New figures show that the majority of households have heating costs that are far too high. According to the Heating Mirror, you can save over 1,000 euros a year with simple measures.
Good news: Up to 90 percent of households can reduce their heating costs. This is the result of the current heating level. The savings potential is therefore over 1,000 euros per year. What measures and how the experts behind the study came up with it.
After the sharp increase during the energy crisis, heating costs in Germany partially fell again last year. This is shown by the current heating index, which is published annually by the non-profit consulting company co2online. For the current evaluation, over 140,000 anonymized building data were analyzed.
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Source: Glomex
Households that heat with natural gas in particular were able to enjoy financial relief when it came to heating costs: they paid an average of 1,330 euros in heating costs for a 70 square meter apartment in an apartment building. Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to a decrease of ten percent – that is around 145 euros less.
But there was also a noticeable drop in costs for other heating methods: households that heated with heat pumps had to pay an average of 28 percent less. The costs for wood pellets fell by 20 percent and for heating oil by 19 percent. Only with district heating did the costs for heating increase – by 8 percent. Despite this relief, heating costs remain above the level before the 2022 energy crisis.
The study makers summarize: Heat pumps are already a significantly cheaper alternative to fossil fuels. Landlords and owners of apartment buildings should therefore start modernizing or replacing the heating system as quickly as possible.
Several reasons contributed to the negative development in heating costs. One was the government-imposed price cap. It came into force in 2023. This upper limit capped the labor price for 80 percent of gas consumption at 12 cents/kWh and that for 100 percent of district heating consumption at 9.5 cents/kWh, explains co2online. An upper limit was also introduced for electricity: the labor price for 80 percent of electricity consumption was limited to 40 cents/kWh.
However, additional heating costs have increased. This is due, among other things, to the increased general and personnel costs. The additional heating costs make up around 12 percent of the total heating costs.
“Heating costs have fallen slightly, but the savings potential is still enormous,” says Tanja Loitz, managing director at co2online. “Many households continue to underestimate their energy consumption and savings potential.” According to the non-profit consulting company, 90 percent of households can reduce their heating costs through behavioral changes and modernization. In an average household, this can save up to 1,095 euros per year. You can find out what these measures are here.
The non-profit consulting company co2online is supported by, among others, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and the Federal Environment Agency.
