Heating Optimisation Funding Programme

Buildings account for around 35 per cent of Germany’s energy consumption and around one third of its greenhouse gas emissions. There is a lot of potential for saving energy in the buildings sector, particularly when it comes to heating. This has to do with the fact that many of the heat pumps installed in buildings are outdated and therefore use more electricity than they should. By installing state-of-the-art high-efficiency pumps, electricity consumption can be reduced by up to 80 per cent. And there is still more that can be done: hydraulic balancing – which means making an existing heating system run more efficiently – can help bring down energy consumption even further. Plus, this optimisation process does not require any construction work.

Heating Optimisation Funding Programme launched

In August 2016, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy launched its Heating Optimisation Funding Programme, giving a fresh boost to funding energy efficiency. The programme is based on the “Guideline for funding heating optimisation by using high-efficiency pumps and hydraulic balancing” (PDF: 367 KB, only in German).
By optimising heating systems to make them run more efficiently, homeowners, businesses and clubs can save both energy and money, thus driving forward the energy transition. The funding programme helps improve energy efficiency in buildings, making a key contribution to ensuring that Germany’s energy supply is efficient, secure and climate-friendly and to meeting the goal of achieving a climate-neutral building stock.

Under the programme, funding is provided for the following two measures:

• Replacing pumps

  The German government provides funding for replacing old heat and hot water pumps with high-efficiency ones.

• Optimising heating systems
  The German government also provides funding for submitting existing heating systems to a process of hydraulic balancing. This means that a specialised company is commissioned to adjust all the different components of the heating system in order to optimise it for use in the building. In addition to hydraulic balancing, funding is also provided for investing in or optimising existing heating systems (like replacing thermostat valves).

In some cases, it makes sense to replace a pump and optimise the heating system at the same time. The German government provides funding for these combinations of measures as well. The funding provided covers up to 30 per cent of the optimisation expenses or a maximum of 25,000 euros.
More information on how to apply for funding or what measures will receive government funding can be found on the website of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA).
Additional funding programmes for heating: the Market Incentive Programme (MAP), the Energy Efficiency Incentive Programme (APEE) and the KFW programmes.