The federal government does not want a heat pump obligation: which systems will be permitted in the future?

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Heat pump in the basement of a residential building

Photo: Silas Stein / dpa

The federal government is taking the pressure off: There will be no complete ban on gas heating from 2024.

This emerges from a concept paper that Robert Habeck's (The Greens) Ministry of Economics published together with Klara Geywitz's (SPD) Ministry of Building.

It is still a proposal that has yet to be enacted into law.

Geywitz presented an immediate climate protection program for the building sector last week, which is intended to reduce CO₂ emissions more quickly.

Because in the building sector, the federal government had fallen far short of its climate targets.

An important point in the program is the obligation for homeowners to only install heating systems in new buildings and existing buildings that are operated with at least 65 percent renewable energy - a requirement that in most cases can only be achieved with a heat pump is.

In the coalition agreement, the introduction of this obligation was planned for 2025, but it is now to be brought forward by one year to 2024.

However, the federal government is moving away from relying almost exclusively on the installation of heat pumps - and is apparently also reacting to criticism from construction experts.

Because in poorly insulated houses with the wrong radiators, it can quickly happen that the heat pump consumes a lot of electricity when the outside temperature is cold.

In addition, there are probably not enough skilled workers available to achieve the expansion goals.

The government now wants to offer homeowners six ways in which they can achieve the 65 percent quota:

• Heat pumps and hybrid devices (combination of heat pump with gas or oil boiler)

• biomass heating

• Gas heaters powered by sustainable biomethane, green hydrogen or other green gases

• Electricity direct heaters

• or connection to a district heating network

For the

, the federal government assumes that the electricity for the heat pumps is "generated 100 percent climate-neutral".

Experts, however, doubt whether this will succeed.

They fear that in the winter months - when there is a lull in renewable energies - large amounts of electricity will be imported from abroad.

In the worst case, nuclear power from France or coal-fired power from Poland.

Biomass

means, for example, wood and pellet heating, the fuels of which must come from sustainable production.

At the beginning of the year, the Federal Environment Agency advised against heating with wood because of the fine dust pollution.

Transitional periods in the event of a heating failure

For many owners with older residential buildings,

are likely to be the device of choice.

The heat pump then takes over the base load, the gas heating only switches on when it gets really cold and heating with the heat pump would consume too much electricity.

"A hybrid heating system is ideal if the installation of a heat pump is fundamentally possible, but the building still has a higher heating requirement until energy-related refurbishment is carried out, which is difficult to cover with the heat pump, especially at peak times," write the ministries.

The government would also like to grant transitional periods if a heating system fails and it is not possible to replace it quickly.

"In the case of heating failures (...), the obligation to meet the 65 percent RE requirement does not have to be fulfilled immediately when the heating is installed, but only within three years after the replacement," says the concept.

During the transition period, the owner can temporarily install and use a used gas or oil heating system and then supplement or replace it with a heating system within three years that then meets the 65 percent rule.