The heating market - France (2024)

1.2 The European market

In EU households, heating and hot water alone account for **% of total final energy consumption. In industry, **.*% of energy consumption was used for space heating and industrial processes, compared with just **.*% for lighting and electrical processes such as machine motors, and *.*% for cooling. According to Eurostat figures for ****, **% of heating and cooling is produced from renewable energies. [***]

Because of regional and local differences, climatic conditions, but also different national energy markets and consumer preferences, the European heating market is fragmented . Thus, the share of boilers, district heating, direct electric heating systems, heat pumps, biomass, solar energy etc. varies according to local conditions. Nevertheless, the overall European heating market is dominated by natural gas-fired boilers. In ****, gas-fired boilers accounted for more than three-quarters of total sales volume, or around * million heating systems. [***]

The different markets

In Germany, there are **,*** heating installers, as well as **,*** employees in the manufacturing industry. The German heating solutions industry generates sales of over €** billion, while the French heating and cooling industry generates sales of over €* billion and directly employs **,*** people. According to the annual report of ENEA - the Italian Energy Agency - the Italian heating sector generated sales of *.* billion euros for the period ****-****[***]

1.3 The French market

Sales (***) for the **.**B activity France, ****-****, in billions of euros Source: ****

This graph represents sales for thermal and air conditioning equipment installation work. These are activities grouped under NAF code **.**B. This category includes the installation in buildings or other construction projects of the following:

heating systems (***) boilers, cooling towers non-electric solar energy collectors ventilation and air-conditioning equipment and ducts steam distribution pipes

In ****, installation work on heating and air-conditioning equipment generated sales of over ** billion euros.

Sales (***) for the **.**Z activity France, ****-****, in billions of euros Source: ****

This chart illustrates sales for activities grouped under NAF code **.**Z, i.e. the manufacture of radiators and boilers for central heating. This NAF code includes:

manufacture of central heating boilers for hot water, pressurized water or steam, all energies manufacture of wall-mounted gas-fired combination boilers manufacture of central heating radiators, in cast iron or steel

This subclass does not include the manufacture of electric or gas water heaters.

Sales (***) of activity **.**B France, ****-****, in billions of euros Source: ****

The chart above represents sales for wholesale trade (***) in plumbing and heating supplies, corresponding to NAF code **.**B. This includes :

wholesale of locksmith's items wholesale of fasteners wholesale of boilers wholesale ...

1.4 The renewable heat market

Sales by renewable heat sector France, ****/****, in millions of euors Source: ****

according to the Panorama de la chaleur renouvelable et de récupération published by Ademe in ****, the wood industry represents *.* billion euros in sales. Sales of aerothermal heat pumps will reach *.* billion euros in ****. Geothermal energy as a whole represents a market with sales of *** million euros in ****. The solar heat sector will generate sales of *,*** million euros in ****. Biogas represents sales of *** million euros.

Employment in the various renewable heat sectors France, ****/****, number of jobs Source: ****

the wood energy sector directly or indirectly accounts for **,*** jobs, to which must be added **,*** to **,*** informal jobs. The aerothermal heat pumps sector will account for **,*** direct and indirect jobs (***) represents around *,*** full-time equivalent jobs.

1.5 The impact of COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on energy consumption

The effects of the health crisis:

With the health crisis of ****, energy consumption nationwide is estimated to have fallen by **-**%, due to the reduction in economic activity and, in particular, the closure of shops and businesses. [***] In fact, heating accounts for the lion's share of electricity consumption.

The confinements and the health crisis in general have raised issues such as poverty, precarious housing and the price of electricity, but also the transition to more efficient, less energy-intensive and therefore more environmentally-friendly housing. [***]

The use of renewable energies actually increased in ****. The figures can be seen in the country's electricity mix. At the end of March ****, the share of renewable energies was **%, up from **% in ****, with a target of **% by ****.[***]

The effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

As Russia is one of the world's largest producers of oil and gas, one of the first effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is an increase in energy prices. This has had a direct impact on consumption by French households and businesses, even though they benefit from a state-guaranteed ceiling(***).

This graph shows variations in the regulated price of electricity between **** and ****. According to the CRE observatory, **% of residential customers will benefit from a regulated tariff ...

2.1 Household heating consumption

Breakdown of household consumption in the home France, ****-****, % (***) Source: ****

in ****, heating accounted for **% of household energy expenditure, down * points on **** and ** points on ****.

Main heating in primary residences by energy type France, ****, in electricity and gas are the two main energy sources used to heat homes in France, followed by fuel oil.

Type of heating in main residences France, ****, in thousands of homes Source: ****

In ****, among main residences that are apartments, *.* million homes are heated by a collective central heating system, and *.* million homes are equipped with individual central heating. In the case of houses, ** million households have individual central heating.

Apartments - heating breakdown by type France, ****, thousands of homes Source: ****

among apartments with collective central heating, gas is the most common, with over * million households. For apartments with individual central heating, gas remains important (***).

2.2 Heating consumption in the commercial sector

in ****, the sector's total heating consumption was **.* TWh, down on **** (***) and other years, notably due to the cessation of business activity during the **** health crisis. Nevertheless, we note a slight structural decline in total heating consumption by companies in the tertiary sector, and a willingness on the part of companies to turn to renewable heating sources. Heating consumption trends in the tertiary sector France, ****-****, in TWh Source: ****

heating accounted for an average **% of the sector's energy consumption in ****, making it the leading source of energy consumption in the tertiary sector.

Heated surface area in the service sector by surface type France, ****, in Source: ****

offices accounted for almost **% of energy consumption in the tertiary sector in the same year, retail for **% and healthcare for around **% .

Heating of tertiary sites by energy type France, ****, % of total Source: ****

finally, natural gas, electricity and fuel oil remain the most widely used energy sources for heating in the tertiary sector.

2.3 The French and heating

In ****, energy and heating consumption is a concern for nine out of ten French people. [***]

Implementing gestures to save energy and heat

Main actions to reduce heating consumption France, ****, in Source: ****

even though practices are changing and the French are making more and more effort in their daily actions, **% of them never turn off the heating at night.

Carrying out energy renovation work

Percentage of French people who have carried out energy-saving renovation work, by type of work France, ****, in Source: ****

we can see that the proportion of French people who have carried out heating renovation work remains low, although **% of them intend to do so in the short, long or medium term.

The use of auxiliary heating to complement the main heating system

Frequency of use France, ****, in Source: ****

**% of French people have used supplementary heating, while **% have used little or no supplementary heating.

Are the French ready to lower their heating to ** degrees in ****?

more than **% think that private individuals should make less effort than professionals. **% think that lowering the heating is a good idea, but **% think not. **% of those questioned in September plan to change or improve their heating system, compared with **% last May. For gas, the ...

3.1 French production

We are interested here in the data provided by INSEE and ACOSS for NAF code **.**Z entitled "Manufacture of radiators and boilers for central heating". According to the details provided by INSEE, this activity code includes the following sub-categories:

manufacture of central heating boilers for hot water, pressurized water or steam, all energies manufacture of wall-mounted gas-fired combination boilers manufacture of central heating radiators, in cast iron or steel

Source: ****

Establishments registered under activity **.**Z France, ****-**** Source: ****

In ****, France had ** manufacturers of central heating radiators and boilers registered under this activity code, down on **** (***) with a particular increase in ****.

Workforce registered under activity **.**Z France, ****-**** Source: ****

Workforce by region France, **** Source: ****

The radiator and boiler manufacturing activity is mainly centered on the Grand Est and Bretagne regions, as well as Pays de la Loire and Île-de-France to a lesser extent.

Sales index for activity **.**Z France, ****-****, base *** in **** Source: INSEE Despite a decline in the number of employees and establishments, the radiator and boiler manufacturing sector is in good health, with steady sales growth. Based on *** in ****, the activity's sales index reached ***.* in ****, up sharply on **** (***). The radiator and boiler business has therefore even exceeded pre-crisis sales.

3.2 Heating supplies and installation

Wholesale of plumbing and heating supplies

Here we consider the data provided by INSEE for the activity code: **.**B Wholesale of plumbing and heating supplies[***].

Number of establishments registered under activity code **.**B France, ****-**** Source: ****

this graph shows the number of establishments registered under activity **.**B. This is the wholesale (***) of plumbing and heating supplies. After declining until ****, the number of establishments will increase until ****. The number of employees, shown in the graph below, follows the same trend.

Workforce registered under activity **.**B France, ****-**** Source : ACOSS Installation of heating and air-conditioning equipment

We consider here the data provided by INSEE for the activity code: **.**B Travaux d'installation d'équipements thermiques et de climatisation. [***]

Number of establishments registered under activity code **.**B France, ****-**** Source: ****

After peaking in terms of the number of establishments in ****, the number of heat and air conditioning equipment installation establishments fell until ****, before rising until ****: in ****, there will be **,*** establishments registered under activity code **.**B. The number of employees has followed the same trend, as shown in the graph below.

Workforce registered under activity code **.**B France, ****-**** Source: ****

Region Number of employees Share of total Île-de-France ***** **,*% Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ***** **,*% Eastern France ***** *,*% Hauts-de-France ***** *,*% New Aquitaine **** *,*% Occitania **** *,*% Provence-Alpes-Côte ...

3.3 Market players

The manufacturers

* players stand out in terms of market share: the Muller group, De'Longhi SpA and Atlantic lead the way with around **% of heater sales respectively. Newell Brands Inc and Groupe SEB account for around **% of heater sales in France in ****.

Distribution

Main purchasing channels for electric heaters France, ****, % of electric heater buyers Source: ****

For electric heaters, **% of buyers consult product catalogs, **% of consumers visit a store and **% do research online.

The channels consulted before investing in a water heater are diversified: **% contact a professional, **% visit a store, **% do research on the Internet and **% ask friends and family for advice. In all, **% of those questioned combined in-store and online research, **% only did in-store research and **% exclusively via the web. [***]

Professionals play a key role

There is a high degree of autonomy when it comes to buying a heating system. However, professionals remain essential to this market. In the case of electric heaters, **% of homeowners call on the services of a professional, whether to accompany them in their purchase or to install them. The reasons for calling in a professional are manifold: lack of skills to choose or install the appliances (***). [***]

3.4 The French heating industry: equipment

Electric heating

Segmentation of electric heating equipment sales France, ****, % of sales volume Source: ****

The share of towel radiator sales increased slightly between **** and ****.

Fuel oil and gas

Heating deliveries by type France, ****-****, in thousands of units Source: ****

In ****, the number of boilers delivered has fallen compared with ****: in fact, in ****, ***,*** gas and oil boilers (***) were delivered, compared with ***,*** in ****.

Renewable energy

ENR heating equipment deliveries by type France, ****-****, in thousands of units Source: ****

The year **** saw notable growth in the delivery of ENR heating equipment in France. Solar combisystems (***) also increased significantly, with a growth rate of **.*%. Geothermal heat pumps saw more modest growth of *.*%. The number of wood-fired boilers rose by **.*%, while water-source aerothermal heat pumps increased by **.*%. Thermodynamic water heaters saw more modest growth of *.*%. However, air-source heat pumps fell by *.*%, from ***.* to ***.* thousand units. Overall, demand for renewable heating equipment increased in **** compared with ****, with the exception of air-source aerothermal heat pumps.

3.5 Focus on the single- and dual-flow CMV market

from the *nd half of ****, information will be available on the various types of work carried out by owner-occupiers benefiting from MaPrimeRénov' Sérénité. Of the **,*** homes concerned, **% have replaced windows and **% have installed a boiler or heat pump: attic insulation (***) is less common, as these are more often subsidized as insulated gestures under the classic MaPrimeRénov' scheme

Single-flow ventilation shows a slight reduction of *.*% compared with ****, despite a solid level of activity. It is essential to stress that the strong performance in **** was largely due to investments deferred by consumers during the year of confinement caused by the COVID-** crisis. This level of activity, remains well above **** figures, with ***,*** VMCs sold in ****. In the renovation sector, non-modulated self-regulating systems continue to account for over **% of sales.

Sales of controlled mechanical ventilation systems (***) France, ****-****, Source: ****

On the other hand, double-flow ventilation in single-family homes has clearly benefited for the second year running from the MaPrimeRénov' program, launched in **** and having already had a strong impact in ****. By ****, sales had risen by **.*%, with **,*** double-flux CMVs sold.

Sales of controlled mechanical ventilation systems (***) for single-family homes France, ****-****, Number of VMC sold Source: ****

Collective and tertiary :

the market ...

4.1 A classification of heating systems

There are two main categories of heating systems: "centralized" and "decentralized".[***]

Source: ****

Centralized" systems are made up of three components:

the generator that produces the heat ; the distribution system, which transports this energy from the generator to its place of use (***); the emitter, which delivers the heat to the user.

Decentralized" systems do not include these three components. Heat is generated and emitted directly on site. The most widespread decentralized system is electric heating.

Technical characteristics

The energy performance of heating systems is characterized by an efficiency expressed in % or coefficient of performance (***). The rated power Pn, expressed in kW, is the maximum power that a boiler, stove or insert can deliver continuously.

Direct electric heating has a coefficient of performance close to ***% in terms of final energy, or around **% in terms of primary energy. Direct electric heating has very low installation and maintenance costs, and as electric energy is relatively expensive, households manage this mode of heating to save money. [***] In the domestic sector, biomass appliances achieve efficiencies on PCI close to **% if fuelled with logs, and **% if fuelled with pellets. Condensing boilers (***) are the most efficient boiler technology, ahead of low-temperature and standard boilers. Its efficiency is close to ...

4.2 Price overview

Heating generator prices

There are a number of heating generators using different sources of supply, the prices of which have been estimated by Quelleénergie.fr, an online energy-saving advice service:

The air-to-air heat pump, which extracts thermal energy from the outside air and releases it into the house or apartment via a fan coil unit, costs between €*,*** and €**,***. The air-to-water heat pump uses the same principle, but rejects the heat into water. It costs around €**,***. The geothermal heat pump extracts thermal energy from the ground via a collection network or a borehole and transmits it to the central heating system, and costs around €**,***. The low-temperature gas boiler is less expensive than a condensing boiler, costing between €*,*** and €*,***. It offers savings of up to **% compared with a conventional gas boiler. The condensing gas boiler is similar to a conventional boiler, except that it extracts more energy from the combustion of town gas. Prices range from €*,*** to €*,***. The wood pellet boiler uses recompacted wood as fuel. It costs around €**,***. A pellet stove costs between €*,*** and €*,***. Electric inertia radiators cost between €*** and €*,***.

Median prices for heating systems

Source: ****

4.3 Connected heating

To connect an existing heating system, there are several types of equipment available: [***]

The connected thermostat , which lets you manage your home's temperature via an application The connected radiator which, thanks to sensors and a Wifi connection, sends information to the thermostat so that it can adjust the temperature as accurately as possible. The connected thermostatic valve , installed directly on water radiators, to independently control the flow of heat delivered by each radiator

Connected technologies can be adapted to different heating systems, whether a boiler, central heating or an electric heating system. [***]

The price of installing a connected system depends on the parameters. On existing heating systems, packs - wired or wireless - are sold in specialist outlets from around €***. In the case of thermostatic valves, the cost of installation is around €** to €*** per unit.the price range is wider for replacing radiators with connected models: there are basic models for under €***, and ultra-sophisticated radiators costing over €*,***.

French people's expectations of connected heating:

Savings (***) Room temperature optimization (***) Remote control or voice recognition (***)

Source: ****

The French have clear expectations when it comes to connected heating. The priority is energy savings, followed by room temperature optimization and remote control or voice recognition.

5.1 Regulations

Thermal regulations for buildings

The **** thermal regulations (***) requirement for single-family homes, multi-family housing and commercial buildings. Multi-family housing is exempt until December **, ****.under RT****, new single-family homes are required to install a minimum amount of renewable energy, usually in the form of wood-fired heating equipment, a heat pump, solar thermal panels, etc.[***]

Since November ****, the E+C- labels concerning energy and carbon have been open to new building projects. These labels have * energy levels and * carbon levels. Energy levels * and * promote energy performance and renewable energies, while energy levels * and * are starting to take into account the positive energy building aspect.

European Directives for energy-related products

The Ecodesign Directive is a European directive that imposes minimum performance requirements on a number of products placed on the European market. It is accompanied by the Energy Labeling Directive, which informs consumers and enables them to compare products of the same type in terms of energy performance. These Directives are broken down into regulations for specific product groups

Energy efficiency plan

In October ****, in the context of the current energy crisis, the Energy Sobriety Plan was presented. The aim is to reduce overall consumption by **% by **** and by **% by ****.

The main measures are as ...

5.2 Economic incentives

Economic incentives for collective, tertiary and industrial buildings

The Fonds chaleur provides financial support for the development of renewable heat production for collective housing, local authorities and businesses. Between **** and ****, *,*** installations have received support from the Fonds chaleur, representing a total investment of *.** billion euros, out of a total budget of *.** billion euros. The average rate of assistance for investments was **.*%. [***] A reduced VAT rate for heat supplied to virtuous networks using at least **% renewable energy: *.*% VAT on their subscription and energy supply bills. As part of the Europe **** strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, the European Regional Development Fund(***) finances economic, social and territorial cohesion policy. In France, for the ****-**** period, the ERDF represents *.* billion euros.

Economic incentives for private individuals

The "crédit d'impôt pour la transition énergétique" (***) allows you to deduct part of the cost of energy efficiency improvements from your income tax. [***] It is aimed at homeowners, and more particularly middle-income households, whose resources fall between a floor and a ceiling. The CITE is based on a fixed amount for each type of work, up to a maximum of **% of the expenditure incurred. MaPrimeRénov' replaces the national "Habiter mieux" program, and is ...

6.1 Player segmentation

• Vaillant Group (Saunier Duval)
• Atlantic Groupe
• Poujoulat
• Butagaz
• Intuis (Muller Groupe)
• Saunier Duval (Groupe Vaillant)
• Ariston Thermo
• Axenergie
• Eisox
• Yahtec
• Cedeo
• Chappée (BDR Therma)
• BDR Thermea (De Dietrich, Remea, Baxi)
• Chaffoteaux (Ariston)
• Wilo
• Fauché Groupe
• Noirot (Groupe Muller)
• Varela design
• CAMPA