Dhe current crisis on the gas market is having a concrete impact on tenants in the Rhine-Main region. Large housing companies have announced that they will limit the maximum temperature in the apartments at the start of the next heating season. This is intended to reduce gas consumption and reduce the additional burden of ancillary costs. “One degree less saves six percent in consumption,” explains Frank Junker, Managing Director of ABG Frankfurt Holding. For this reason, the systems in the approximately 34,000 centrally heated apartments of the municipal group are set for the next heating period so that it gets a maximum of 20 degrees during the day and a maximum of 18 degrees at night.
Vonovia, which manages around 27,000 apartments in the Rhine-Main area, goes one step further. There, the temperatures even drop to 17 degrees at night. During the day, however, the group does not want to impose any restrictions, instead appealing to the sense of responsibility of the tenants. That’s not enough for Junker: “We have the task of reducing gas consumption for society as a whole. We have to make our contribution to this.” The planned reduction in temperatures is reasonable and also legally permissible.
GWH sees tension
Other companies have not yet made a decision. GWH, which is represented with 26,000 apartments in the region, refers to the “tension between judicial decisions, specifications of the federal government and the individual willingness to participate of our customers”. On the one hand, you want to save as much gas as possible, on the other hand, you have to allow certain room temperatures at night, especially with regard to shift workers, people in need of care or families with small children.
The Nassauische Heimstätte/Wohnstadt group of companies has not yet decided either. “We don’t want to rush ahead,” says company spokesman Jens Duffner. Unilateral action may be a breach of contract with the tenants. “We expect the legislator to comment on this.” In any case, it will be checked whether the heating is optimally adjusted.
Peter Paul Thoma, foreman of the Frankfurt plumbing, heating and air conditioning guild, also advises this. Even with minor changes that don’t cost much, consumption can be reduced by up to 15 percent. This can lead to significant savings. The energy service provider Ista has evaluated around 70,000 heating bills from Hessian households and has come to the conclusion that if the current gas prices remain, Hessian households will have to pay around 500 euros each in 2022 and 2023.
Axelexpanding, who represents the interests of the housing industry as the association director of VdW Südwest, fears even higher increases. In the worst case, a four-person household could even pay up to 5,000 euros more for energy than last year. “Many will not be able to afford that.” He appeals to politicians to support needy households. In cases of hardship, the housing companies would usually find solutions such as deferrals and installment payments. “We recommend our tenants to put some money aside now,” says Junker.
Not heating not a good idea
He does not yet know what amounts to expect this year. ABG has a supply contract with Mainova with fixed prices until the end of the year. But should the federal government announce stage 3 of the gas emergency plan, the suppliers can pass on the increased procurement costs despite ongoing contracts.
Many housing companies will inform their tenants in the coming weeks about how they can save energy. The most important piece of advice according to a thousand pounds: ventilate the room instead of opening the window. The difference in energy consumption is up to 700 percent. Otherwise the only option would be to turn down the thermostat. In Junker’s opinion, however, not heating individual rooms at all is not a good idea. “Otherwise we get other problems like mold growth.”
The housing industry looks spellbound to autumn. A horror scenario would be for the heaters to switch themselves off because the gas pressure was too low. Each system – including the widespread gas boilers in the apartments – would then have to be put back into operation manually, explains the head of the guild, Thoma. There just aren’t enough craftsmen to do it at short notice.
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