Copper in heating appliances

From a 2017 European Commission report, we find that 143 million heating appliances need to be replaced to have a decarbonised heating system  These include gas, oil or coal boilers as well as 25 million direct electrical heating systems.

From a Creara report commissioned by European Copper Institute in Feb 2017, we can share the following table showing copper use in heating appliances.

Markets will decide between various decarbonised heating solutions. Hence, the average copper use shared over the seven low-carbon solutions (two heat pump technologies, biomass boilers, pellet stoves, solar heating, district heating and domestic CHP) is 17 kg per appliance. This is 11 additional kilograms over the copper used in a conventional heating system of 6 kg.

Therefore, upgrading Europe’s 143 million conventional heating systems requires 1.6 million tons of copper by 2050. This figure is likely to be an overestimate since alternative heat conductor materials can also be used. In addition, buildings in Europe are becoming more efficient and have lower heat demands.

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First published April 2018. Edited 17-May-2024.