Domestic Hot Water Heat Pumps: A Growth Engine for the European Heat Pump Market - and Showing no Signs of Stopping

EDINBURGH, September 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The European domestic hot water heat pump market will at least double in size by 2017, according to a new in-depth research report published by Delta Energy & Environment (Delta-ee).  

Domestic hot water heat pumps (DHW HPs) have in the last 2-3 years been the only sector of the European heat pump market to have grown significantly.  The market has more than quadrupled over the last five years, to over 60,000units/year across Europe.  Delta-ee forecasts the growth of DHW HPs will continue over the next five years, with the market at least doubling in size by 2017. 

As a result, the DHW HP market is attracting growing interest from existing and new players.  The report identifies important trends and opportunities for these players including:

The replacement of direct electric water heaters is a huge opportunity for DHW HPs in millions of homes.  The installed base of direct electric storage water heaters in France, Germany and UK alone is well in excess of 10 million.  Factors such as EU Ecodesign and Energy Labelling, tighter building regulations, rising electricity prices and falling product costs will make DHW HPs increasingly attractive to consumers relative to direct electric water heaters.  

Combining a DHW HP with an oil boiler creates new opportunities for manufacturers, utilities and policy-makers.  The replacement of an existing oil boiler's hot water tank with a DHW HP can significantly boost overall system efficiencies, which can be as low as 40% for old oil boilers in summer when being used for hot water only.  Installing a DHW HP means the boiler can effectively be switched off in summer, reducing energy bills for customers.  

The emergence of Chinese manufacturers signals future competition for European manufacturers.  There are many low cost Chinese DHW HP systems already available.  Some of these systems are at least equal to European products in terms of efficiency according to official standards.  In markets such as Poland, Chinese products dominate.  Most of the Chinese products are being sold as OEM products under European brands. But should Chinese manufacturers be successful in setting up their own distribution networks across Europe, there is a clear competitive threat to European manufacturers.

More information is available on the Delta-ee website at http://www.delta-ee.com where you can also read our blog.

Notes

Delta-ee (http://www.delta-ee.com) is a specialist decentralised energy research and consulting company. The Delta-ee Heat Pump Research Service provides insight and analysis to leading European utilities and heat pump manufacturers on the hot spots shaping market development across Europe, and what this means for key stakeholders.