ᐅ Air source heat pump electricity price increased as of January 1, 2022

Alessandro schrieb:

The utility companies have to take care of that

LOL – How is a utility company supposed to handle that? It only works if YOU as the consumer end up paying a significantly higher price for regular electricity in return.

So you want a subsidy for a heat pump and on top of that a subsidy for the electricity, even though operating the heat pump is already cheaper than gas or oil. That doesn’t add up.

What do you mean by "how is a utility company supposed to manage that"? The expansion of alternative energy sources like wind power and hydropower is definitely not just an outdated topic!

Who says that a heat pump is cheaper than an oil or gas system in existing buildings? You can’t just consider the installation costs but also the sometimes significant expenses for the energy-efficient renovations that come with it. Not to mention the investment for the system itself. So far, I haven’t been able to convince my parents to spend more than 30,000 euros (about 32,000 USD) to install a heat pump. If the heat pump tariff were capped at 20 cents per kWh, though, the whole calculation would look completely different.

This is something from a while ago, but unfortunately I can’t read further without a subscription:

If the real costs of fossil (and nuclear) energy were factored into their pricing, there would be no need for subsidies for renewables. This would automatically make heat generators relying on fossil fuels unattractive.

However, this is a government responsibility. It is also a public duty to ensure that property owners have incentives to switch to modern heating systems, even in existing buildings. CO2 fees for landlords are a step in the right direction but are far too complicated.

Small landlords also need protection. In reality, the situation has already gone off the rails. I actually support shifting all environmental costs (including health-related ones) retroactively onto companies (by this I also mean energy supply companies). If they then go bankrupt, they should be nationalized. Energy supply should belong to the public sector anyway. The only requirement is that no career politicians make the decisions, but rather experts (and I do not mean managers commonly known from the private sector).

Alessandro schrieb:

This is from yesterday, but unfortunately I can’t read further due to lack of subscription:

You can find this message in a less sensational form (Springer press is anti-heat pump) on other news sites as well. Just try googling Habeck and heat pump, possibly with a time filter.

Now would probably be the time to introduce time-based electricity pricing for heat pumps, with lower rates during off-peak hours (when you heat the house) and higher rates during peak hours. This would be a sensible political decision. Crises create solutions.

Alessandro schrieb:

Who says that a heat pump is cheaper in existing buildings than an oil or gas system?
You can’t only calculate the system costs, but also the sometimes high expenses for the energy-efficient renovations that come with it.

But you would also benefit from the energy-efficient renovation with any other heating system.
To me, this is typical German thinking again. “Give me green electricity, but of course it should be cheaper.” Raising the cost of fossil electricity is not an option because electricity is already expensive. So the government should just conjure up money and maintain the wonderland where houses are renovated for free and heated with cheap heat pump electricity. That’s not how it works. The government can only spend money that it has collected elsewhere, through taxes. And no one wants to pay those either.