The traffic light bill, which is intended to herald the end of oil and gas heating, is met with resistance. For private homeowners, possible hybrid solutions are very expensive.
The Haus & Grund owners’ association warns that the planned Building Energy Act could put owners under financial strain. “For most properties, the Building Energy Act offers neither technology-open nor affordable solutions and thus leads to a financial overload for many private owners,” said Association President Kai Warnecke.
The openness to technology announced by the traffic light coalition can hardly be implemented in practice. Because there are usually legal restrictions or technical barriers that ultimately only allow a heat pump, the association wrote. In older buildings, only a hybrid solution with a heat pump and gas can be implemented, which is very expensive. Haus & Grund therefore called on the traffic light coalition to revise the draft law.
Changeover will take time
With the compromise of the traffic light coalition on the long-controversial building energy law, the end of oil and gas heating comes in Germany. However, there will be an end in installments because there should be transitional and exceptional regulations. According to the draft, the core principle is that from January 1, 2024, every newly installed heating system must be operated with 65 percent renewable energy.
The ministries involved – economy, construction, finance – emphasize that there is an openness to technology. In addition to heat pumps, it should therefore be possible to use solar thermal energy, for example. It is also possible to install a hybrid system of heat pump and gas heating, in which the heat pump covers the basic supply and the gas heating takes over on cold days.
The ministry also expects high costs
According to estimates by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, citizens will have to spend more than nine billion euros a year up to 2028 to install more climate-friendly heating systems. The Ministry calculates that this would mean savings of around 11 billion euros over an operating period of 18 years. The savings come about, among other things, because oil and natural gas will become significantly more expensive in the coming years.
Source: Stern
