Millions of renters in Germany could be affected by new heating meter rules from January 2027. Here’s how to check whether your building complies and when you could be entitled to a reduction in heating costs.
For many people in Germany, heating costs remain one of the biggest household expenses. A little-known deadline is now approaching that could affect how those costs are measured and billed.
By December 31st, older heating cost allocators, heat meters and hot water meters that cannot be read remotely must generally be replaced or upgraded. The change is part of Germany’s Heating Costs Ordinance and mainly affects apartment buildings with central heating systems.
If you rent a flat in Germany, part of your annual heating and hot water bill is usually based on how much energy your household actually uses, which is why the meters attached to radiators and hot water systems play an important role.
From next year, some tenants may have the right to reduce their share of heating and hot water costs by three percent if a landlord fails to install required remote-readable meters or does not provide legally required consumption information.
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What you need to know if you rent an apartment
The good news is that tenants do not need to arrange or pay for the replacement of meters themselves. That responsibility falls to the landlord or property owner.
But tenants may still want to check whether their building is compliant.
An easy first step is to ask your landlord or property management company whether the existing heating and hot water meters are remotely readable. If replacement work is still necessary, ask when it’s scheduled to take place.
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Remote-readable meters allow consumption data to be collected without someone entering your flat. In many cases the information is transmitted wirelessly, eliminating the need for traditional meter-reading appointments.
Importantly, tenants may have the right to reduce their share of heating and hot water costs by three percent if the landlord fails to install the required meters.
The same reduction may also apply if the landlord fails to provide the monthly consumption information that tenants are entitled to once remote-reading technology has been installed.
The reduction applies to the tenant’s share of heating and hot water costs, not the total rent.
What the new rules mean for landlords
With only a few months remaining before the deadline, property owners should already be checking whether their buildings comply.
Landlords are advised to check which meters are currently installed, determine whether they’re remotely readable and arrange replacements where necessary.
Landlords can only avoid the requirement in limited circumstances, such as when a retrofit is technically impossible or would be “unreasonably burdensome”.
Once the new systems are in place, landlords must generally provide tenants with monthly information about their energy consumption. The idea is to help residents monitor their usage throughout the year rather than being surprised by a large bill months later.
What about people who own their home?
The rules are primarily designed for buildings where several households share a central heating system and the costs are divided between them.
If you live in your own detached house, you generally won’t need these meters for billing purposes because you’re paying your own heating costs directly rather than sharing them with neighbours.
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What else is worth knowing?
There is a good chance that many buildings have already made the switch. New meters installed after December 2021 generally had to be remotely readable from the outset.
The change is intended to make billing more transparent and give residents better information about their energy consumption. Under the rules, tenants should receive monthly data comparing current usage with previous periods and average consumption levels.
In practice, this should make it easier for households to spot unusually high energy use and avoid unpleasant surprises when annual heating bills arrive.