Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
11.4 Economics
The heat pump sector has seen high growth rates in recent years, mainly for eco-
nomic reasons. In 2009 the investment costs in Europe for a typical heat pump for
a single-family home were between 8 000 and 12 000 euros. The costs of developing
a heat source, which are in the order of 3000 to 6000 euros for ground collectors
or ground probes, are additional to this.
The costs of conventional heating systems are not applicable to new buildings with
heat pumps. For example, with gas heating, the costs can include a gas connection
and a chimney in addition to the gas burner. Nevertheless, the investment costs for
heat pump systems are usually considerably higher than for conventional gas or oil
heating.
The advantage of heat pumps is the low running costs. Compared to conventional
gas heating, there is no expenditure for gas meters, maintenance and chimney clean-
ing. The fuel prices, and hence also the expenditure on energy to operate a heat
pump, are usually lower than in the case of oil and natural gas. The fuel price
advantage with heat pumps depends partially on the annual coeffi cient of perform-
ance and energy tariffs. With electricity bought at a regular tariff and a moderate
annual coeffi cient of performance of 3, the fuel costs for a heat pump could be even
higher than those for natural gas and oil. With a good annual performance coeffi cient
of 4, a heat pump offers advantages in fuel costs even based on the standard energy
tariffs available since 2005 (Figure 11.7).
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
natural gas
fuel oil
electricity, standard tariff COP=3
electricity, standard tariff COP=4
electricity, special tarif f COP=4
0.02
0.01
0.00
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Figure 11.7
Development of domestic prices for natural gas, crude oil and electricity for
the operation of heat pumps for different coeffi cients of performance (COP) in Germany.
A number of energy companies offer special tariffs for heat pumps. However, the
operation of a heat pump often has to be interrupted during the times of the day
when peak tariffs apply. A buffer storage unit is needed to bridge the heating
