Heat pump costs

In the Climate Agreement, it has been agreed that all homes and other buildings must be gas-free by 2050. This means that we must switch to a sustainable alternative for our hot water and heating our houses: the heat pump. But what does a heat pump cost? What is the return compared to a central heating boiler? And how quickly have you recouped such a device? In this blog, we provide an extensive answer to all your questions.

The costs of a heat pump depend on the type and whether modifications need to be made to the house to make it suitable for a heat pump. The mentioned amounts are exclusive of subsidy and include VAT and installation costs.

Air-Air Heat Pump

The air-air heat pump extracts heat from the outside air and can also cool your house on warm days. It is, therefore, a kind of air conditioner. An indoor unit is placed in each room, and you can connect up to four indoor units to one outdoor unit. The units are much smaller compared to other heat pumps, and it is also much cheaper to install them.

The air-air heat pump is then the cheapest heat pump. Prices start at 2,500 euros for one small bedroom up to 10,000 euros for an entire house, including installation costs.

You can only use this type of heat pump to heat or cool your home, not for a hot shower.

Air-to-water Heat Pump

The air-water heat pump also uses outside air as a heat source. But unlike the air-air heat pump, you can use this heat pump for hot tap water.

In addition, this heat pump can be connected to low-temperature radiators or underfloor heating. As a result, it heats without large air flows, and many people find that more pleasant.

The installation costs for this type of heat pump are also relatively low. Take into account a starting price of 10,000 euros, including installation.

The water-water heat pump uses groundwater. For this, deep holes must be drilled into the ground. This type of heat pump, therefore, involves high installation costs. Including installation costs, it costs on average between 20,000 and 25,000 euros. The big advantage is that the efficiency is very high.

Ground-Water Heat Pump

A geothermal heat pump extracts its heat from the ground. Therefore, a pipe network must be installed.

The price tag depends on whether you opt for a horizontal or vertical system.

With the horizontal system, the pipes are laid at a depth of about 1.5 meters, keeping the installation costs limited. Think of an amount between 2,000 and 4,000 euros.

A disadvantage is that this system takes up a lot of space.

With the vertical system, the pipes are 50 to 200 meters deep in the ground, which involves higher installation costs, namely around 5,000 to 6,000 euros. The vertical system also has advantages:

1. it takes up less space,
2. and the efficiency is higher.



Geothermal heat pumps, including installation, cost between 15,000 and 25,000 euros.

Hybrid Heat Pump

Finally, there is the hybrid heat pump: a combination of an air-water heat pump with an outdoor unit and a gas boiler.

The hybrid heat pump keeps the house warm most of the year, and on cold days, the central heating boiler can help. The central heating boiler provides hot tap water all year round. This way, you use less gas, which is good for the environment.

The hybrid heat pump is cheaper to purchase than a fully electric heat pump. You have one for an average price of 7,000 to 9,000 euros, including installation costs.

With all heat pumps, except air-air heat pumps, you need a boiler for your hot water. A small boiler is integrated into the heat pump, a separate boiler costs between 2,000 and 3,150 euros, depending on how large your boiler needs to be.

Depending on the type of heat pump, the installation costs make up a large part of the purchase price.

The air-air and air-water heat pumps use air as a heat source, which means the installation costs are relatively low.

But the ground-water heat pump and the water-water heat pump require drilling, which naturally involves higher installation costs.

It is always recommended, and in the case of a subsidy, even mandatory, to have the installation carried out by a certified installer.

In an existing home, you may have to deal with additional costs to make your home suitable for a heat pump.

For example, it is very important that the house is well insulated. In a poorly insulated house, a lot of heat is lost, making it difficult for the heat pump to keep the house warm. Therefore, good insulation is the first step in existing homes.

With cavity wall insulation (2,000 – 2,500 euros) you prevent heat from being lost through the facades.

With floor insulation (1,500 – 2,000 euros) you ensure that the cold from the crawl space or the ground under the house cannot enter the house.

With roof insulation (4,500 – 5,000 euros), the rising heat stays inside better.

A lot of heat can also be lost through the windows. That is why a minimum of HR glass (3,000 – 4,000 euros) is recommended for a fully electric heat pump.

The amounts stated are based on average terraced houses. Corner houses or semi-detached houses will spend more on insulation because of the blind facade.

The radiators are also a point of attention. A heat pump heats the water to 45 to 55 degrees, while a central heating boiler is usually set at 60 to 80 degrees.

When you use a low temperature heating (LTV), you need less energy to heat your home. This is better for the environment and cheaper for the wallet.

In addition to being environmentally conscious and cost-effective, the LTV also has other advantages: the room heats up more evenly and the air is healthier.

The supply temperature does not exceed 55 degrees Celsius, so that the touch temperature of a low temperature radiator is safe.

You can connect an LTV to a heat pump and use it with underfloor heating, wall heating or special low-temperature radiators.

The efficiency of a heat pump is often referred to as the Coefficient of Performance (COP) or Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (the average COP over the whole year).

The higher the SCOP, the more heat the heat pump produces compared to the amount of energy the pump consumes. With all-electric heat pumps, the COP is often between 4 and 6. This means that you get 4 to 6 kWh of heat for 1 kWh of electricity. The efficiency here is therefore between 400 and 600%. That is an extremely high efficiency and a big difference with the efficiency of a high-efficiency boiler, which produces only 0.97 kWh of heat from 1 kWh of natural gas, an efficiency of 0.97%.

There are two other factors that play a role in returns.

The first is the temperature of the source. The higher the temperature of the source, the less hard the heat pump has to work. That is why a ground-water heat pump and a water-water heat pump have a higher efficiency than other heat pumps in winter, when the soil temperature remains between 8 and 10 degrees and the outside air drops further below that.

Even on hot summer days, when you use the heat pump for cooling, the efficiency of these heat pumps is higher than that of others. This is because air-to-air and air-to-water heat pumps cool using a compressor. But a ground source heat pump only needs to circulate the water from the ground, where it is always cool, through the house. This is called passive cooling. So only power is needed for the circulation pump.

The other factor that plays a role in efficiency is the required temperature. The higher the required temperature, the greater the difference between source and output temperature and the lower the efficiency. That is why a heat pump is preferably combined with underfloor heating or special low-temperature radiators.

In addition, you will of course save on your gas costs. Moreover, without a gas connection, you no longer have to pay standing charges for your connection. And if you generate the costs for the electricity yourself, you also save on electricity costs.