The German heating industry is optimistic about the new year. The President of the Federal Association of the German Heating Industry (BDH), Uwe Glock, considers growth rates of up to 10 percent to be possible for systems that combine efficiency with renewable energies. The reason for this is the new funding incentives that have been in force since the beginning of the year, with which the federal government wants to bring the energy transition into the boiler room.
"We expect a significant plus for heat pumps, wood pellet heating and gas condensing technology in combination with solar thermal energy this year," says Glock.
potential of heating market
“The potential of the heating market is enormous. The new funding is a positive signal for more climate protection”, explains BDH General Manager Andreas Lücke. Around 32 million tons of CO2 per year could be saved if the around 12 million outdated systems were modernized. This corresponds to two thirds of the climate protection targets for the heating market by 2030. The remaining third could be achieved through the building envelope.
"In order to achieve the goals, the modernization quota needs to be doubled from currently around 580,000 to around one million systems per year," says Uwe Glock.
gas condensing technology
We can implement the climate targets of the federal government with our highly efficient technologies"
In the past year, however, the heating market grew only weakly by 2 percent. Almost 80 percent of the heaters sold in 2019 are natural gas-based. By far the most popular technology was modern gas condensing technology, with 518,000 units sold and an increase of 5 percent. As in 2018, the second place in the sales statistics was the heat pump with 86,000 units sold - albeit with reduced growth of 2 percent (2018: plus 8 percent).
Sales of oil heating systems fell by 17 percent. The demand for biomass boilers also weakened slightly (minus 1 percent). The German heating industry sees itself as ideally positioned in terms of technology: "We can implement the climate targets of the federal government with our highly efficient technologies," explains Glock. The manufacturers invested 695 million euros in research and development.
high innovative strength
Glock sees this as proof of the high innovative strength of the heating industry, which has further expanded its international position. Worldwide sales grew to 15.7 billion euros. The 105 companies organized in the BDH employed around 76,800 people in 2019 - 36,800 of them in Germany.