Heat pump or home battery: what suits your home?

A heat pump heats your home using warmth from the outside air, the ground or ventilation air, and uses electricity to do so. A hybrid heat pump works alongside a central heating boiler, and that boiler usually also provides hot tap water. A fully electric heat pump can heat both the home and the tap water. Which solution fits depends on, among other things, the insulation and the heat delivery system of your home. Milieu Centraal provides extensive independent explanation on this.

A home battery stores electricity to use later — solar power from the daytime for the evening, for example. With smart energy management the battery can also take your consumption and energy prices into account. Read more in How does a home battery work?

Yes. A heat pump increases your electricity use, especially in the colder months. Solar panels generate most in summer. A home battery can shift solar power within the same day, but it is not seasonal storage and does not solve the gap between summer generation and winter use. Where possible it can also be more economical to control the heat pump or the hot water tank directly during sunny hours. Whether a battery adds value on top of that depends on your home, consumption, generation, energy contract and system costs.

• Do I still heat with gas, and how well is my home insulated?
• Do I export a lot of solar power at moments when I use little?
• Are large consumers coming in the next few years, such as an electric car?
• Do I have a single-phase or three-phase connection?