District heating: Term of heat supply contract 10 or 20 years?

Hello everyone,

we have purchased a new terraced house, heated by local heating. Now we have the option to choose between a 10-year and 20-year contract duration with the heat supplier, the only differences being in the basic price. Since we have no idea about the topic, I wanted to ask you.
The primary energy factor is 0.39fp, 55% environmental heat, 35% CHP coupling, 10% peak load (natural gas).

For 10 years, the basic price is €107.64 gross per month, for 20 years it is €61.51.

What would you do?

Best regards

I would then take a look at the labor prices. Or are they not fixed then?
Could you replace the heating system after 10 years and install a heat pump?

The working price is the same for both options. There is a price adjustment clause, meaning a formula that adjusts the working price depending on a public index. Installing the heat pump after 10 years should not be a problem. I tend to lean towards the 10 years, but I'm not sure if I'm overlooking something. Complicated topic :D

The working price is the same in both variants. There is a price adjustment clause, meaning a formula that adjusts the working price depending on a public index. Installing a heat pump after 10 years should not be a problem. I tend to lean towards the 10 years, but I'm not sure if I'm overlooking something. Complicated topic :D

If you can switch after 10 years (should or is it actually like that?), then I would go for 10 years (despite the additional cost of €5.5k over 10 years). Then install the heat pump (you could already start planning now and prepare suitable wall penetrations, provided the house is not finished yet).

Quite an expensive business, your district heating.

Is the base price fixed, or does it also have a price escalation clause?

Otherwise, the 10-year option would be too expensive for me.
Discounted with inflation (2.2%), you pay a base fee of €11,700.
For 20 years, it would be only €300 more for double the duration/use time.

And is there also a minimum purchase requirement?
Or can you stop using it even if you continue to pay the base fee?

For 20 years, it would be only €300 more for double the running/usage time.

But still approx. €15,000 just as a basic fee plus heating costs. Usually also quite high. I would get out of this contract as quickly as possible, considering that the operating costs for a heat pump (yes, it also has acquisition costs) are probably lower than just the basic fee for the 20-year term.