Start with the number nobody tells you
A boiler does not deliver the fuel you pay for. Between the flue, the hot shell, the pipework and the blowdown, a typical steam boiler delivers only 45–70% of its fuel as useful heat. You buy the whole litre; you keep half to two-thirds of it.
A heat pump works the other way round. It moves heat out of the warm air rather than making it, so one unit of electricity delivers about four units of heat. For jobs below 100 °C — hot water, washdown, preheat, most process duties — it is the cheapest heat available in the Philippines.
Three ways to make heat, fairly compared
| Diesel boiler | LPG boiler | Heat pump | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Running cost | High. Fuel + the 30–55% the system loses before the heat is useful. | High. Cleaner burn, same combustion arithmetic. | Up to 75% less for the same delivered heat below 100 °C. |
| Price stability | None. ₱170/L at the 2026 peak, ₱85–90 now. You can't budget a coin-flip. | Follows fuel markets — spiked 55–75% in the same crisis. | Plannable. Grid power moves slowly — and your own solar doesn't move at all. |
| Upfront cost | Often zero — it's already in the plant room. | Moderate; tanks and compliance. | Higher — but removable with no-upfront-cost monthly terms. |
| Above 100 °C | Yes — true steam is combustion's home ground. | Yes. | Up to ~75 °C water (R290); CO₂ systems reach higher — ask us about your duty. |
| On site | Fuel deliveries, storage tanks, spill risk, flue. | Tank farm, permits, deliveries. | No fuel on site. No deliveries, no tanks, no flue. |
| Maintenance | Burners, water treatment, annual inspections. | Similar, plus tank compliance. | Sealed system — serviced like commercial aircon; we maintain it under EaaS. |
Where the boiler honestly wins: genuine steam duties above 100 °C, and sites where the boiler is paid for and the temperature truly requires it. Even then there's a half-step: a heat pump preheating the boiler's feedwater cuts fuel 5–10% — at one real Philippine food plant that was about ₱902,000 a year, paid back in roughly five months.
The volatility argument, in one paragraph
The 2026 fuel spike is the whole case study. Diesel ran to roughly ₱170 a litre, businesses bled for months, and then it fell back to ₱85–90. Nothing about your boiler changed — only the gamble underneath it. A heat pump on grid power plus your own solar and storage replaces that gamble with a cost you can write into next year's budget. That stability is worth almost as much as the saving.
Who we are
Karnot Energy Solutions Inc. is a Philippine energy company in Mapandan, Pangasinan. We build natural-refrigerant heat pumps — iHEAT for hot water and process heat, iCOOL for refrigeration — and install them across the Philippines, the UK, the US and Canada, with no-upfront-cost monthly terms where the fee is set below what the fuel was costing. Cash in your pocket from month one.
Questions we get asked
Is a heat pump cheaper to run than a diesel boiler?
Substantially. The boiler delivers only 45–70% of its fuel as useful heat; a heat pump delivers about 4 units of heat per unit of electricity — typically up to 75% lower thermal cost below 100 °C.
What about fuel price swings?
Diesel hit about ₱170/L in the 2026 spike, then fell to ₱85–90. You can't budget that. Grid power plus your own solar is a cost you can plan.
When does a boiler still win?
True steam above 100 °C, or where the boiler is paid for and the duty demands it. A feedwater-preheat heat pump still cuts its fuel 5–10% with payback in months.
Can I switch without upfront capital?
Yes — we install and maintain at no upfront cost; you pay monthly, set below what fuel was costing you. Cash-positive from the first month.
Put your fuel bill on the table
One free site survey: we measure your actual heat loads and fuel use, and show you the three-way numbers for your site. If the boiler should stay, we'll tell you that too.
Book a free site surveyRelated: The feedwater preheat retrofit · Your boiler isn't 80% efficient · Heat pump vs electric water heater · iHEAT heat pumps