Since the beginning of June, elected officials and professionals have been thinking about banning gas boilers in France. 12 million households could be affected by such a decision. What are their options for arranging their home?
What if France banned gas boilers soon? Since the beginning of June, elected officials and professionals have been thinking about this hypothesis, which would not be without consequences for households. Indeed, four out of 10 households are likely to suffer from this decision, according to What to choose.
Currently, 12million households heat with gas, including 5 million in individual houses, 3.5 million in collective housing with individual heating and 3.5 million in collective heating. That is a total of 40% of households. That is to say the impact of this project on the population, writes the magazine of the consumer defense association.
But if the ban came into force, what would you replace your gas boiler with? MoneyVox goes around the options.
Heat pumps
They are everywhere in new buildings and attract a maximum of customers who are renovating their homes despite skyrocketing prices and sometimes flirting with 20,000 euros. Are heat pumps the solution? First, since January 2022, the ban on gas heating concerns new single-family homes. It will be extended in 2025 to new collective buildings, in particular to condominiums.
Then, the replacement of 12 million boilers by heat pumps over the years is very likely to generate a wave of aggressive canvassing and large-scale scams, costing households a fortune and, as a bonus, forcing them to change equipment more often, the less enduring heat pumps, also alert What to choose.
According to Effy, which offers solutions to reduce its energy bill, 83% of families who have opted for a heat pump to replace an oil boiler declare having saved 500 euros on their annual bill. According to Effy, the remaining charge for the installation of a heat pump varies, for example, between 2800euros for households with less than 30972euros in annual income, and 6300euros euros (between 39193 and 60336euros in income per year). The most modest households can take advantage of 5,000 euros from MaPrimeRenov’ and 4,000 euros from energy certificates (CEE).
Pay attention to the quality of the installation. It will be necessary to train heating engineers in heat pump technologies, in order to guarantee solid expertise in this booming field, warns Hello Watt, an application that saves energy
Switch to electric heating
Heat pumps lead to a switch to 100% electricity, but there are other possibilities such as more traditional electric heating, via radiator or underfloor. Is this the ideal solution? Electrifying everything is an attractive approach on paper, but unsuited to reality, judge Stphane Chatelin of the NegaWatt association. Indeed, the accommodations are not all suitable.
In addition, the widespread adoption of ‘all-electric’ risks causing significant strain on the electricity production and distribution network, which could compromise the reliability and efficiency of the system, according to the company HelloWatt. We saw this winter that the system can be fragile.
Small and medium-sized areas such as relatively well-insulated homes will allow good management of this heating method, believes Engie, however, which nevertheless lists a number of advantages:
- A modest installation cost. For example, a high energy performance condensing boiler, which runs on gas or oil, requires low temperature emitters. This installation may ultimately cost more than switching to electricity (heat pump or radiator).
- Reduced maintenance cost and a very simple annual maintenance modus operandi. For a gas boiler, it should be remembered that annual maintenance by a professional is mandatory, as well as sweeping of the smoke exhaust duct.
- Increasingly efficient electric heaters.
- Less ecological impact compared to gas: there is no combustion use.
Another element argues in favor of electricity. The regulated gas tariff will be abolished on July 1, 2023 and price trends could become uncertain. For its part, the regulated electricity tariff is not going to disappear.
Green the gas… or replace it
But there are still gas advocates in the market. Let’s not get into the wrong fight: it’s not the device that needs to be banned but the gas that needs to be green! Prohibiting the installation of new boilers would be a historic misconception, at the very moment when they are displaying their compatibility with green gas – storable, renewable energy produced in France, according to the Conove association, which brings together the major players in energy efficiency in the building.
Problem, it will not really be necessary to count on the bonuses of the State: according to PrimeEnergie.fr, aids for changing boilers with high energy and ecological performance amounted to 263 euros on average in 2022 compared to 916 euros in 2021.
Companies are also working on hydrogen heating for deployment around 2030. Advantage? It is a totally carbon-free combustion mode, 100% renewable and produced in France.
how to succeed produce a clean flame in order to take a further step towards the decarbonation of combustion? We achieved this with green hydrogen and the Vaillant boiler, explains company director Benot Garrigues in a press release. The combustion of molecular hydrogen by our boilers no longer emits any CO2. The N0x emission is also lower compared to today’s THPE boilers, while maintaining maximum efficiency and operating safety.