After years of falling prices, heating is likely to become more expensive again for households in Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin According to a forecast, many households in Germany will have to be prepared for significantly higher heating costs this year. Rising energy prices, cooler weather and the new CO2 price will lead to an average of 13 percent higher heating costs in houses with natural gas heating this year, as the non-profit consulting company co2online announced on Wednesday. In the past year, heating costs fell by five percent.
It will be even more expensive in 2021 in houses with oil heating, where costs are expected to be 44 percent higher – after a decrease of 27 percent in the previous year. Anyone who heats with district heating, heat pumps and wood pellets must therefore be prepared for cost increases in the single-digit percentage range.
Long-term planning with heating oil and natural gas is becoming more and more difficult, said co2online managing director Tanja Loitz. She pointed out that the CO2 price introduced this year would rise in the future; the federal government wants to reduce the emission of climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2). Loitz recommended homeowners to consider switching to renewable energy. Up to 490 euros a year could be saved.
“Irrespective of the costs, heating should not be unnecessary,” advised Melanie Weber-Moritz, the federal director of the German Tenants’ Association. “Because economical consumption also means a contribution to climate protection.”
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For the heating mirror, 123,000 data sets from houses with central heating from 2020 were analyzed. The example apartment was a 70 square meter apartment in an apartment building. Almost every second apartment in Germany is heated with gas, according to data from the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management, and every fourth with oil.
More: Up to 300 euros more per year: This is how the CO2 price affects heating costs – four examples