How a Swedish Heat Pump Startup Plans to Wean Europe Off Gas
“The boiler is the enemy,” Aira UK’s chief executive officer proclaimed as the Swedish company launched its first proprietary heat pump in London.
Swedish startup Aira aims to serve 5 million heat pump customers across Europe over the next 10 years.
Courtesy of AiraNot many product launches start with a declaration of war. But for Aira, a heat pump manufacturer and installer created last year by Swedish private equity firm Vargas, the gloves are off. “The boiler is the enemy,” Daniel Särefjord, chief executive officer of Aira UK, proclaimed as he debuted the company’s first proprietary heat pump in London last week. “That’s the only enemy we have.”
That enemy is currently everywhere. Buildings produce about a third of carbon emissions in Europe, where the boiler is dominant in many countries. In the UK, roughly 80% of households still use gas for heating. The push to decarbonize home heating, meanwhile, has become increasingly contentious. In February, the heat pump industry recorded its first drop in European sales in a decade, a decline it attributed to negative narratives about the technology, delays to European green policies and concerns about inflation.