Replace electric heating with an air-to-air heat pump

If you use electric heating in your holiday home you can save electricity by installing an air-to-air heat pump.

An air-to-air heat pump is an excellent and energy efficient alternative to electric heating, especially if you also use your holiday home outside the summer season.

Find  air-to-air heat pumps for holiday homes (Only in Danish)

A heat pump essentially works like a reverse fridge. Compared with a fridge which moves the warm air from the fridge cabinet out, a heat pump moves the heat from the outside atmosphere in. A heat pump is powered by electricity but produces about 3 times the amount of heat produced directly by electric heating.

Before you buy a heat pump

  • Make sure to insulate properly. This will minimise the amount of heat required.
  • If you are considering a heat pump to prevent your holiday home from becoming damp in the winter, a solar panel ventilator can often be sufficient.

Buying a heat pump

  • Some heat pumps are not designed to handle the temperature variations in the Nordic climate.
  • If you plan to us a heat pump to keep the house frost-free over the winter, it is very important that the pump is equipped with the right temperature control that can maintain an even temperature in the holiday home. If not, you risk using more electricity than before.
  • There is a big difference in the quality of different pumps. Good systems have soft start or variable speed compressors. This means that the compressor either starts up slowly, or that the compressor runs more or less constantly, but at a speed based on the amount of heat required.
  • Check the list of heat pumps recommended by the Danish Technological Institute, and choose systems with the Energy Saving Label.
  • Let an authorised installer calibrate the heat pump up. This ensures optimal performance of the system, and avoids problems.

Heat pumps with the Energy Saving Label
If you plan to buy a heat pump, then use the Trust's list of air-to-air heat pumps with the Energy Saving Label.

Air-to-Air heat pumps for holiday homes (Only in Danish)

Page last updated 14.09.2010