The heating law was debated for a long time, but it has now been decided. Anyone who wants to switch to more climate-friendly heat receives money from the state. Now the next round of funding begins.

From this Tuesday, more households can apply for government subsidies to replace old gas and oil heating systems with more climate-friendly alternatives.

The procedure is now also possible for private owners of apartment buildings – including landlords – and for homeowners’ associations, for example with central heating systems, as the responsible development bank KfW and the Federal Ministry of Economics announced.

Anyone who owns and lives in an existing single-family home can receive support with the renovation from February 27th. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, around 27,000 applications have been received so far. Private owners of single-family homes and owners in homeowners’ associations who want to replace the heating in their own homes can apply from August. Municipalities and companies can also apply from this point onwards.

A maximum of 70 percent funding is possible – depending on the requirements. 30 percent is earmarked for everyone, whether residential or commercial. According to the ministry, there is also an efficiency bonus of an additional five percent for heat pumps that use water, soil or wastewater as a heat source or that use a natural refrigerant.

The upper limit for the eligible costs of heating replacement was limited to 30,000 euros this year; last year it was 60,000 euros. With a maximum funding rate of 70 percent, the grant is now a maximum of 21,000 euros. However, the emission reduction surcharge of 2,500 euros is also granted.

Speed ​​bonus

By 2028, there will be a speed bonus of 20 percent for the early replacement of old gas and oil heating systems as well as night storage heaters and old biomass heating systems for owner-occupiers. After that, the speed bonus will shrink by three percentage points every two years, initially to 17 percent from January 2029.

Income bonus

For owners with taxable annual household income of up to 40,000 euros who live in their property themselves, there is an additional income bonus of 30 percent.

Low-interest KfW development loan

Homeowners who have a commitment to replace the heating system from KfW can apply for a low-interest KfW development loan from a credit institution – usually their house bank.

Anyone who gets started before August 31st can still apply for funding afterwards, up until November 30th.

With the new Building Energy Act (GEG), the ban on gas and oil will come from 2045. Municipalities should have time to submit their heat plans by then. At the same time, households should be given more planning security so that they can then decide on heat pumps or eco-gas heating systems. 

But the current figures also show that households are looking ahead to security. Anyone who installs a new gas or oil heating system now has, under certain conditions, until 2045 to replace their heating system. At the same time, the energy transition is based on the municipalities’ district heating infrastructure. “Now is the right time to look at heating modernization and tackle the heating transition in your own four walls,” emphasizes BDH Managing Director Markus Staudt.

From the perspective of the BDH and the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning (ZVSHK), politicians are now primarily required to provide information about heat technology solutions and the new funding. “The heat transition is team work. Industry and specialist trades have done their homework and impressively demonstrated their performance over the past year. Now politics also has to deliver. Paragraphs must now become heating systems,” demands Staudt.

Here is a simple guide:

Advice

Talk to energy efficiency experts or a specialist heating technology company about funding and plan to replace your heating system. This can be a gas plumber or a heating engineer.

Contract

Sign a contract with an expert or a specialist company for the new heating system.

implementation

Replace the heater. Please note that this is done at your own risk and that funding may be rejected or may be exhausted.

And this is how you do it:

Make an application:

Register in the “My KfW” customer portal.

Have your expert provide you with a confirmation of the application (BzA).

Submit the application by November 30, 2024 at the latest.

Who submits the application?

Which additional applications do I need?