Hello everyone,
We will probably be purchasing a plot of land soon where connection to district heating is mandatory. My wife and I know very little about district heating, and although we have looked up information online about the pros and cons, we are still unsure if it is the right option for us. A local authority representative sent us the following text in advance:
"District heating is generated from the combustion of wood chips made from residual wood from local forests. There is an obligation to connect, but no minimum consumption requirement. Wood-burning stoves for space heating are permitted. Attached is a draft of the heat supply contract, showing what it will likely look like."
I have also attached the contract draft. Perhaps someone can share their experiences with this? The construction cost surcharge of €11,500 (about $12,700) seems quite steep to me!
Thank you in advance for your responses.
We will probably be purchasing a plot of land soon where connection to district heating is mandatory. My wife and I know very little about district heating, and although we have looked up information online about the pros and cons, we are still unsure if it is the right option for us. A local authority representative sent us the following text in advance:
"District heating is generated from the combustion of wood chips made from residual wood from local forests. There is an obligation to connect, but no minimum consumption requirement. Wood-burning stoves for space heating are permitted. Attached is a draft of the heat supply contract, showing what it will likely look like."
I have also attached the contract draft. Perhaps someone can share their experiences with this? The construction cost surcharge of €11,500 (about $12,700) seems quite steep to me!
Thank you in advance for your responses.
The advantage of district heating lies in densely built-up areas with many residents. As soon as the development road and house connection are far apart (e.g., more than 10 meters (33 feet)), the connection costs become extremely high and are economically unreasonable.
We are currently building a house without a basement, with the development road on the south side, so the utility room is located on the east side. This is ideal for, despite the flat rate price of district heating, a contract including the legally controversial term “connection point” to still charge extra, demanding an additional 6,500 euros for 20 meters (66 feet) of piping including excavation work. Further costs will follow for a district heating shaft inside the house measuring 1 meter by 1 meter (3 feet by 3 feet), since not every district heating provider is able to create a less complex house entry. There are also annual fixed charges. Overall, we estimate the additional costs over 10 years to be around 12,000 euros. Not to forget the planting ban on the areas occupied by district heating pipes, because at least one provider only allows these pipes to be laid at right angles.
District heating can be used sensibly, but it can also be abused. Therefore, the General Conditions for District Heating Supply (AVBFernwärmeV) should be amended so that renewable energies may fully replace district heating, even if connection is mandatory. Furthermore, the term “connection point” should be clearly defined, and it should be stipulated that economic feasibility studies conducted in advance must not be written in a biased way favoring district heating, excluding competitive alternatives such as heat pumps combined with photovoltaic systems and batteries for questionable reasons without disclosing this in the report.
Regarding the use of district heating due to the costs already incurred, we will do our best to avoid generating additional consumption costs, so they do not collect even more money. To what extent this can be achieved with secondary heating sources or renewable energies despite restrictive contracts remains to be determined.
We are currently building a house without a basement, with the development road on the south side, so the utility room is located on the east side. This is ideal for, despite the flat rate price of district heating, a contract including the legally controversial term “connection point” to still charge extra, demanding an additional 6,500 euros for 20 meters (66 feet) of piping including excavation work. Further costs will follow for a district heating shaft inside the house measuring 1 meter by 1 meter (3 feet by 3 feet), since not every district heating provider is able to create a less complex house entry. There are also annual fixed charges. Overall, we estimate the additional costs over 10 years to be around 12,000 euros. Not to forget the planting ban on the areas occupied by district heating pipes, because at least one provider only allows these pipes to be laid at right angles.
District heating can be used sensibly, but it can also be abused. Therefore, the General Conditions for District Heating Supply (AVBFernwärmeV) should be amended so that renewable energies may fully replace district heating, even if connection is mandatory. Furthermore, the term “connection point” should be clearly defined, and it should be stipulated that economic feasibility studies conducted in advance must not be written in a biased way favoring district heating, excluding competitive alternatives such as heat pumps combined with photovoltaic systems and batteries for questionable reasons without disclosing this in the report.
Regarding the use of district heating due to the costs already incurred, we will do our best to avoid generating additional consumption costs, so they do not collect even more money. To what extent this can be achieved with secondary heating sources or renewable energies despite restrictive contracts remains to be determined.
U
Unentschieden23 Jun 2016 16:26Cerberus schrieb:
in a contract with the legally highly debated term connection pointAre there any legally well-founded arguments against charging additional fees in this context? We are currently in a similar situation and want to oppose it.
U
Unentschieden23 Jun 2016 16:28Cerberus schrieb:
To what extent it is possible to manage secondary heating sources or renewable energies despite restrictive contracts still needs to be determined.Have you found out anything regarding this, or how have you implemented possible alternatives?