Apartment and Listed Building Owners Freed from Heat Pump Regulations

The government wants to switch to heat pumps from 2026. Photo: Depositphotos

the government postponed the plan Force people living in apartments and listed buildings to install heat pumps to replace gas-fired boilers from 2026.

Housing Minister Hugo de Jonghe said: heat pumps should be standard It’s time to replace the old boiler from 2026, but the building owners listed for permits agreed it was too complicated to make the change.

In addition, the pump should depend on the size of the equipment required and noise.

De Jonge told the MP on Monday that the situation is being clarified so that both homeowners and central heating companies will know where they are three years before the law takes effect.

People living in single-family, semi-detached and terraced housing should switch unless they plan to connect their property to a district heating scheme.

Homeowners, agencies and small businesses can apply for grants that cover 30% of the average cost of installing a pump. This allows the household to recoup the cost of the pump within his 7 years instead of his 10.

Low-income households with an annual income of up to €60,000 can borrow additional funds through the interest-free loan system.

According to De Jonge, landlords who install heat pumps in their rental properties can recoup some of the costs by increasing rents.

Katja Kruit of the environmental research agency CE Delft told broadcaster NOS: “Everyone now knows what is expected of them, but there are still many questions.” For example, what about the noise situation? It is still unclear how much noise the pump makes and how the noise is monitored.

Doekle Terpstra, chairman of technical engineers’ lobby group Brancheclub Techniek, told NOS that 42,000 heat pumps were installed in Dutch homes in the first quarter of this year, almost double the number in 2022. .

A heat pump works by extracting heat from a heat source (usually the ambient air), amplifying it, and moving it to where it is needed. Air-based heat pumps require equipment both inside and outside the facility to function.

Most older Dutch homes are fitted with hybrid pumps and still rely on gas during the colder months or when showering. It is believed that he is 60% more energy efficient than conventional gas boilers. At home, a high level of insulation is also required for the pump to be effective.