One silver lining in the current fossil fuels crisis – heat pump sales are soaring!

In the midst of the latest fossil fuels crisis, consumers are rapidly turning to heat pumps to keep costs stable and decarbonise their homes, with recent data from the European Heat Pump Association indicating a 17 per cent jump in European sales during in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

And in the UK, energy company Octopus has recently reported that soaring gas prices have driven its heat pump sales up by 51 per cent.

Installing a heat pump

Adding to the positive news, F-gas-free heat pumps are helping to meet this demand, with recent data from Heat Pump Watch showing that propane-based heat pumps certified for EU markets rose sharply from just three per cent in 2017 to 38 per cent in 2024.

F-gases – fluorinated gases – are a potent climate pollutants with global warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide (CO₂). Newer heat pump technologies now run on natural refrigerants, which have global warming potentials of less than one.

As well as being more climate-friendly, propane heat pumps offer higher temperature outputs, making them well-suited to older buildings.

EIA UK Climate Campaigner Emma Atkins said: “Consumers are recognising the multiple benefits of heat pumps, including lowering bills and reducing reliance on unstable fossil fuels.

“With UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announcing £90 million in funding to help build and expand heat pump factories in the UK, there is a crucial opportunity here to prioritise F-gas-free technologies and ensure heating homes will not also heat the planet.”

Find out more about F-gas-free heat pumps and how to support their uptake in EIA’s Pumping Up the Potential report.