The hybrid heat pump is the future-proof heating boiler

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The hybrid heat pump is the best of both worlds: the combination of a gas boiler and a small heat pump. The heat pump can efficiently heat the house for a large part of the year, making use of heat from the outside air. If it gets too cold and the heat pump can run less efficiently, the gas boiler kicks in. The advantage is obvious: the house always remains sufficiently warm and the gas consumption decreases considerably. Although electricity consumption also increases, there is significant energy savings and in most situations this also means a lower energy bill.

The hybrid heat pump also makes it possible to gradually make a home more sustainable. Not everything has to be done at once: you can make your home more sustainable in steps and this does not have to be done with the entire neighborhood at once. The hybrid heat pump may also be part of the climate-neutral final solution in 2050, provided that sufficient sustainable gases are available. Gas-free is not the ultimate goal, but natural gas-free is. This makes the hybrid heat pump a future-proof boiler.

But why standardization?

Standardization or setting a standard means that the government sets requirements for products and equipment. This is already happening in many areas: the safety of cars, harmful substances in toys, the flammability of materials and the energy efficiency of appliances. Standardization of heat installations means that stricter energy performance requirements are imposed on heating boilers.

The government currently subsidizes the hybrid heat pump, but the subsidy instrument has its limitations. Grants must be given for a limited time. Setting a standard is often a more effective policy instrument. It provides clarity and scale. The clarity ensures that manufacturers start making products that meet these standards. Scale ensures that a sufficient market is created, which means that the cost price can also be reduced and quality can be increased. In combination with a subsidy that will be phased out over the years, this will ensure a rapid growth in the number of hybrid heat pumps.

Is standardization the same as coercion or obligation? In a way, yes. But in the same way that the freedom of choice with regard to other products is limited. The regular petrol car will no longer be able to be sold in the long term. And when you build a new home, it must also meet all kinds of energy performance standards. Standards are therefore defensible, but only under the condition that there is really enough perspective for action for households. In concrete terms: there must be affordable hybrid heat pumps, the government must provide financial assistance with subsidies if necessary and exceptions must be possible if a hybrid heat pump is not technically possible.

Performance of the hybrid heat pump

In her opinion article, Van Suylekom states that there are still no good figures available about the actual savings of the hybrid heat pump. She rightly states that the extent to which a hybrid heat pump saves natural gas depends on the degree of insulation of the home in combination with the quality of the ventilation and the heat emission system. The BDH report ‘Installation monitor: practical presentations of heat pumps’, published a few weeks ago, analyzed the practical performance of hybrid heat pumps. Gasterra, Consumers’ Association and Vereniging Eigen Huis have also conducted a test.

Yes, it can always be more precise: broken down by housing type, the heating behavior of the resident, the degree of insulation, and so on. At the same time, the good must not become the enemy of the better: more models of hybrid heat pumps will come onto the market, precisely because of the standardization, which all behave slightly differently. It is therefore especially important that there will be an efficiency requirement: the hybrid heat pump must demonstrably achieve a minimum efficiency.

Why is the replacement moment being hammered, Van Suylekom wonders? It is true that the hybrid heat pump can be added to the existing boiler as a separate system or can be installed as one integrated appliance when the boiler is replaced (more info: here). Of course everyone is free to add the hybrid heat pump at a different time. But it is of course not illogical to do this, especially if the installer has already started working on the installation and a new integrated hybrid central heating boiler can replace the gas boiler to be replaced.

Not unexpected

Fortunately, there is no “obsession” with the hybrid heat pump, as Van Suylekom writes. The hybrid heat pump is one of the routes through which we can make the built environment more sustainable. It is an important route, because full electrification is by no means always possible or sensible and connecting homes to heat networks requires considerable effort at district level.

The announcement doesn’t come out of the blue either. Various analyzes have been published in recent years (including by Berenschot, Ecorys and TNO) that show that the route of the hybrid heat pump is a sensible route. That is why the CDA, among others, has given the hybrid heat pump a place in its election program (beginning of 2021) and also in its Climate Vision (September 2021). The Van der Lee/Bontenbal motion was also adopted in July 2021, requesting the government to “prepare a standard that stimulates the roll-out of hybrid heat pumps”. The motion was passed with a large majority, including a number of parties that reacted critically to Minister De Jonge’s announcement.

The measure has already been announced in the coalition agreement. The minister is therefore simply carrying out the coalition agreement. The measure had already been discussed in the Climate Agreement before, when energy companies (including heating companies), NGOs, boiler manufacturers, installers and network operators argued in a manifesto for the introduction of an efficiency requirement for heating installations.

Fortunately, the cabinet is not opposing the ‘hybrid route’ to the district-oriented approach or the realization of heat networks. On the contrary, because the same coalition agreement states: “At the neighborhood level, where cost-effectively possible, we will focus on the realization of sustainable heat networks. The unprofitable top of collective heat projects will be partly financed from a national subsidy scheme, so that it remains affordable for households.” We will also need heat networks to make neighborhoods more sustainable.

Other options remain possible, provided they are more sustainable

Nor will standardization mean that solutions other than the hybrid heat pump are no longer possible. Yes, a full all-electric heat pump is also an option. It would be fantastic if there was a well-functioning, proven high-temperature heat pump on the market quickly, affordably and in large volumes that can replace the gas boiler on a one-to-one basis. Come on!

The minister’s announcement states that there will be exceptions to the obligation to install (at least) the hybrid heat pump, for example if a district-oriented approach by a municipality already has another plan ready for making a district gas-free, for example with the realization of a heat law. This prevents a lock-in and homeowners from purchasing a hybrid heat pump for only a few years.

Van Suylekom suggests that the hybrid heat pump is not a future-proof choice. I tend to disagree. In many cases it is precisely a no-regret-option. Heat networks will be a solution in certain districts in cities, but rapid scaling up will also be quite a challenge there. In the meantime, what are we going to do with all homes that are not made gas-free via the district-oriented approach with the connection to a heat network? In addition, she seems to overlook the fact that the hybrid heat pump can also be part of the final solution, provided that sufficient green gas and/or hydrogen is available by 2050.

At the end of her article, Van Suylekom poses a number of good questions that should be included in the elaboration of. But these questions are not a showstopper. At least a few answers.

• When asked what we will do after 2040: It is not immediately said that the stock of 2.5 million homes with a hybrid heat pump must still make the step to all-electric, because other end solutions are also possible (including end solutions with sustainable gases). And it doesn’t have to be all at once in 2040.

• On the question of whether a future heat pump will replace the current hybrid as a standard: The great thing about standardization of heat installations is that you can adjust this standard as technology progresses. Reports from the past few weeks show that boiler manufacturers are already working on new products, such as a hybrid heat pump where the outdoor unit is no longer needed, but is integrated in the flue gas outlet. Or the gas adsorption heat pump, which also enables one-to-one replacement.

• When asked what will be done with high-rise buildings: The letter from the minister has already stated that the obligation does not apply in places where the hybrid heat pump cannot be installed. High-rise buildings are often suitable for heat solutions other than the hybrid heat pump.

• When asked what to do with people who cannot afford the investment: Households with a low income often live in rented accommodation. In that case, the homeowner, the landlord/housing association, must make the investment. The resident benefits immediately. Owners of owner-occupied homes are used to making investments in the home: replacing installations and maintenance of the home. Part of the additional investment will be reimbursed through a subsidy. An interest-free loan will also be available to make the investment.

Finally

The majority of the House of Representatives considers achieving the climate goals important. In addition, this majority also wants to quickly stop gas extraction in Groningen and quickly phase out the import of natural gas from Russia. This also means that as a government you have to take credible measures that give concrete substance to this. We have to have a good discussion with the minister about the dimensions and the growth path, but standardizing the hybrid heat pump is a well-defensible and sensible measure.

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