The global market for traditional heating systems continued to grow in 2006. At just under 12 billion euros, the sales volume was up by approx. 2 % on the previous year.
Different systems are used for space heating in the different geographic regions. Oil- and gas-fired heating systems re-
present approx. 65 % of the total market for traditional heating systems. They are used primarily in Europe, with a distinction made between conventional and condensing boilers.
A further 18 % of the total market is accounted for by hot air heaters, for which the USA is the single most important market.
Demand for electric heaters, which represent 12 % of the market, is particularly high in those countries where electricity is cheap, i.e. above all the U.S., France and Scandinavia.
District heating accounts for approx. 5 % of the world market for traditional heating systems. This form of space heating is used both in Europe – especially in the eastern part – and in Asia.

Oil and gas heating systems (condensing)

In 2006, oil- and gas-fired condensing boilers continued to win market share from conventional boilers on account of their
clear advantages in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. The global market volume increased by 25 % to
2.6 billion euros.
The main output market is Europe, with only 10 % of total sales being generated in other regions of the world.

A total of 2.8 million condensing boilers were sold in Europe in 2006, which represents a 30 % increase over the previous year.
With just under 1.5 million units sold, the UK is by far the single most important market in Europe. Following a legal amendment, condensing boilers have almost completely replaced conven-
tional heaters in the British market in the course of only two years. Condensing boilers now account for as much as 92 % of the wall-hung segment, up from 69 % in the previous year.
Condensing technology has increasingly established itself also in other European countries – especially in Belgium and France – in the past year and was able to win significant market share.

BBT Thermotechnik expects sales of condensing boilers to reach 5.6 million in Europe by the year 2014. In view of rising energy costs, governments are likely to increasingly stimulate the demand for energyefficient solutions. This should have a positive effect on sales of condensing boilers, too.

Oil and gas heating systems (conventional)

The global market volume for conventional boilers declined by
5 % to 5.1 billion euros in 2006. Growth in eastern Europe and the Asian region failed to offset the sharp decline in the major western European markets. Accounting for 62 % of the market, Europe remains the largest output market for conventional boilers, followed by Asia with 25 %, the Americas with 11 % and Africa with 2 %.

A total of just under 5.5 million conventional boilers were sold in Europe in 2006, which represents a decline of approx. 6 %. The sharpest drops were reported in the UK, Germany and France, whereas Turkey and Ukraine reported a strong increase in sales of conventional boilers.

With condensing technology increasingly becoming accepted as the new standard, the market for conventional boilers will probably continue to shrink. BBT Thermotechnik expects the European market for conventional boilers to decline by 4 % p.a. on average to 4.1 million units in 2014.