Over half of property owners are ruling out energy-saving renovations in the near future. The negative attitude is particularly pronounced among owners over 55, reports ImmoScout24.
According to a survey, most property owners in Germany are not planning any renovation measures such as installing climate-friendly heating systems in the near future. 52 percent do not want to make any investments for the time being, as the ImmoScout24 portal announced today in response to the survey it commissioned.
“The long debates and political disputes surrounding the implementation of the ‘Heating Act’ have probably given many owners great reservations about replacing heating systems,” said ImmoScout24 managing director Gesa Crockford. “The fact that the structure of the funding remained unclear for a long time probably caused a certain level of weariness in dealing with the issue any further.”
Willingness to renovate decreases with increasing age
According to the real estate portal, whether the willingness to undertake energy-related renovations will increase in the future will also depend on other factors such as the economic situation and the development of inflation. In addition, as you get older, your willingness to make an energy investment decreases.
Among young property owners between the ages of 18 and 34, only a quarter rule out such an investment in the near future. In the age range between 35 and 45, the number of owners with a negative attitude rises to 47 percent. Among those aged 55 and over, 63 percent have ruled out energy-saving renovations.
However, if children up to the age of 18 live in the household, openness is higher: 65 percent of this group are planning an energy-saving renovation measure. For owners without children it is only 37 percent. There are also differences between the sexes: men want to tackle renovations more often (50 percent) than women who own property (38 percent).
Differences in heat pumps primarily lie in efficiency
Heat pumps are one type of climate-friendly heating system. However, there are big differences in the efficiency and the heating materials used, as Stiftung Warentest found out in an investigation. To do this, the consumer magazine analyzed a total of six air-water heat pumps. Four devices performed well, two received a “satisfactory” grade.
“All six models can heat a single-family home,” the testers explained today. The difference lies in the power consumption. While the most efficient pump in a moderately insulated 140 square meter house consumes less than 5,000 kilowatt hours per year, the bottom pump requires over 6,500 kilowatt hours. With an electricity price of 40 cents per kilowatt hour, that is a difference of around 600 euros per year.
The refrigerant used also played a role in the evaluation. The two heat pumps rated as satisfactory used the potentially climate-damaging agent R32. “If they were to escape, they would have the same greenhouse effect as 2.2 tons of CO2,” the testers found. This is not necessary because there is an alternative available in the form of climate-friendly propane, which has even led to better energy efficiency for two manufacturers.