Local room (or space) heating products can be defined as appliances that provide heat to indoor spaces by generating heat at the same location as it is needed. The appliances are self-contained heating units, wall-mounted or chimney bound.
The local space heating industry has, in the past, greatly been formed by local companies dealing with local building habits and local available energy sources. To give some examples, the UK is coming from coal heating and subsequently switched to gas, the Scandinavian countries have a tradition in wood burning, France also has a history in wood and more recent in electric heating due to the investments in nuclear power plants starting from the sixties through the eighties. Germany has also a great tradition in coal and wood (south of Germany). and still depends on brown-coal. Italy has a history in gas and oil heating. In most countries also oil was an important fuel for heating.
Due to this history we see many local companies in each country that produce space heaters for local markets. With the energy transition on its way this picture is now changing. More companies are now investing in appliances for a variety of fuels, appliances for renewable energy such as wood and especially pellets have been in great demand also due to subsidies given by governments in certain countries and we see that companies either are merging or are acquired to assure better market opportunities and to create more economies of scale for investments in new technology and market development.
The energy market today is dominated by political decisions. In Europe this means by the legislators in Brussels. CO2 has to be reduced, emissions have to be brought back, efficiencies have to go up, new houses have to be zero-energy and old properties have to be insulated. Therefor we have to be united to defend our interests and to make sure that our products fit into the energy transition that Europe is going through. There are many challenges such as:
- Be part of the Ecodesign II rules and regulations for all local space heaters.
- Reduce emissions of biomass appliances the next 5 years in the EU by 50%.
- Develop 1 quality label for all biomass appliances instead of many in each country.
- Set up EU certification for fire wood (like ENplus for pellets).
- Watch NOx regulations for our appliances so they stay within realistic boundaries.
- Be a partner at the development of all new EU legislation for our products.
- Become a known EU organisation for knowledge of local space heating
appliances. - Initiate and carry out research regarding our products and markets.