Findings & forecasts
In 2017 the volume of units sold worldwide also jumped 32 per cent to over 4.5 million compared to 2016. Asia remains the largest world region in terms of heat pumps sales, driving 84 per cent of the total sales volume.
Chinese heat pump suppliers are “optimistic” about the future performance of the market and that it will continue to expand. There is also a positive attitude toward heat pumps overall in Europe even though the volume of sales is considerably lower than in China.
Aline Breslauer, Senior Market Intelligence Analyst, BSRIA, said:
“The global market was pushed by a strong performance in China. Since the implementation of the Coal to Gas and Coal to Electricity Policies in the RPC we have seen a sharp move towards more environment-friendly heat generators such as gas boilers and heat pumps.
Sales claimed by heat pump suppliers amounted to a value estimated at EU2.5 billion factory-gate price in 2017 equivalent to a volume of three million units in China. The majority is split types but it is worth noting that, while they have generally been used for domestic hot water, increasingly the Chinese used them for space heating too.
This is largely motivated by health reasons as end-users prefer hydronic to air-based heating. In Beijing city only, 30,000 heat pumps for space heating were sold in 2017. The surge was related to the generous financial incentives allocated by the central and local governments but also because environmental concern has been growing in the country.”