There’s more to a Heat Pump than just its Efficiency and Cost, there is also a consideration in who it’s purchased from and are their credentials ethically sound.
I’ve been reading an article published in the Sept/Oct 2025 edition of Ethical Consumer, who are an independent, not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder co-operative with an open membership.
They provide shopping guides and ethical ratings using a system they have developed over many years, and which is updated regularly to keep their databases up to date. Think of them a bit like Which? who review the product on performance, cost and value for money, Ethical Consumer review the companies behind the product. In fact, using the two resources could get you not only a good product both on performance and financially, but ethically sound too.
Ethical Consumers mission is to make global businesses more sustainable through consumer pressure; products and services are rated to provide an ‘Ethiscore’, an average score from 4 key areas each business is assessed against – Climate, Workers, Tax Conduct and Company Ethos.
Within each of the above categories there are various criteria the company is scored on, and collectively the Ethiscore rates each company from 1-100. 1 being the worst.
There are also Best Buys which usually feature companies at the top of the rankings, along with Recommended companies and those to Avoid.
Not only are heat pumps ranked for the Ethiscore but there is a lot of useful information regarding what heat pumps are, how they work, their efficiencies, costs and savings etc.
So how do Heat Pumps fare ethically?
I’ve picked the top one to give you an idea of how the ratings work, and you can find out the full details by going to the Ethical Consumer website. The top spot and Best Buy currently is Steibel Eltron, with a score of 58/100.
Climate looks at whether a company has identified its main carbon impacts and is acting to reduce them, and has evidence of having reduced them, also if it provides a detailed discussion of what it will take to reduce emissions in its sector.
It also covers things like annual reporting of and future targets to cut emissions, if there are links to the fossil fuel industry and misleading messaging on climate change.
Steibel Eltron scored well by being almost totally focussed on low carbon products.
Workers looks at things like supplier codes of conduct, purchasing/buying policies, workers’ rights and wages, supply chain and working with trade unions.
Stiebel Eltron scored well because they appeared to manufacture most of its products in house.
Tax Conduct – the good news is that in this category the top 9 companies all scored maximum marks. So, they don’t hide in a tax haven, have Fair Tax Mark accreditation, clear reporting of sales and the tax paid, and public declarations confirming they are not involved in tax avoidance. Steibel Eltron have no subsidiaries in Tax Havens.
Company Ethos. This covers things like excessive directors pay (Over £1m), production in arms and military, mining or fossil fuels, nuclear power, positive policy on pay ratios and membership of lobby groups, and a commitment to positive change, amongst others. Steibel Eltron’s score was brought down a little in this section mainly because they lacked transparency in disclosing pay details of directors, as were many others.
If you are interested or concerned about where your product comes from and what impact buying it may have on the planet then these Guides can be very useful addition to helping you make an informed decision.
Who are the Recommended suppliers?
Although Steibel Eltron came out as a Best Buy, Recommended were Aira, Master Therm, Grant, Baxi and Vaillant. Danfoss came out well in the total Ethiscore rating but were not recommend because they are also involved in the fossil fuel industry. Of all the calcs I’ve undertaken I’ve not yet come across Aira or Master Therm although there are plenty listed in the Product Database in SAP. Vaillant on the other hand are often the go to choice for a heat pump, and there are many Steibel Eltron models of heat pump listed too.
Personally, I think the ratings are fair, and although using this system is great it’s not often you find a company that is top marks across all categories, it’s up to you to decide what’s important to you and go with the company that best meets that need.
Finally, so who is on the Avoid list?
You can read the report yourselves by subscribing to Ethical Consumer but personally for the reasons mentioned above I wouldn’t go near Panasonic, Daikin, Mitsubishi and Samsung. Unfortunately, these also seem to be very popular, I suspect due to their costs and just the sheer number of different models available. Dimplex also don’t fare too well, and although not on the Avoid list like the above, they are involved in arms and military supplies so score poorly.
So, there you have it, a different view to choosing and buying a heat pump.