Survey shows that heat pump owners are extremely satisfied

Remscheid, 17 March 2025

• Nine out of ten property owners in Germany are (very) satisfied with their heat pump.

• Eight out of ten homeowners would recommend their heat pump to others.

• From the homeowners’ point of view, the main arguments in favour of installing a heat pump are economic efficiency and independence from fossil energy.

Nearly 90 per cent of German homeowners are satisfied or even very satisfied with their heat pump. Furthermore, over 80 per cent of the owners of both newly built and existing buildings recommend their heat pump to relatives and friends. This is the result of a representative Civey survey published today on behalf of heating technology manufacturer Vaillant. To conduct the study, the opinion research institute asked over 1,500 owners of new and existing buildings who had installed a heat pump within the past five years.

“We rarely see such a clear level of satisfaction and willingness to recommend a product. The result shows the high degree of efficiency and user-friendliness of heat pumps,” says Dr Benjamin Seifert, Head of Data Analysis and Consultancy at Civey “Other product groups and industries usually have significantly lower scores.”

Homeowners primarily recommend heat pumps because of their independence from fossil energy and their economic efficiency.

The two main reasons people gave for recommending heat pumps were independence from fossil fuels (51.6 per cent) and the reduction of energy costs (46.5 per cent). Owners of existing buildings primarily recommend their heat pump because of the reduction in energy costs. A comparative analysis on the economic efficiency of heat pumps and gas-fired heating systems, published in 2024 by the organisation Verbraucherzentrale Rheinland-Pfalz (Consumer Advice Centre of Rhineland-Palatinate), shows that homeowners can save a considerable amount of money by switching to heat pumps. An example calculation for an existing building in efficiency class E with 150 m² of living space shows that if a three-person household replaces its old gas heating system with a heat pump, it can save around 39 per cent of their former operating costs in the first year alone.¹

Low CO₂ emissions, future-proof technology and a higher property value are important to consumers.

Climate protection is another factor that encourages consumers to recommend their heat pump. Nearly a third of homeowners (31.7 per cent) mentioned low CO₂ emissions as a reason for recommending their heat pump. A similar number of homeowners (31.6 per cent) rate heat pumps as a future-proof technology and would therefore recommend them. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23.9 per cent) would recommend heat pumps because they believe that such an installation increases the value of a property.

“Whether it’s new or existing buildings, the results of the representative survey show that property owners who have opted for a heat pump are extremely satisfied with their investment,” says Dr Tillmann von Schroeter, Managing Director of Vaillant Germany. “For a very large proportion of buildings, heat pumps are the most efficient heating technology and an economically smart choice. By investing in a heat pump, homeowners reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and save on operating costs while also helping to protect the climate.”

More than half of the owners of existing buildings needed to carry out either only a small amount of modernisation work or none at all.

Civey also asked owners of existing properties how much refurbishment work they had when installing the heat pump. Around 55 per cent of respondents said they had not modernised their home at all (27.7 per cent) or only to a limited extent (27.2 per cent), for example by replacing individual radiators. Another 16 per cent had taken the installation of a heat pump as an opportunity for various building renovations, including the replacement of individual windows. Almost a quarter of respondents (24.7 per cent) combined the installation with a comprehensive renovation of the building.


¹ Source:
https://www.verbraucherzentrale-rlp.de/sites/default/files/2024-05/beispiel-vergleich-gashzg-warmepumpe.pdf