Using multi‐criteria analysis to prioritize renewable energy home heating technologies

Replacing all oil boilers with renewable energy technologies by 2035 is part of the national energy strategy 2050 in Denmark. Individual heating is supposed to supply around one-fourth of the total residential heating after 2035. About 205,703 homes will need to replace their current oil boilers. This study investigates the drivers for decision makers when adopting different renewable heating technologies. A total of 11 factors that embrace the economical, technological and environmental aspect of the alternative renewable heating technology are identified, and these were used for the selection of the alternative renewable heating technologies. Three renewable heating technologies: solar heating, heat pumps and wood pellet boilers are used in the estimation. The multi-criteria decision making analysis shows that solar heating is considered as the best alternative, and heat pumps is the second best, wood pellet boiler is the least attractive among three alternatives. It can be noted that solar heating and heat pumps are close alternatives.