Heat pump myth 6: Heat pumps consume a lot of electricity

The truth: Properly designed heat pump systems use substantially less electricity than more traditional forms of electric heating.


Heat pumps use in the region of a third to a quarter less electricity than traditional froms of electric heating. A heat pump should only need electricity as drive energy. It then gains additional energy from air, earth or groundwater - and delivers it to the heating system.

All heat pumps are supplied with an electric back up or boost heater, which should only be for emergency use. Ensure that your system is designed so that it does not have to rely on the boost heater during normal operating parameters. A common reason this occurs is heat pump being too small for the property. Stiebel Eltron provide a free design service to ensure that your project does not fall into pitfalls like this.