New heat pump model cuts electricity costs 22% with smarter grid integration
Building thermal inertia unlocks 22% cost savings—researchers prove it.
Heat pumps are expected to dominate the heating sector, but their widespread adoption threatens to spike peak electricity demand. A new paper from researchers Simon Malacek, Sonja Wogrin, and Yannick Werner (accepted at the 2026 International Conference on the European Energy Market) introduces a temperature-aware modeling approach that taps into building thermal inertia—the natural ability of structures to store heat. Their novel conic efficiency formulation precisely emulates smart control strategies, capturing operational flexibility that previous large-scale models ignored. The key insight: buildings can act as virtual batteries, shifting heat pump load without sacrificing comfort.
In a case study of the European energy system, the model demonstrated up to a 22% reduction in heating-related electricity costs while remaining computationally efficient for system-level optimization. The authors argue this untapped flexibility can be realized through market designs that incentivize coordinated heat pump control, either individually or via aggregators. For energy planners and grid operators, this work provides a practical tool to integrate demand-side flexibility at scale, reducing peak loads and lowering system costs without major infrastructure investments.
- Novel conic formulation models building thermal inertia for heat pump operation, enabling demand response without added hardware.
- European case study shows up to 22% reduction in heating-related electricity costs with computationally efficient optimization.
- Highlights need for market design that rewards coordinated heat pump control via aggregators or individual smart control.
Why It Matters
Practical path to cut grid costs by 22% using existing building thermal mass—no new tech required.