What began during their studies at TU Delft has now, after more than six years of development, resulted in the first systems operating in occupied homes – including a historic building dating back to 1610.
Two TU Delft students discovered an aviation technology that had never previously been applied in a residential building. This marked the beginning of a student project that has since grown into a successful company.
The result is the Tarnoc Turbine Boiler: a fully electric successor to the gas boiler, designed for the older homes in the Netherlands for which a conventional heat pump is not a viable option.
The missing piece in the energy transition
The Netherlands needs to move away from natural gas, but progress remains painfully slow. According to Statistics Netherlands, 11.2% of Dutch homes were heated without natural gas in 2024. Almost all of these were newly built homes designed for heat pumps from the outset. At the current pace, the 2030 targets remain far out of reach.
The other almost 90% represents the real challenge. Millions of older homes are unsuitable for conventional heat pumps for various reasons: they may be poorly insulated, lack space for an outdoor unit or have listed status that prevents extensive renovation. Until now, there has simply been no suitable solution for many of these homes. Tarnoc’s Turbine Boiler aims to provide one.
Technology from aviation
Vincent Wijdeveld, 28, encountered this problem while studying at TU Delft. Together with co-founder Tijmen de Jong, he began searching not for a better heat pump, but for a different technological principle.
De Jong discovered the Brayton cycle, a technology used in aircraft air-conditioning systems. When reversed, the cycle produces high-temperature heat at high power, using air instead of a chemical refrigerant.
This led to the development of the Turbine Boiler. The system replaces the gas boiler, supplies water at temperatures of up to 80°C and works with existing radiators. There is no need to replace the radiators, nor does the system impose extensive insulation requirements. Tarnoc has also developed a fully electric version with an outdoor unit that cuts heating costs in half.
From prototype to a building dating back to 1610
More than six years of development, testing and starting over followed. The founders initially worked on the technology during their studies at TU Delft before continuing its development at the YES!Delft incubator/accelerator. Tarnoc subsequently conducted pilots with more than ten housing associations across the Netherlands.
This year, the first systems were installed in occupied homes. One of these is De Vergulde Schoe in Middelburg, a historic building dating back to 1610 that was extremely difficult to make sustainable using conventional technologies.
If you can fully electrify a building that is more than 400 years old, you can do the same for most other homes,” says Wijdeveld. “We are not trying to replace the conventional heat pump – for many homes, that is simply the best solution. But there is a large group of homes that currently falls outside its scope. For those properties, we provide the piece of the puzzle that has been missing until now.”
About Tarnoc
Tarnoc was founded in 2019 by TU Delft students Vincent Wijdeveld and Tijmen de Jong. The company develops and manufactures a fully electric successor to the gas boiler for homes in which a conventional heat pump is not a viable option. The technology has now undergone extensive testing and the first pilot projects have been completed.
