Criticism of the planned cost limitation in the heating law - financial expert comments on funding and climate friendliness

Criticism of the planned cost limitation in the heating law - financial expert comments on funding and climate friendliness

According to a report by tagesschau.de, consumer advocates are criticizing the planned limitation of eligible costs under the new heating law. The consumer advice centers express concerns that replacing the heating system will become unaffordable for many people if the eligible costs are limited to 30,000 euros for a single-family home. They demand that costs should not be reduced and that homeowners should not be worse off than before. They also criticize the fact that certain funding bonuses are only intended for owner-occupiers. The Building Energy Act, which is due to be passed on Friday, provides for the subsidy for the installation of a new heating system to be increased to up to 70 percent, but at the same time the eligible costs are to be more limited.

According to a survey by the state development bank KfW, 32 percent of German households already use at least one climate-friendly technology to generate energy. These include photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, battery storage, heat pumps, wood pellet heating and electric cars. That is three percentage points more than in the previous year. Over seven percent of households plan to purchase energy transition technology in the next twelve months. The results show that the energy transition enjoys a high level of support in Germany and many people want to actively participate in it. However, there are obstacles such as high costs, lack of profitability and the availability of tradesmen that are slowing down the energy transition.

The limitation of eligible costs in the Heating Act can have an impact on the market for heating installations. As many households may postpone their decision to replace their heating system due to the cost, companies specializing in heating installations may see a reduction in their orders. This, in turn, could impact the sales and profitability of these companies. In addition, these cost restrictions could slow down or even prevent the energy-efficient modernization of buildings.

For consumers, this could mean that heating replacements will become more expensive and that many people could have difficulty affording more climate-friendly heating technologies. This could lead to fewer people investing in energy-efficient heating systems and therefore less CO2 being saved.

Overall, the new information in the article makes it clear that the planned limitation of eligible costs in the Heating Act to 30,000 euros for a single-family home can have both positive and negative effects. It remains to be seen how these changes will affect the market and consumers in practice.