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[–]ageingrockstar 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I don't understand how the buildings would require 'massively expensive renovations' to put in heat pumps. They don't intrinsically require any modifications to the building apart from installation. And installation is fairly simple; you install the interior unit, an exterior unit, and a pipe connecting the two.

Heat pumps are a fantastic technology. They move heat around rather than generating heat. So to heat a house they bring heat in from outside. This is just the same as a fridge, except in a fridge it works in the other direction. The heat pump in a fridge moves heat out of the fridge to the exterior environment.

I can appreciate that the feckless (and generally revolting) German Greens may have pushed this technology on the people in a ham-fisted and draconian way, which is stupid, but the actual technology is, quite objectively, a fantastic one. I say objectively because, from pure physics, moving heat around rather than generating it is a far superior approach.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Good question and not one I have the knowledge to answer but from this twitter thread it sounds like the problem is converting from old gas systems to one that uses electricity. There was a long thread that I didn't save, unfortunately, where owners of apartment buildings were talking about what the renovation and the costs would entail. Supposedly the German government is saying it will subsidize 70% of these costs but I gather the public doesn't have much confidence in the current government.