If the housing industry and a municipal association have their way, it should be possible to lower the minimum temperature in apartments in the event of a gas shortage. But a federal agency is also proposing this. The reaction of the building minister to the initiative is clear.
In the debate about possible gas bottlenecks in Germany, Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) spoke out against lower minimum temperatures for apartments. “I think legally prescribed freezing is nonsensical,” said Geywitz of the German Press Agency in Berlin. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck, on the other hand, does not rule out legal measures to save energy as a consequence of the reduced gas deliveries by Russia. “If the storage volumes do not increase, then we will have to take further measures to save, if necessary also by law,” said the Green politician on Thursday in the ARD “Tagesthemen”.
When asked whether this could also mean lowering the prescribed minimum temperature in apartments, Habeck replied, “We have not yet dealt with that intensively. We’re going to look at all the laws that contribute there.” In addition to the Federal Network Agency, the housing industry and the Association of Towns and Municipalities have called for lower specifications for minimum temperatures in apartments in order to be able to react to bottlenecks and save gas.
In view of the energy shortage, the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, had also proposed lowering the requirements for heating. Landlords should no longer have to turn up the heating system to at least 20 to 22 degrees during the heating period, but the specifications could drop at times, according to Müller’s suggestion.
You can read more about this here: In order to save gas and money – the network agency proposes lowering the legal minimum temperature for apartments
Geywitz replied: “The case law stipulates a minimum of 20 degrees.” The debate leads nowhere, because with an amendment to the heating cost ordinance at the beginning of January, monthly information about consumption would be sent to tenants. “So you can check your consumption regularly and are doing so more and more just because of the prices,” said Geywitz. The existing practical information from consumer centers and the federal government made more sense than a falling minimum temperature.
“On the other hand, we also have to knock on the door of those who keep an eye on the heating systems, for example caretakers,” said Geywitz. The minister announced: “We will provide something together with the housing industry.”
The Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW) called for the minimum temperature in apartments to be reduced by up to six degrees Celsius in the event of a gas shortage: “Should gas deliveries to Germany be further restricted significantly in the future and a shortage situation arise, the legal framework should be as follows be adjusted so that further reductions in the minimum temperature to a maximum lower limit of 18 degrees during the day and 16 degrees at night become possible,” GdW President Axel Gedaschko told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
The German Association of Towns and Municipalities also called for changes to the legal framework in order to make it easier to save energy as a result of reduced Russian gas supplies. General manager Gerd Landsberg pointed out in the “Rheinische Post” (Friday) that landlords are obliged to ensure a temperature of at least 20 degrees. “That has to be changed. Even an apartment with 18 or 19 degrees can still be lived in well, and everyone should be able to support this comparatively small sacrifice,” said Landsberg.
If the situation continues to deteriorate, which cannot be ruled out, “concrete savings plans” should be developed in the municipalities, Landsberg demanded. Specifically, he mentioned lowering the temperatures in the administration buildings, reducing the temperature in swimming pools, possibly also the temporary closure of individual facilities.
Conversely, it must also be specified where a temperature reduction is not possible, for example in hospitals and care facilities. Landsberg called for the efforts to be communicated regularly to the citizens: “We can only get through the crisis together, which means that people have to support it.”
