The heat pump is now largely paying off for people with an old gas boiler – News

“With an old air boiler, replacing it with a heat pump pays off,” said Novinkám Náprstek.

According to him, if the family has a new condensing boiler, it is currently cheaper to operate. The heating season starts with a coal boiler around the same time as the heat pump. However, the situation could change significantly in three years.

“Coal for home heating will soon be subject to an emissions allowance. Then coal could be more expensive by around thirty percent from 2027, and at that time the pump would be economically interesting compared to coal,” he said.

According to ENA analyst Jiří Gavor, the greater interest is in heat pumps, which in the Czech Republic usually send heat from air to water for heating, naturally.

“When old technology expires, it’s good that consumers are thinking about what to replace it with. Buying a new coal boiler with the best emission class to replace older boilers is a dead end where consumers would be stuck within ten years at most. “The interest in pumps related to decommissioning the older boilers is not welcome,” he told Novinkám.

One kilowatt-hour, which the pump consumes for its operation, produces about three times as much energy.

The Ministry of the Environment has noticed a significant increase in the number of applications for subsidies for pumps this summer.

“Back then, it was possible to apply under more favorable conditions, both in the New Green Savings program and in boiler subsidies. Those planning to replace the old boiler in the autumn may have submitted their application before the end of August. Since the beginning of September, the reception of requests to replace heat pumps has been constant, in the order of hundreds of requests per week,” spokeswoman for the department Veronika Krejčí told Novinkám.

From September, the subsidy for water heating pumps fell from 100 to 90 thousand crowns as part of New Green Savings. Without it, it is now five thousand less instead of 80 thousand crowns. “However, this change should not affect the reduction in demand,” said Náprstek.

According to Jan Potucký, director of the Association for the Use of Heat Pumps, the conditions for applicants have been reduced by reducing subsidies. “Thus, owners of solid fuel boilers of higher emission classes and also owners of gas boilers can buy a heat pump, regardless of its age,” he told Novinkám.

According to Náprstek, the advantage of a heat pump compared to a solid fuel boiler is that it is maintenance free. “People with solid fuel boilers still have to take care of the fire, light it, add to it, take out the ash. When the boiler is not in the basement, smoke in the rooms is also a concern. All that goes away with the pump. Besides, people may not need to stack coal,” he said.

Pumps are more suitable for underfloor heating, because the temperature of heating water is sufficiently lower.

“When heated with radiators, the temperature with a solid fuel boiler could be moved to, for example, eighty degrees. But with a heat pump, it is heated to fifty to sixty degrees, so the performance of the radiator decreases. In our installations, however, there is only about one percent where the performance of the heat pump would not be satisfactory. “Old heating systems are well suited for heat pumps,” he explained.

On the other hand, a heat pump is not worth it in houses with little heat loss, ie new houses with good insulation. Or in cases where the family house has an extremely high heat loss. “There, I would consider insulating, replacing the windows and insulating the roof, which leaks a lot of heat,” advises Náprstek.

He recommends replacing the windows and insulation first, then replacing the heating source and only then buying photovoltaics.

“There are rumors that if I add photovoltaics to the pump, installing them on the roof will slow down the operation of the pump. This is nonsense, it cannot work in the Czech Republic – in January and February the sun only shines for a few hours. It must be noted that between December and February, the home must draw some power from the network to operate the pump,” said Náprstek.

The purchase price of a pump is now more favorable than a few years ago. “The market is responding strongly to demand. Two years ago, when demand was very high, prices also went up. Now we are gradually on top of what the customer is willing to pay,” he said.

A quality pump from a reputable supplier is now fifty or sixty thousand crowns cheaper than a few months ago. “The average price of the contract is around 300,000 crowns. So, even with the subsidy, the customer pays ​​about two hundred thousand crowns,” said Náprstek.