That’s in the traffic light draft
Obligation to replace old heaters from the table
03/31/2023 8:42 p.m
Owners of detached and semi-detached houses are not obliged to replace a functioning oil or gas heating system after 30 years. However, anyone installing a new system will have to switch to renewable energies from January 2024. The traffic light also specifies other details.
The traffic light parties have agreed in the dispute over specifications for new heaters. The controversial draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Economics can now be brought into the cabinet after changes, according to the Ministry of Economics Robert Habeck in the evening. The installation of gas and oil heating will therefore only be possible in exceptional cases from next year, but there are no new obligations to replace old systems.
According to current plans, from January 1, 2024, newly installed heating systems should be operated with 65 percent renewable energy. Classic gas and oil heating systems can only achieve this if they are operated in combination with a heat pump. The 65 percent target for 2025 was planned in the coalition agreement, but it is to be brought forward because of the Ukraine war and the energy crisis.
The corresponding design from Habeck caused a lot of criticism. Within the coalition, the FDP in particular opposed the guidelines. The dispute was settled in principle at the coalition committee earlier in the week, but the details of the agreement remained unclear. “No one is faced with an unsolvable task,” assured Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a congress of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” in the evening.
The traffic light agrees on these points
- According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the original plan to introduce an obligation to replace old heating systems for single and two-family houses was abandoned. According to current legislation, old heaters must be replaced after 30 years. The new specifications would then apply to new installations. Single and two-family houses are exempt from this – and under pressure from the FDP it will stay that way.
- Other special regulations are also planned for homeowners over 80 years of age. In principle, the installation of a gas or oil heating system remains possible.
- If the old heating system breaks down, it can still be replaced with a gas or oil heating system. However, the system must then be converted after three years at the latest in line with the 65 percent target.
- In addition, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there should be extensive hardship regulations. For example, if it makes no technical or economic sense in a building, it should also be possible to deviate from the 65 percent target here.
- It is also possible to install gas heaters, which can also be operated with hydrogen. However, as a prerequisite for this, the plan for the necessary hydrogen network to supply the fuel must also be available. So far, this has only been the case in a few areas in Germany.
- The cabinet draft is now to be adopted quickly and introduced in the Bundestag.
- The planned financial support for consumers still needs to be clarified.
- The conversion of heating systems is to be funded with funds from the climate and transformation fund. The draft law on the heat transition that the government intends to present in April should contain details.