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Heat pumps in existing buildings, a blog post series in 12 parts

Today, 75 percent of residential space in Germany is still heated with fossil fuels. In the next two to three decades, these homes will have to be completely supplied by CO-free heating. To make this change, heat pump is the key technology together with CO-free district heating, according to Dr. Marek Miaras’s blog.

In the blog Marek Miara tell us that the more studies, scenarios, and forecasts lay an important, even a crucial, role to heat pumps in reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the building sector, the more often these questions arise: How can heat pumps be used in existing buildings at all? Do all existing buildings need to be extensively retrofitted first? Are heat pumps able to guarantee the high flow temperatures required?  Can heat pumps in existing buildings achieve reasonable efficiency values at all? Is the operation of heat pumps in existing buildings ecological at all?

The aim of the blog post series “Heat Pumps in Existing Buildings”, commissioned by the Stiftung Klimaneutralität in Germany, is to provide well-founded answers to these and other questions, to counteract prejudices and create a good basis for future decision-making. The twelve blog posts are based on the knowledge and experience gained from almost twenty years of heat pump research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. During this time, Fraunhofer ISE has, among other things, monitored and analyzed roughly 300 heat pump systems in the field.

“Our research clearly shows that heat pumps can provide the necessary heat even in unrenovated or only slightly renovated existing buildings – at the same time as they are efficient enough to achieve clear ecological advantages over fossil-fueled boilers”, says Dr. Marek Miara.

Dr. Marek Miara

Moreover, we can read in Marek’s blog that the challenge of finding a suitable technical solution and implementing it successfully is greater in some cases than in others. However, these few cases should not call into question the general usefulness of heat pumps in existing buildings. Equally undoubtedly, heat pump installation should become faster and easier, and operation even more efficient and economical. The heat pump industry is already working precisely in this direction.

Find the links to all 12 blog posts with Dr. Marek Miara here >

Marek Miara is the Operating Agent of Annex 50, Heat Pumps in Multi-Family Buildings for Space Heating and DHW, read more here >