EU climate zones
European energy labelling for heat pumps reports SCOP separately for three reference climates defined in EN 14825. When comparing two models, make sure their SCOP figures refer to the same zone — a number quoted "A++" for the Average climate is not directly comparable to one for the Colder climate.
Warmer
Reference city: AthensMediterranean-leaning climates. Heat pumps achieve their highest seasonal SCOP here because outdoor temperatures rarely drop deeply below freezing. Cooling demand is significant — reversible models often pay back faster.
Countries we classify in this zone
Average
Reference city: StrasbourgMost of central and western Europe. Used as the default reference for product marketing. Mild winters punctuated by below-freezing spells; SCOP figures reported in product datasheets without qualification typically refer to this zone.
Countries we classify in this zone
Colder
Reference city: HelsinkiNordic and Baltic climates. Heat pumps must perform at -15°C or below; some manufacturers report COP at A-15/W35 to demonstrate cold-climate fitness. Ground-source units shine here due to stable soil temperatures.
Countries we classify in this zone
How we classify
We use the climate zone reported by EN 14825, supplemented by 30-year NASA POWER climatology at each country's capital coordinates. For countries that span multiple zones (Spain, Italy, France, Germany), we pick the zone matching the population-weighted centre. For region-specific comparisons, look at the country dashboard which shows actual HDD and mean temperatures.
Source: EN 14825 Annex VII; NASA POWER point climatology; population-weighted centre approximation.