Price of installing 1 heat pump in Switzerland (French-speaking part) - How much? (100m2 / 200m2)

Heat pump price comparison Switzerland 2023

	Installation rate for French-speaking Switzerland (CHF HT)	Annual maintenance cost (CHF HT / year)	Annual consumption (CHF HT / year)
Geothermal heat pump	46’500.-	120.-	1’575.-
Indoor air/water heat pump	38’500.-	170.-	1’990.-
Outdoor air/water heat pump	32’500.-	220.-	1’990.-
Note	Average prices from our offer database	Contract : approx. 350-450.00 / 2 years	with kWh price approx. 0.27 cts (source)

based on a 200m2 detached house on a plain (< 800m): average annual consumption 2800 liters of fuel oil at 1.17cts / liter = 3'276.- /year => source of fuel oil rate

COP considered for outdoor or indoor aerothermal heat pumps: approx. 3.8, and for geothermal heat pumps: approx. 4.8

Replacement of the oil boiler by a mid-range heat pump

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What factors affect the price of a heat pump in Switzerland?

The idea of lowering energy bills, of obtaining a more ecological and economical heating system, is central when we think of install a heat pump.

But to get the right return on investment, it's essential to understand the influence of certain factors on the price of the installation.

In no particular order, the factors that affect price are:

• the brand of the machine
• the origin of the machine
• the company that installs
• sizing the heat pump
• your ability to negotiate
• your analysis of the quote
• clearing the oil tank
• or your ability to participate in the work site by your own means.

What influence does the brand of heat pump have on price?

This is very much linked to the origin since each brand has a geographical origin.

There are an incredible number of brands of heat pumps, more or less expensive

Sites like topten.ch list these brands and their gross catalog prices

(your installer has a discount on this price: so he will generally offer you a lower or equivalent price, already including his margin).

We have:

• the Viessman heat pump
• Daikin heat pump
• the Alpha Innotec heat pump
• or Dimplex

and so on.

Of course, these brands come from different origins and each has its own prices.

Daikin appears generally cheaper while Viessmann, Alpha Innotec, or Dimplex, appear a little more expensive.

The price can vary by a third on the equipment itself.

Most installers apply average margins that have little impact on the price of the machine. 

The variation in these prices comes from 2 sources:

• The first is the cost of labor in the country of manufacture.
• The second is the quality of the components used. 

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There's no need to go and find out the price of a machine in its country of manufacture.

If you buy it there, you'll have to transport it, i.e. pay a carrier, and clear it through customs, i.e. pay tax.

And you will spend a lot of time there.

Prices in Switzerland and abroad for the same machine can vary by as much as double.

However, if you buy the machine abroad anyway

You won't be able to count on any subsidies, as certificates are currently only awarded to machines of Swiss origin.

What influence does the installation company have on the heat pump price?

This is particularly related to the dimensioning.

You have to consider how you size the material.

If the machine turns out to be undersized in relation to your home's heating requirements, the price will seem attractive.

And you will have heat most of the time.

However, the machine will be running at full capacity and your energy bill will go up instead of down.

If the machine turns out to be oversized (by more than 1.2 or 1.3, which is normal for the safety margin), the price will be higher for nothing.

And the machine will also over-consume

Since the compressor will never operate at its optimum or nominal speed, the one at which it consumes the least energy.

NB: there is a power limit above which a label is not required to obtain a subsidy. 

This leads some installers to deliberately opt for a heat pump that is too powerful, just to avoid having to apply for subsidies.

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Then there's the question of where the company's workforce comes from, which can influence the final price.

In fact, employees with very low salaries, for various reasons that we won't go into here, help to lower prices.

Your ability to negotiate the price of heat pump installation?

When it comes to renovation work, and in particular heat pump installation in Switzerland, you need to manage your budget.

Every heat pump installer wants to sell to increase sales, and every supplier wants to sell machines for the same reason.

These two actors are sometimes ready, depending on the season and the workload, to grant important discounts on the material.

You have to ask and find out what is the minimum price below which it will not go.

Your analysis of the heat pump estimate is important in the process

It is necessary to pay attention to the quotation and to all the positions that appear on it.

A mistake can be made in your favor, but also against you.

The installer may have omitted some parameters during his visit.

Or you could do some of the positions yourself, without bothering the professional too much.

Take a look at the figures for each model: there may be another, cheaper model with the same power.

You can check this on the supplier's website. If you are on a tight budget, this may count.

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The quotation may omit the removal of any component

This is worth noting to avoid unpleasant surprises in terms of added value at the end of the project.

Does the heat pump provide free heating?

No.

Even if your bill will be very low if the system is well dimensioned

There will always be a portion to pay to the electricity supplier.

If the number 1 represents your heat requirement then :

• The air-to-water heat pump pumps around 2/3 free energy from the air
• And the remaining third is taken from the regular power grid.

The geothermal heat pump, on the other hand, is a little more efficient.

The ratio is more like 3/4 to 1/4.

One third of the consumption of an air-to-water heat pump is taken from the network

This corresponds roughly to the electrical power specified on the nameplate, multiplied by the number of hours the heat pump is in operation during the period in question.

This should be about 1/3 of your requirement.

Does the system include the heating circuit?

If the quotation includes the installation of a heating circuit, the price will clearly be much higher.

The installation of a heat pump often goes hand in hand with a change in the heating water distribution circuit.

Whether underfloor heating or water radiators.

This installation requires more manpower and more equipment.

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The installation of each radiator could cost you an average of between CHF 1,500 and CHF 2,000 per unit.

The most common radiators are Zehnder or Arbonia, which are of very good quality.

Does the system include domestic hot water production?

Similarly, adding domestic hot water to the heating system alone increases the price, since it requires the addition of a hot water tank.

This can be a conventional storage tank connected to the heat pump.

Then the heat pump will produce the hot water directly.

It can also be a thermodynamic tank.In this case, the thermodynamic hot water cylinder itself will produce domestic hot water independently, as it acts like a heat pump.

The thermodynamic water heater consumes a minimum amount of electrical energy from the grid

And pumps the rest into the air in the room, or sometimes outside.

This energy is then returned to the water to heat it.

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Either system increases the price in the same way. (approx. 10 or 15% of the total price)

Unless a solar water heater is included. In which case it will be much more expensive.

Because solar heating requires quite expensive solar collectors.

Does the cost of heat pump installation include a maintenance contract?

If the heat pump installation price does indeed include the maintenance contract, it's normal for it to be higher.

Often it's the equipment supplier who wants to take care of this, and visit us every one or two years for a check-up.

Does the heat pump quote include one or more outdoor units?

Sometimes your heating needs are greater than the maximum capacity of the largest heat pump.

Then you need a second, third, etc. heat pump.

The price increase is substantial, around 1/3 more than a single outdoor unit installation.

Which heat pump model?

In general, a geothermal heat pump is much more expensive because it requires a technically complex drilling.

An aerothermal heat pump is less expensive because there is no drilling in this case.

What's more, aerothermal heating has become much more widely available in recent years.

The manufacturers manage to lower the prices.

Is it an air-to-air heat pump?

So in this case it's really cheaper, but the yields are lower. 

Because it's physically much less economical to transmit energy to air than to water.

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This is due to the heat capacity of the fluid. The air-to-air model is not recommended, except for air-conditioning applications.

How much does an air-to-water heat pump cost in Switzerland?

You have to distinguish between the pump and its installation. The price of an air/water heat pump in Switzerland varies between CHF 7,000 and 15,000. To this must be added installation labor.

Total prices can vary from Fr. 15,000 up to Fr. 40,000 for the installation of a heat pump with a single outdoor unit for heating only.

If hot water is added, the total cost is around Fr. 5,000.

The average is therefore between Fr. 32,500 and Fr. 37,500, which, as mentioned above, depends on a number of factors.

Price of a heat pump for a 100m2 house in French-speaking Switzerland

A 100m2 house, especially if it is new, generally requires no more than 3 to 5kW of heating power. Therefore the heat pump models that can be considered are among the smallest and therefore the cheapest.

The price of installing a heat pump for a 100m2 house in the French-speaking part of Switzerland is around CHF 30,000, and sometimes a little under CHF 27,000-28,000. It all depends on the type of installer you use, and the model you choose.

As for any product, you have the choice between low-cost (Japanese model, non-labeled team), standard (German model, labeled team), and high-end (Swedish model, labeled team with nice installers' opinions) => personal opinion

Price of a heat pump for a 200m2 house in French-speaking Switzerland

The price of an air-to-water heat pump for a 200m2 house is likely to be in the higher bracket, i.e. between CHF 35,000 and 40,000, from which you can deduct subsidies if you manage to obtain them a few months or even years after the building work.

These prices are based on quotes from highly qualified, certified installers in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. There are also slightly less expensive teams from France, but they may not have the necessary labels to qualify for subsidies.

Is it more expensive than other solutions?

It depends on the heating solution in question: 

• Compared with a gas condensing boiler, it's generally much more expensive by around 30 to 40%, but the return on investment is 10 to 15 years.
• Compared to a condensing oil-fired boiler, it's about the same.
• Compared with a geothermal heat pump, it's around 30 to 40% cheaper, because you have to include the cost of drilling, which is quite substantial. The geothermal heat pump itself is less expensive than its air-to-water equivalent, but there is more installation work involved.
• Compared to an air-to-air heat pump, the air-to-water heat pump is also more expensive, but we are not talking about an air-to-air heat pump for heating. Rather for air conditioning with brands like Daikin.
• Compared with pellet heating, the price of an air-to-water heat pump is more or less the same if you install pellet storage and a vacuum cleaner for the pellet boiler.

Does the installation price of the heat pump already deduct any subsidies you may be entitled to?

Sometimes your installer may decide to send you a quote after deducting the subsidy prices.

It optimistically assumes that you will get them automatically. Then you have a very attractive price.

The cantonal building program is there to help homeowners finance their energy renovation

But it requires many conditions that are not always easy to meet.

In this case, we invite you to check that all the criteria for obtaining the cantonal heat pump subsidies and there's nothing to stop you receiving them.

Has your installer planned to clear the oil tank?

When replacing an oil system, you have the option of keeping the tank or having it removed.

This operation has a high cost. It must be carried out by CITEC approved companies. 

The cost will be even higher if the tank is made of steel.

It then has to be cut up, disposed of, recycled and so on. A lot of labor is required.

It's not uncommon to see offers of CHF 5,000 to clear a steel tank.

Heat pump prices 2023 - Interesting links

Comparison of dozens of heat pumps available in Switzerland