Basically no one ever has recommended throwing out a well-working existing heating system. But heating systems, including radiators, tanks and furnaces, have li

Basically no one ever has recommended throwing out a well-working existing heating system. But heating systems, including radiators, tanks and furnaces, have limited life spans. Usually 20-30 years. At some point it is not economical to repair them, spare parts may not even be available anymore or laws have changed that require particularly old and dirty furnaces to be removed. In those cases, heat pumps are usually the more economical choice, depending on government incentives and other considerations. For example, it is quite certain that current EU-legislation concerning the inclusion of domestic fossil fuel usage in the CO2-certificate trading scheme will result result in price increases of 20-40% for natural gas and heating oil by 2035 or so. This includes older houses. Modern heat pumps are quite capable of heating even less insulated houses economically.