The Netherlands is an interesting and challenging market for heat pumps. Of the approximately 8.5 million households, 2 million are equipped with a heat pump. As recently as 2019, up to 92% of Dutch households were heated with natural gas-fired boilers. These boilers are compact, silent, cheap, robust, easy to control, and produce domestic hot water without the need for storage. Because of this, the entire domestic heating system can fit in a kitchen cupboard and is not seldomly placed there.

However, due to political and natural circumstances, there must be a transition towards more sustainable heating systems, and the use of natural gas for domestic applications should be phased out. Once a big producer of natural gas, the Netherlands is now a net importer, and consumer pric ...