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These households have the highest heating costs
01/17/2025Reading time: 2 minutes
District heating is becoming more expensive for many households: in 2024 prices rose by more than a quarter. A new analysis shows clear regional differences and savings potential.
According to an analysis by the energy service provider Techem, many tenants are facing a high additional payment despite falling energy prices and mild temperatures. The reason is a significant increase in the price of district heating compared to the previous year: the kilowatt hour costs 27.1 percent more, which means that the room heating costs for district heating for 2024 will be 25.4 percent higher for tenants. But there is also positive news for many tenants.
The Techem analysis also shows that additional payments for heating costs in 2024 could be lower overall than in the previous year. This decline is due to lower prices for electricity (-6.4 percent), natural gas (-3.6 percent) and heating oil (-4.6 percent) as well as the mild temperatures – it was a total of 1.3 degrees Celsius in the 2024 heating year warmer – attributed. “Accordingly, the room heating costs for the respective energy sources have fallen by 7.6% (electricity), 4.8% (gas) and 5.8% (oil),” says Techem, summarizing the result.
However, a closer look at the data also shows that there are significant regional differences in energy and heating costs. Take Mainz, for example: Households in apartment buildings there consumed a good quarter (26.1 percent) less compared to the previous year. And consumption also fell significantly in Meppen (-23.5 percent), Worms (-23.0 percent) and Braunschweig (-20.5 percent).
The table shows the regions with the highest savings in heating energy consumption and costs in 2024.
However, there is also the opposite development. Example Andernach (Rhineland-Palatinate): Here Techem recorded the highest increase in heating consumption – by almost 40 percent. The heating costs per energy source also shot up there. The costs for district heating in Andernach rose by 77.8 percent, for gas by 34.9 percent, for oil by 33.5 percent and for electricity by 30.9 percent.
And consumers in other southwest German cities also have to expect significant additional costs. Consumption also rose sharply in Lahr (+24.1 percent) and Freiburg (+21.6 percent) compared to the rest of the country.
The table shows the regions with the lowest savings in heating energy consumption and costs in 2024.
Matthias Hartmann, CEO of Techem, attributes the lower consumption values in some regions to people's changing behavior when using heating energy. But smart heating systems and monitoring of energy consumption and energy costs also made an important contribution.
The present consumption forecast is based on temperature data from the German Weather Service from 2023 to 2024 as well as data from the Federal Statistical Office on the prices for various energy sources in the relevant period. The forecast is based on an evaluation of price and consumption developments by the Techem Research Institute on Sustainability (TRIOS) for the past year. Whether additional costs will arise for consumers and how high these will be can be determined after the bill has been prepared.
