The heating law is just being lashed down. In the new draft, new gas heaters should be allowed – but only if an energy consultant has previously agreed.
Munich – That heating law The traffic light coalition is being finalized in the next few days, and it is to be approved by the Bundestag in the coming week. For the entire industry that deals with the heating of buildings, this now means finding out what is specifically required of it. What is allowed, what is not? And what new bureaucratic hurdles are they facing?
Turbulent weeks have caused uncertainty
Marcus Dietmann is one of those affected. He is the founder of the company 42watt, which carries out energy consulting. He himself is an architect and energy consultant – or energy efficiency expert. The latter is a protected term, whoever bears this title has undergone special training, explains Dietmann.
It was a turbulent few weeks for Marcus Dietmann and his colleagues. Concern and uncertainty have grown among many customers as a result of the political debate. “I can understand all the discussions, the topic is highly complex. But what counts now is that we finally take action.” The goal is climate neutrality by 2045 – and he wants to help achieve it.
Gas heating in the future only after energy advice
The way the law is now to be designed means that he and his colleagues have a lot more work to do than ever before. “Demand is now only increasing exponentially,” Dietmann expects. This is partly due to a certain passage that the new law should probably contain: A new gas heating system may only be installed if an energy consultation has taken place beforehand. For Dietmann, one thing is very clear: “Those who now want to install a gas heating system will be faced with a big chunk in the way”. It is not a ban on gas heaters, but makes their installation much more difficult, so to speak “through the back door”.
This is due to several factors. On the one hand, energy efficiency experts are already not easy to come by. If you try to get to someone via the official list of the federal government, you have to be prepared for long waiting times. Six months’ waiting time is quite common, says Marcus Dietmann. Sometimes the consultants in some regions didn’t answer the phone at all and were fully booked. Others raised their fees in view of the sharp rise in demand. “We’re trying to do that faster at 42 watts, within four weeks.” But the new regulation in the Heating Act will further increase the pressure.
Lots of unexplained details
When someone finally comes for advice, that too is a process that takes time. Dietmann does not yet know how this will change in the future with the new law. If you want to have a gas heater installed, you probably need official confirmation from an expert.
But it is already foreseeable that most qualified efficiency experts will probably no longer recommend gas heating. There may be “individual solutions” in which a gas heater that can be converted to hydrogen is conceivable. But that will “not be a comprehensive solution”.
This is usually confirmed by the numbers when he and his colleagues talk to owners. At 42watt they have developed a tool that makes the costs and effects of a renovation visible to everyone. “Most listen more interestedly to a price forecast for energy and mobility of 180,000 euros for the next 20 years,” he says. A heat pump then often seems more attractive to many.