Heat pumps in the Netherlands 2026 — ISDE grants and gas phase-out

Market snapshot — gas-free new builds since 2018

The Dutch heat-pump market is shaped less by fashion than by policy and network logic. Since July 2018, new-build homes in the Netherlands must generally be delivered without a natural-gas connection, the practical end of the standard aardgasaansluiting for new housing. That single rule made heat pumps the default heating option in much of the new-build sector, alongside district heating where available and, more rarely, direct electric systems.

For installers and buyers, the implication is straightforward: in new homes, the main decision is usually not whether to electrify heating, but which heat-pump architecture fits the building envelope, emitter temperatures and ventilation concept. In existing homes, hybrids still matter, but the policy direction is unambiguous. The Dutch market has therefore developed a split character: all-electric systems dominate new dwellings built to modern insulation standards, while hybrid air/water systems remain a common retrofit path.

The other structural factor is subsidy design. The Netherlands does not mainly steer buyers with percentage-based reimbursement. Instead, it uses fixed grants by eligible technology and performance class. That makes upfront economics more legible than in many neighbouring markets, especially for installers quoting standardised packages.

ISDE grant — fixed amounts per type

The key support scheme is ISDE, administered by RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland). For heat pumps, ISDE works through fixed grant amounts tied to product type and capacity class rather than a share of invoice cost (RVO — ISDE programme: https://www.rvo.nl/subsidies-financiering/isde).

That structure matters. A fixed amount gives predictable support at quotation stage and reduces ambiguity around eligible cost items. It also means subsidy intensity falls as system price rises, so expensive premium packages do not automatically receive proportionally larger support.

The scheme covers multiple heat-pump categories, including:

• air/water heat pumps
• ground-source and water-source heat pumps
• hybrid heat pumps
• reversible heat pumps, where the model meets the relevant conditions
• certain air-to-air units, provided the seasonal heating efficiency clears the required threshold (RVO — ISDE programme: https://www.rvo.nl/subsidies-financiering/isde)

The grant amounts are fixed per technology and capacity bracket. In practice, support spans a broad range, typically from about €500 up to €2,800 depending on the heat-pump type and output class under the scheme rules (RVO — ISDE programme: https://www.rvo.nl/subsidies-financiering/isde). Buyers should still check the current device list and product registration, because eligibility is attached to specific listed models rather than generic product claims.

For the market, this encourages catalogue discipline. Manufacturers that want Dutch volume need compliant, properly registered products, and installers need to quote exact model references rather than broad families.

Climate

The Netherlands is a favourable climate for air-source heat pumps by northern European standards. Using NASA POWER’s 30-year point climatology for Amsterdam at 52.37 °N, 4.90 °E, the city sits in a moderate heating climate with roughly 2,901 heating degree days at base 18 °C, and a January mean temperature of +3.5 °C (NASA POWER 30-year point climatology at Amsterdam).

That is cold enough for space-heating demand to matter, but mild enough that modern inverter-driven air-source units spend much of the season operating above the low-temperature extremes that hurt COP. For practical system design, the Dutch climate favours:

• low supply temperatures
• continuous modulation rather than aggressive on/off operation
• weather compensation
• careful defrost control in damp maritime conditions

The climate argument is one reason all-electric air/water systems work so well in Dutch new builds. Ground-source systems still offer seasonal-efficiency advantages, but the gap is often not large enough to justify the extra drilling or ground-loop cost on smaller urban plots.

Tariffs and the electricity-to-gas ratio

The operating-cost picture is less friendly than the climate. Dutch household electricity is around €0.31/kWh, while household gas is around €0.13/kWh based on Eurostat 2024-S2 household energy price datasets (Eurostat datasets nrg_pc_204 / nrg_pc_202, 2024-S2).

That gives a simple electricity-to-gas price ratio of about 2.4:1.

Why this matters is obvious to anyone sizing a hybrid system. If electricity costs 2.4 times as much per kWh as gas, a heat pump needs a seasonal COP comfortably above 2.4 merely to beat gas on direct energy cost, before maintenance and fixed-charge effects are considered. In many Dutch homes, that is achievable for low-temperature systems, but not automatically for high-temperature retrofit scenarios.

This is why Dutch economics often split into two cases:

• New builds and deep retrofits: all-electric systems can work well because building loads are low and flow temperatures stay modest.
• Older radiator-based homes: hybrids remain rational where envelope upgrades are partial and winter flow temperatures remain too high for consistently strong seasonal performance.

The tariffs therefore do not weaken the case for heat pumps altogether; they sharpen the importance of proper emitter sizing and low-temperature design.

Recommended setup

For a typical Dutch new-build dwelling, the default recommendation is an all-electric air/water monobloc or split system with:

• underfloor heating or oversized low-temperature emitters
• supply temperatures around the low-temperature range the building was designed for
• a weather-compensated control curve
• domestic hot water sized to occupancy, not brochure ambition
• mechanical ventilation integrated sensibly with the heat-loss calculation

For older homes, the sensible path is more conditional. If the property can be run at low flow temperatures after envelope work and emitter upgrades, an all-electric air/water system is usually the cleaner long-term choice. If not, a hybrid system remains the least disruptive route.

Air-to-air systems also deserve more attention than they often get in north-western Europe. Under ISDE, eligible reversible units can qualify if their seasonal heating efficiency meets the threshold, which makes them relevant for apartments and smaller retrofits where ductless zoning has practical advantages (RVO — ISDE programme: https://www.rvo.nl/subsidies-financiering/isde).

Top brands

The Dutch market combines domestic ventilation-and-heating specialists with the expected multinational HVAC brands.

Itho Daalderop and Inventum benefit from local familiarity, especially where heat pumps are bundled with Dutch ventilation conventions and compact indoor hydraulic layouts. Imported brands such as Daikin, Mitsubishi and Vaillant remain prominent because of broad model ranges, installer networks and established control platforms.

For buyers, brand selection should be secondary to system design and service coverage. In the Netherlands, a correctly sized mid-market unit installed by a competent contractor will usually outperform a premium badge attached to a poor hydraulic concept.

Sources

• RVO — ISDE programme: https://www.rvo.nl/subsidies-financiering/isde
• Eurostat datasets nrg_pc_204 / nrg_pc_202, 2024-S2
• NASA POWER 30-year point climatology at Amsterdam (52.37 °N, 4.90 °E)