Heat pump in German-speaking FribourgHeating system, Fribourg.

Permit: air-to-water and borehole

For an air-to-water heat pump with an outdoor unit, noise protection is the main concern. The Canton of Fribourg has given the communes recommendations for building applications in the simplified procedure. If the unit is quiet and stands far enough from the nearest neighbour, the state of the art and the noise limits are deemed to be met. We choose the model and location accordingly and prepare the documents for your commune.

For a borehole (ground probe), the cantonal permissibility map shows whether drilling is possible at your site from a groundwater protection point of view. In prohibition zones, no new borehole can be approved. In the building application, the Environment Office, the Energy Office and the Office for Construction and Spatial Planning give their opinions.

Replacing your heating system: what the Energy Act requires

Since 1 January 2020, a requirement has applied in the Canton of Fribourg when an oil or gas heating system is replaced: no more than 80 percent of the heat demand for heating and hot water may be covered by non-renewable energy. For new buildings, 30 percent must be renewable. A heat pump meets this requirement. The canton has also set conditions for replacing an electric heating system.

Subsidies in German-speaking Fribourg

The canton’s Buildings Programme has applied in its current version since 1 January 2025. It subsidises heat pumps that replace an oil, gas or permanently installed electric resistance heating system. Air-to-water units up to 70 kW receive CHF 3,500 plus CHF 150 per kW. For ground-source (borehole) and water-to-water units up to 70 kW, it is CHF 5,000 plus CHF 300 per kW. The subsidy is calculated with at most 50 watts of rated output per square metre of energy reference area. Up to 15 kW, the heat pump system module (Wärmepumpen-System-Modul) is required.

Work may only start once you have received approval. We submit permit and subsidy applications.

Grid operator and electricity price

In all 15 communes of German-speaking Fribourg, Groupe E supplies the electricity. At 27.3 ct. per kWh, the median is just below the Swiss median of 27.7 ct. (excluding VAT, household category H4, ElCom 2026). We register the heat pump with Groupe E. We clarify tariffs and blocking times in advance.

A special feature

In German-speaking Fribourg, more than half of residential buildings already heat with a heat pump. The oil share is 24 percent, and buildings from before 1981 make up 48 percent. In newer houses, the existing radiators are often sufficient, and we check this during the site visit.