French Heat Pump Market 2021 Growing Strongly – Thanks To The Government’s Support And The Resilience Of Companies

The sales results of the French heat pump market in 2021 were presented by the French organization UNICLIMA. Following the market’s uncertainty between 2019 and 2020, owing to periods of confinement due to the pandemic crisis, their results show the market is once again growing strongly, thanks to the government’s support and the resilience of companies that have been able to adapt to changing conditions in order to maintain a high level of activity. According to their report, the air-to-water heat pump market reached 267,221 units in 2021, a 52.5% increase over 2020.

When looking at the market for air-to-water heat pumps by capacity, the data shows that all capacity segments have experienced double-digit growth. However, there is more robust growth in the 6 to 10 kW segment +65% (25% of the total market) and +58% for Heat pumps from 11 to 20 kW (55% of the total market), capacity that is mainly installed in the renovation.

Considering the number of building permits and the start of construction of individual houses, their results show that heat pump technology is becoming more and more important in the new market because heat pumps less than 6 kW, mainly installed in the new, are increasing by 27%. According to the latest government estimates, single-detached housing construction started in 2021 increased by 13% compared to 2020 and by only 2% compared to 2019.

According to the UNICLIMA report, high-temperature air-to-water Heat pumps continued to grow in 2021. In 2021, the market for air-to-water heat pumps with a water outlet temperature of 55 to 65° C increased by 57%.

However, over the last quarter, there has been a slowdown. There are several reasons for this trend:

• Problems with the supply of finished products and/or materials first of the manufacturers were
• A lack of manpower, companies in the sector are facing recruitment difficulties.
• The strong growth of the market over the first 2 quarters has led to significant stocking at wholesalers.
• Some construction projects may have also been

High-temperature Heat pumps with water outlet temperature higher than 65° C are also experiencing a more sustained increase in the latter part of the year than at the end of August (+41% over January to December 2021 compared to January to December 2020 while in 2019, growth was 9%).

According to UNICLIMA’s report in 2021, sales of heat pumps used to heat domestic hot water reached 150,615 units, a new record high of 36.5%. The sales of single-split and multi-split air-to-air heat pumps reached 837,629 units, a slight 3% increase compared to the previous year.

Above Graph – Source: PAC&Clim’Info