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TRANSPOSE Working Paper No14: Politikoptionen für einen beschleunigten Austausch von Nachtstromspeicherheizungen in Deutschland

Kerstin Tews - 2011, 28 pages (Abstract: DE EN) (Download Paper)

Abstract
This working paper is one of four studies which were carried out to test the transferability of successful policy instruments from abroad to reduce electricity consumption in the household sector in Germany.

Germany still has considerable potential to reduce energy consumption at the householdlevel. In particular, the replacement of electricity-based room heating with more energy efficient heating options could contribute to important savings. Four percent of all German households consume about 17 percent of the total electricity used by households in Germany, only to heat their homes. Although the replacement of electricity-based heating systems has attracted increasing attention within the German debate on energy efficiency, it still lacks - even four years after the adoption of Integrated Climate and Energy Program - a sufficient policy response.

In this paper several policy options are discussed, which aim at an acceleration of progress along this huge saving potential. Some lessons from good practice experience - particularly from Denmark and Switzerland - are drawn. Additionally, the views expressed by German expert acting as consultants in the field of energy-efficient refurbishment have been considered.

Experiences from abroad show, that the development of customized conversion programs was always accompanied by a tightening of regulatory provisions. It is therefore argued, that the legal obligation to replace night-storage heaters in buildings with more than five apartments, as formulated in the current Energy Conservation Ordinance (EnEV), should in future be applied to smaller residential buildings as well. This stricter regulation necessarily has to be flanked by tailored programs to assist the heating conversion. In the course of this, the capacity of decentralized actors should be strengthened and the possibilities of achieving cooperative solutions with potential profiteers of a conversion program should be exploited, both to find regionally and locally adapted solutions as well as to increase the efficiency of public funding.