Fitters or manufacturers of heating systems and heat pumps are now facing an even longer phase of uncertainty. The craft calls for a “reliable overall package” by autumn.
The uncertainty of the heating industry has not decreased after the provisional court stop of the Building Energy Act – even if the project is to be introduced again after the summer break.
The President of the Central Association of German Crafts, Jörg Dittrich, nevertheless showed understanding for the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court: “We said from the beginning: This law needs intensive consultation; whipping it through is prohibited,” Dittrich told the “Handelsblatt”. The Building Energy Act will set the course for the heating sector for decades to come.
Demand for heat pumps plummeted
The time frame for the consultations in parliament and with associations was too short, according to the crafts president. “A lot of trust has been gambled away.” He called on politicians to present a reliable overall package for the heating law by autumn. So many questions are still unanswered, such as the funding background and municipal heat planning. “Politicians would now be well advised to use the time until autumn to first complete the funding concept and heat planning in an orderly process,” Dittrich told the newspaper.
The Federal Association of Heat Pumps (BWP) again insisted on the need for planning security for the industry. In May, BWP Managing Director Martin Sabel described the fundamental problem of the heating industry: “In this unclear situation, people understandably choose the heating systems they are familiar with. Pull-forward effects arise, from which thousands of new oil and gas heating systems are installed On the other hand, the demand for heat pumps is collapsing.”
Many manufacturers now have to manage the balancing act of serving the high demand for oil and gas heating systems “after investing large sums in new production facilities for heat pumps,” says Sabel.
Waiting for the plans of the municipalities
In order to end the great uncertainty in the heating market and to create reliable framework conditions, it is crucial that the procedure be resumed as quickly as possible, the association explained today.
The bigger problem for the industry, however, is that the specifications for house heating are to be made dependent on the state of heat planning in the municipalities. In some places, the deadline for eco-conversion is years after January 1, 2024.