“Heating with a heat pump is not profitable”

Investing in a heat pump has not proven to be profitable in recent years compared to investing in a fossil fuel boiler fired by fuel oil or natural gas. This is evident from a study conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission CREG.

CREG investigated whether investing in sustainable energy (heat pump or pellet stove) is worth investing in fossil fuels. Investment costs, maintenance, VAT and of course energy costs: electricity, natural gas and fuel oil were examined. This was based on prices over a six-year period: from January 2018 to January 2024. In other words, energy prices before, during and after the Covid crisis and the energy crisis were taken into account. The comparison was made for different types of housing, in different regions, for both protected and unprotected customers (i.e. customers who benefit from a social rate), for owners or tenants. Remarkable: it does not take into account whether the house has solar panels or not. “This will be examined in the next study,” says CREG.

What does it show now? For the owner, heating with a heat pump is not as profitable in the three regions as heating with fuel oil or natural gas. For protected customers who rent, heating with a heat pump turns out to be cheaper than heating oil, over a certain period. More specifically: “The costs of a heat pump, including investment costs, are two to three times higher than those of oil or gas boilers, regardless of the region or the income category of the consumer,” says CREG director Laurent Jacquet.

On July 12, CREG will advise federal and regional governments on improving the profitability of heat pumps.