Status: 12/15/2022 10:29 am
Despite the gas price brake, numerous households in Germany have to fear high heating costs. Millions of residential buildings in Germany are not adequately insulated.
Residents of poorly insulated houses will probably have to pay significantly more for heating despite the gas price brake. A study by the Climate Neutral Germany Initiative came to the conclusion that heating costs in poorly insulated houses could be almost seven times higher than in well insulated houses. This affects around three million residential buildings in Germany, all of which belong to the worst energy efficiency class H.
“Poor windows, uninsulated roofs and uninsulated masonry mean that seven times more gas is needed to heat these buildings than in buildings with a contemporary energy standard,” the foundation said. Despite the gas price brake, this is a significant burden for the households affected.
3000 euros additional costs due to poor insulation
For example, a family living in a 150 square meter detached house in energy efficiency class H will have to spend around 5,600 euros a year on gas in the future. This is 4800 euros more than a family that lives in a class A house would have to raise. Compared to 2021, the additional costs would be over 3000 euros per year.
The difference is also noticeable in rented apartments, the foundation calculates: heating an average apartment of 60 square meters in the middle efficiency class D will cost around 2250 euros in the coming year. This is almost 2000 euros more than for a class A apartment of the same size.
“So that heating remains affordable”
“In the long run, there is no way around reducing gas consumption so that heating remains affordable,” explains the managing director of the initiative, Carolin Friedemann. She is therefore also calling for generous funding from the federal government for the modernization of poorly insulated houses. “It is economically and environmentally more sustainable to spend billions of euros on better energy efficiency than to spend the money on a heating subsidy that literally goes up the chimney.”
Today the Bundestag is debating the gas price brake and intends to adopt it afterwards.