Modernization in the boiler room
Sales of gas heating systems will reach record levels in 2023
February 19, 2024, 7:10 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
The heating transition is taking shape, albeit more slowly than expected: in 2023, sales of heat pumps will increase by 51 percent. At the same time, people are turning to fossil alternatives such as oil and especially gas. But their installation can also make a contribution to climate protection.
According to a media report, the move away from fossil fuels in the heating sector will take longer than expected. Sales of gas heating systems rose sharply last year – after a decline in 2022 – to the record level of 790,500 boilers sold. This is reported by “Welt”, citing the 2023 annual balance sheet of the Federal Association of the German Heating Industry (BDH). That is an increase of 32 percent compared to the previous year.
Sales of oil heaters, which have been particularly criticized by climate activists, doubled to 112,500 devices in 2023. Of the heat pumps that received special political support, 356,000 units were sold, an increase of 51 percent.
Overall, modernization in the boiler room made significant progress last year, the report continues. The number of heat generators sold has almost doubled compared to the long-term average to 1.3 million devices. The replacement of outdated boilers alone makes an important contribution to climate protection: According to calculations by the Institute for Technical Building Equipment in Dresden on behalf of the BDH, around three million tons of CO2 were saved in the existing building last year just by replacing the heating system.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, the share of renewable energies in the heating market was recently around 18 percent. Wood accounted for more than four fifths of this. However, according to the new sales figures from the BDH, there has been a decline here: sales of pellet heating systems fell by 57 percent to just 28,000 units last year. There were also double-digit percentage declines in wood chip and combination boilers. “The cut in funding for solid biomass in August 2022 has had a massive impact on this area,” BDH Managing Director Markus Staudt told the newspaper.