Tatano biomass vs heating oil, gas and heat pumps: the honest comparison

Useful cost per kWh

The useful cost per kWh is the only honest indicator for comparison: it relates the fuel price to the energy actually delivered in the home, taking into account the calorific value and the seasonal efficiency of the equipment.

Energy prices change every month: our pellets vs oil comparator recalculates the gap every day from published official prices, and your personalised study quantifies it for your consumption.

• Useful cost = fuel price ÷ (calorific value × seasonal efficiency)
• Today's prices and official sources: pellets vs oil comparator

Upfront investment

The price of an installation depends on the output, the fuel, the existing installation (flue, storage, hydraulic connection) and the options.

For a Tatano boiler it is set only in your personalised study, then in the final quote after your advisor's visit: we do not publish price ranges.

Grants 2026

Grants change and depend on the competent body; our prices are shown without any grant deducted. Points checked on 3 October 2026:

• Luxembourg — 2026 Klimabonus: pellet boiler in an existing home, up to €8,000 for a single-family home replacing a fossil heating system (guichet.public.lu, page of 11/08/2026)
• Belgium — Wallonia: temporary Primes Habitation scheme closed on 30/09/2026; Flanders: no grant for biomass boilers (vlaanderen.be)
• France — MaPrimeRénov' for single works: heat pumps only; biomass boiler within a whole-home renovation (france-renov.gouv.fr)

Real carbon footprint

Life-cycle analyses published by ADEME and the IEA give the following orders of magnitude in gCO₂eq per useful kWh, covering fuel production, transport and combustion:

• Wood energy (pellets or logs from sustainably managed forests): 30-40 g CO₂/kWh
• Air-to-water heat pump (LU 2026 electricity mix, ~70% renewable): 50-90 g CO₂/kWh
• Air-to-water heat pump (FR 2026 electricity mix, ~85% low-carbon): 30-50 g CO₂/kWh
• Natural gas: 220 g CO₂/kWh
• Heating oil: 320 g CO₂/kWh
• Wood energy is considered carbon-neutral in the short term under the EU Renewable Energy II directive — provided the supply chain is sustainable (FSC, PEFC).

Energy independence and resilience

The 2022-2024 crises were a reminder that fuel cost is not the only criterion. Biomass has proven its resilience:

Wood is produced locally (forests in Wallonia, the Ardennes, Luxembourg and France), through short supply chains that are largely insulated from geopolitical shocks. ENplus pellets are mostly manufactured in Europe (Germany, Austria, France). Natural gas remains structurally dependent on imports (US LNG, Norwegian fields, Qatari LNG), and heat pumps depend on the stability of the electricity grid at winter peak demand.

When to choose biomass, when to choose a heat pump

Our pragmatic reading in 2026, after several hundred sizing studies:

• New, well-insulated passive/BBC home with no existing chimney: an air-to-water heat pump probably makes more sense — low heat demand, maximum efficiency on low-temperature emitters.
• Older or rural home, high-temperature radiators, cold climate (Ardennes, Œsling): Tatano pellets or logs — a heat pump loses a great deal of COP on 70 °C radiators.
• Building ≥ 50 kW (commercial, multi-unit, agricultural): Tatano without hesitation — investment costs for high-output heat pumps skyrocket and winter COPs collapse.
• Home with wood in abundance (farm, forestry operation, sawmill): Tatano logs or wood chips — near-zero fuel cost.
• Tatano + solar thermal + buffer tank combination: optimal for maximum autonomy, with free domestic hot water in summer.
• Hybrid heat pump + pellet boiler: worthwhile in major renovations — the heat pump covers 80% of the season, with pellets as back-up in severe cold.

And the future? What won't change

Tatano has been manufacturing biomass boilers for 4 generations. Our conviction: heat produced from local wood will remain the most resilient solution, the cheapest to run and the simplest to maintain in the Benelux for the next 30-40 years. Boiler bodies are engineered to outlast most of today's heat pumps (compressors and refrigerants have a service life of 15-20 years). Tatano still supplies spare parts for models installed in 1985.

Ask us for a free personalised assessment: we will be the first to point you towards a heat pump if it is the better solution for your home. Telling the technical truth is our job.