Statistics on Irish Heat Pump Installations

The Irish Government has committed to rolling out 400,000 heat pump retrofits by the end of 2030. To move towards that goal, the SEAI now offer grants of up to €12,500 to install a heat pump (as of February 2026).

This has helped a substantial ramp up in heat pump retrofit rates since 2019.

How many SEAI grant-aided heat pump installations have there been?

However, the rate is still way short of what would be needed to reach the 2030 target:

To be fair, the Irish heat pump retrofit industry is in the early phase of scaling up. If the year-on-year growth rate from the last few years were to continue, the industry could reach an impressive scale by the end of the decade (albeit, probably not big enough to hit the 2030 target).

Cost of The Upgrades

The spending require for 600,000 heat pump retrofits would also be enormous. For 2023, the SEAI reported a median heat pump retrofit cost of €14,868. Multiplying that by 600,000 gives a quick first approximation of €8.9 billion.

Some of this would be from government support in the form of grants and full-funded upgrades for those receiving social welfare payments. The rest would come from homeowners.

How many heat pumps are there in new homes in Ireland?

For new homes, the Irish government aims for 200,000 heat pumps by 2030.

Heat pumps are already the standard heating system for new-build houses in Ireland:

Plus, laws banning oil and gas boilers mean that practically 100% of new Irish homes will have heat pumps from now on.

Assuming 30,000 dwelling completions from now until 2024-2030 (inclusive), that would be 180,000 heat pumps in new homes. Add in the installations since the target was announced in 2019, and the target for heat pumps in new homes becomes very realistic.

How efficient are the heat pump operating in Ireland?

We analysed data from 82,067 heat pump homes in the Irish BER database.

The average reported efficiency (year-round) turned out to be a very handsome 467%.

But there’s a catch. Heat pump efficiency can be significantly lower in the real world than on paper if the installation is not carried out carefully.

Still, the numbers highlight heat pumps can have fantastic efficiency in Ireland’s mild oceanic climate.

Is Ireland on track to meet heat pump targets?

Ireland is on track to meet heat pump installation targets in new buildings, but not retrofits. While the number of heat pump retrofits is increasing year-by-year, getting anywhere near the 2030 retrofit target is looking unlikely as of 2024.