Home financing ever possible? Probably not!

This is rather an academic debate anyway. Because the 80-year-old grandma will not be able to afford a new gas or oil heating system.

Well, if she's lucky, she has a boiler, then maybe she can also pay the 2000 €.

Because the 80-year-old grandma will not be able to afford a new gas or system either.

In that case, it is the family’s responsibility to find alternative accommodation for grandma and to ensure the house is sold. What actually breaks in such heating systems? My current gas heating looks quite modular; I think it can be repaired for a long time.

Currently, we are talking about all houses having to meet less than 130 kWh/m²/a by 2033.
That is absurdly much energy compared to what is currently allowed for new buildings, I have 45 kWh/m²/a, although I strictly followed GEG2020, no KfW fuss.

I don't know if you are aware of this, but 25% of all single-family houses in Germany consume over 200 kWh/m²/a, 15% even over 250. That means for a 150m² house about 3,250 m³ of natural gas per year.

You can’t be serious that something like that is still supposed to be up to date.

Well, then it would be an idea to start with those who are over 250. Then in the next step those with 200, and so on.
The planned law isn’t only about single-family houses anyway.

I’m not saying that nothing should be done. But not all of a sudden with all its social consequences.

I have a question. How is one supposed to calculate or even determine this whole thing?

As you know, I have a 10-family house with 500 sqm of living space. A solid GDR construction with 36 cm walls and massive 30 cm concrete ceilings. I installed new windows 10 years ago. There is no special thermal insulation. Nevertheless, this house is energetically very well preserved. The annual consumption including hot water production is only 6000 liters of heating oil.

However, this also depends on the usage behavior of the respective tenants.

But let me calculate. 6000 liters of heating oil correspond to 60,000 kWh of heating energy. With 500 sqm of living space, our house consumes 120 kWh per square meter. So it meets the highest energy standards. I do not need any additional insulation. That would make no sense.

So I wonder what all the fuss is about.

My single-family house with oil heating as well. Hot water is heated with photovoltaic, so electricity. The heating oil consumption for 150 sqm is 1000 L per year. That would also be only 66 kWh per sqm. Do I have some calculation error here?

If you want to retrofit all rental apartments with underfloor heating and heat pumps, living space would no longer be affordable here. I could retrofit underfloor heating and heat pumps. But the rent would also double as would the heating costs. You really cannot renovate urban old apartments. More economical and environmentally friendly than a gas floor heating system you cannot heat.

And I don’t care, then the apartments that I have rented to socially weak clientele so far will simply remain empty. I’m not 30 anymore and do not see myself as a financer of moist Habeckian dreams.

And where exactly is the problem now? The example clearly shows what kind of old buildings we are talking about here, when even DDR buildings meet efficiency class D.

Again: It seriously cannot be the point to set absurd limits for new buildings while next door 300, 350 kWh per m² are sent up the chimney in cold years?

New buildings are now sufficiently efficient, now it is the stock's turn. That is where the leverage is much greater.

And where exactly is the problem now?

If his quite effective heating breaks down, he should replace it with a heat pump.