heating system. These don’t get as warm as a traditional boiler, so residents often need to install underfloor heating or larger radiators to achieve the same effect. These types of pumps are best suited to newer homes that have a higher energy efficiency rating and better insulation.

Air-to-air heat pumps absorb heat from outside and feed it into buildings via fans. So they can be used to heat a house, but do not produce hot water.

Geothermal heat pumps

As the sun warms the ground every day, the surface beneath our feet becomes the perfect resource to keep our homes warm via a heat pump system.

Ground source heat pumps (or geothermal heat pumps) rely on a series of pipes being laid underground, which is more costly and inconvenient than air source heat pumps, but overall they work slightly better, particularly in the UK and northern European countries where the ground is present The temperature is often naturally warmer than the air.

To install one of these in a private home, either a horizontal pipe system in the garden or a vertical system – consisting of a single long pipe drilled several meters underground – is required.

While drilling these deep holes can be significantly more expensive than the horizontal arrangement, most people choose the vertical system because it takes up less space and causes less damage to the garden. Overall, geothermal heat pumps have higher efficiency than their air source counterparts, but their destructive and expensive installation (estimated at around £20,000) can be off-putting for some homeowners.

Water heat pumps

Installing a residential water heat pump depends on the location, as the system requires a body of water from which the pump can extract heat.

Like the ground, water stores the sun’s heat, which the heat pump can extract and supply to the houses via a pipe and a refrigerant. Canals, lakes, ponds and streams are good bodies of water that can be used by these types of pumps to heat and cool homes.

Hybrid heat pumps

Hybrid heat pump systems integrate any type of heat pump (air, geothermal or water heat pump) with a traditional gas boiler system – or possibly a hydrogen boiler if this technology is more advanced.

Hybrid heat pump systems monitor the outside temperature and automatically choose the most energy efficient option to heat the home and its water.

Rising popularity – but what about the UK?

Governments around the world have begun to introduce measures that will help increase the number of homes with an energy-efficient heating source. The International Energy Agency estimates that 60 percent of Norwegian buildings are equipped with these devices, followed by Sweden at 43 percent and Finland at 41 percent.

Germany is another country with a growing number of heat pumps. The rebate system, introduced in January 2023, offers homeowners up to 40 percent reimbursement for the cost of purchasing and installing a heat pump.

The UK Energy Security Act, passed in 2022, now provides grants and programs to encourage the uptake of heat pumps in residential buildings, particularly new builds, offering homeowners the opportunity to save on energy costs and become more environmentally friendly. However, the UK still lags far behind many countries in Europe, with just 412 per 100,000 people owning one of the eco-friendly devices, compared to a European average of 3,068 per 100,000.

However, with the technology suitable for most UK households and the sale of new gas boilers set to be banned from 2035, a huge increase in the uptake of heat pump systems is expected across the region.