Electricity demand impact from increased use of ground sourced heat pumps

The use of ground-sourced heat pumps as main heating systems has increased in Sweden in the last fifteen years to the point that it is the country with the highest amount of GSHP in Europe. Heat pumps are chosen by many households due to their economic savings value; In contrast, electricity prices in Sweden have almost doubled since 2006, threatening their economic benefits. It is therefore, essential to understand GSHPs impact on the user´s electricity consumption and provide suitable demand-response programs that could help develop a model capable of forecasting consumption and provide decision support information to make the best use of the technology. This paper analyses questionnaire surveys and consumption patterns were evaluated for 322 households with installed GSHPs and different pricing schemes in order to increase the understanding of mass use of this type of heating system.