Saving energy is the credo of the moment to fight against global warming, fight galloping inflation and avoid consuming increasingly limited resources. But in low-rental housing or in certain condominiums, how do we organize ourselves when heating is collective, and when this item represents 62% of energy consumption in the home?
Because if since the 2015 law on energy transition for green growth, the individualization of heating costs is an obligation, there are still many condominiums that have not taken the plunge. However, the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) recalls in a 2021 study that, on average, giving each household its control over heating leads to a reduction in energy consumption of 17 %. readers of 20 minutes housed in dwellings with collective heating testify.
The question of thermostatic valves on radiators
Céline, resident of a “non-HLM condominium where the heating is collective”, says that last winter, awareness of the rise in gas prices was made with the inhabitants. “The boiler was also blocked at 19 degrees,” she says, regretting the technical impossibility of affixing individual meters to the building’s heating system.
“HLM tenant with collective heating”, Daniel for his part feels powerless because he has “no control over his radiators which do not even have thermostatic valves to regulate their temperature”. This is also deplored by Marie, who in her condominium, “if we have the misfortune to turn off a radiator, it puts the whole building at fault”. A “real delay of the lessor in terms of ecological impact”, she adds.
Pay more to heat less
Florence, tenant of an HLM, considers that the problem has accelerated this year. “Our landlord has almost doubled the heating costs since August, and yet today it is only 18 degrees in the apartment. How can we think about saving energy when residents are already experiencing a drop in temperature inside their homes and at the same time an explosion in prices?
Emmanuelle Cosse, ex-Minister of Housing and now director of the USH, the Social Union for Housing, relentlessly alerts. “Tenants of social housing and HLM organizations share the same anxiety, that of not being able to face the economic and social challenge posed by the sudden increase in the amount of charges. »
So in these cases, it is difficult for residents to think about energy savings and tips for the planet. Jocelyne, who notes for her accommodation with collective heating, a “reminder on heating as well as a monthly increase on this item from 85 to 115 euros”, explains that she never heats the rooms, both to save money and because ” sleeping cool is so much healthier.” She still invested in “down comforters and flannel covers for really cold days.”
Deep transformations needed
Many of them therefore denounce significant increases in heating costs without being able to waive their payment. Glitch, one of our readers, slips us: “We block the VMC and the ventilation of the windows, we keep the shutters closed. However, this trick is far from being a good idea: the air can no longer circulate in the room and therefore prevents odors and pollutants from being evacuated, to preserve health and well-being.
And if, like Jocelyne, you find it “irritating to pay for everyone, even those who keep the window wide open or wear a T-shirt because it’s too hot at home”, DoDeDo offers an alternative. For him, “the good solution is to ensure basic heat, for example at 17 degrees, and then everyone adjusts with personal consumption”. “But can donors invest? Re-insulate the roof? Install solar panels? asks Jocelyne again. And if finally the solution was not to remove the exemption from individualisation of heating costs? Because the law on energy transition for green growth of August 2015 which transposed a European directive still allows, when the measure is not profitable or impossible for technical reasons, to avoid some people falling through the cracks of an increasingly expensive thermal net on all fronts.