ᐅ Gas Heating from January 1, 2024 – What to Do If Your Heating System Breaks Down?
Created on: 21 Jan 2023 11:21
L
leschaf
Hello!
My mother-in-law currently owns a mid-terrace house from around 1920. The whole building is uninsulated, with old windows, etc. Heating is done with gas, and the boiler is nearly 20 years old.
As of January 1, 2024, there is a new regulation/law requiring that 65% of heating energy must come from renewable sources when installing a new heating system. We are quite concerned about how this will work if the boiler breaks down.
Option 1) Heat pump: This is basically ruled out because we would have to completely renovate the house (insulate basement, exterior walls, new roof, new radiators and pipes, new windows). This is financially not feasible and also impossible to do while she still lives there. It is also unpredictable when the boiler might fail, and with a one-year delivery time for a heat pump, she would have a cold house for a year. Additionally, she has a small extension with a rental apartment we just renovated. There is a new gas heating system there. Switching to a heat pump would definitely cause complications there as well.
Option 2) Install a new boiler quickly before the end of the year. Then there should be peace of mind for 20 years (repairs are still allowed for existing boilers). My mother-in-law is 76, so this will probably be sufficient.
Option 3) When the heating breaks down, install a hybrid system consisting of a heat pump, gas, and solar thermal. Although this is likely to be quite expensive.
Option 4) Switch to an eco-gas tariff when the gas boiler breaks down (e.g., a truly green gas tariff).
Am I understanding this correctly? Is Option 4 really a viable way to avoid renovation until she no longer lives there? Are there any other possibilities we might not have considered? And if it is really possible to avoid the issue by switching to eco-gas — how is it supposed to be controlled who has which contract, and so on?
My mother-in-law currently owns a mid-terrace house from around 1920. The whole building is uninsulated, with old windows, etc. Heating is done with gas, and the boiler is nearly 20 years old.
As of January 1, 2024, there is a new regulation/law requiring that 65% of heating energy must come from renewable sources when installing a new heating system. We are quite concerned about how this will work if the boiler breaks down.
Option 1) Heat pump: This is basically ruled out because we would have to completely renovate the house (insulate basement, exterior walls, new roof, new radiators and pipes, new windows). This is financially not feasible and also impossible to do while she still lives there. It is also unpredictable when the boiler might fail, and with a one-year delivery time for a heat pump, she would have a cold house for a year. Additionally, she has a small extension with a rental apartment we just renovated. There is a new gas heating system there. Switching to a heat pump would definitely cause complications there as well.
Option 2) Install a new boiler quickly before the end of the year. Then there should be peace of mind for 20 years (repairs are still allowed for existing boilers). My mother-in-law is 76, so this will probably be sufficient.
Option 3) When the heating breaks down, install a hybrid system consisting of a heat pump, gas, and solar thermal. Although this is likely to be quite expensive.
Option 4) Switch to an eco-gas tariff when the gas boiler breaks down (e.g., a truly green gas tariff).
Am I understanding this correctly? Is Option 4 really a viable way to avoid renovation until she no longer lives there? Are there any other possibilities we might not have considered? And if it is really possible to avoid the issue by switching to eco-gas — how is it supposed to be controlled who has which contract, and so on?
Winniefred24 Jan 2023 22:29I agree with that. We will switch to renewable energy as soon as possible because we believe it’s the right thing to do. However, I need to be able to afford it and implement it; otherwise, they can enforce the requirement all they want, but I can’t change my circumstances. And we are still young. We can pay off future loans. But many people can’t, due to older age or lack of income. And I won’t even start on the shortage of skilled labor. I’m also not so sure whether heat pumps are the ultimate solution. After all, they are electric heating systems, and on a large scale, that will bring problems.
I don’t understand why people talk about heat pumps for an unrenovated old building. You end up spending twice: first on the installation and then on the operation. Just install a new gas burner now, or in agreement with the installer, wait to replace it only when it breaks down due to delivery times. You can also use renewable energy with a basic wood-burning stove for 800 € and an external chimney for 2000 €.
Alternatively, you can install a split air conditioning system for 1000 € per room.
Extensive renovations should only be done after the mother’s death or by selling the house.
Alternatively, you can install a split air conditioning system for 1000 € per room.
Extensive renovations should only be done after the mother’s death or by selling the house.
S
Sunshine3877 Feb 2023 16:52The ban has already been overturned. See the latest reports on this, and it will not be reintroduced in the coming years. It is not socially, economically, or politically feasible or enforceable.
Winniefred7 Feb 2023 17:48Sunshine387 schrieb:
The ban has already been overturned anyway. See the latest reports on this, and it won’t come into effect in the next few years either. It’s not feasible socially, economically, or politically. Yes, that’s how I read it recently as well. Apparently, it was quietly overturned; at least I only heard about it by chance.