Good digitization rate for heat

16.07.2024

Surprisingly, more than 77% of heat meters in Germany are digitalized. Saxony leads the way, with Baden-Württemberg bringing up the rear.

Unlike in most other areas of digitalization, Germany is one of the leading countries in Europe when it comes to the digital recording of heat consumption. This rate is the result of a digitalization atlas that the real estate service provider "ista" has now presented. A map of Germany shows the proportion of heat consumption that is already recorded digitally and remotely. This enables direct comparisons to be made between federal states as well as individual regions and cities.

The digitalization rate of 77% found in the atlas is remarkable, especially when compared with the figures for digital electricity meters: only 5% of German households currently have smart meters and a digital connection via a gateway. This puts Germany at the bottom of the league in Europe when it comes to digitalization in the electricity sector.

"At Ista, we have been working intensively on the digitalization of heat consumption metering for years and install around 150,000 new digital meters every month across Germany," explained CEO Hagen Lessing. He announced his intention to maintain this high rate of expansion: Intensive preparations are being made to fully digitize the remaining 2 million homes managed by the company by the end of 2026.

However, according to Lessing, the prerequisite for this is that landlords commission the service in good time and have remotely readable meters installed in their buildings.

Baden-Württemberg brings up the rear

According to Ista, as soon as digital and remotely readable meters are installed, tenants are entitled to receive monthly updates on their consumption. However, of the households that already have digital, remotely readable technology, only around half (44%) receive information about their monthly heat consumption - usually via app or email. Although 56% are equipped with digital infrastructure, tenants do not yet receive the prescribed monthly consumption information.

In terms of digital heat consumption recording, Saxony leads the field in Germany with a rate of 87%, followed by Hamburg (84%) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (83%). The last three places are occupied by Bremen (71%) and Saarland (71%), with Baden-Württemberg bringing up the rear (70%).

While 60 percent of all tenants in Saxony already receive monthly overviews, only 15 percent do so in Saarland.

In connection with the current high heating costs and appeals to save money, Lessing explained: "We don't need any finger-wagging, but above all well-informed tenants who can use current consumption data to heat their homes in a self-determined and conscious manner and thus keep their costs under control." This is also in line with the wishes of the population: according to a survey by the opinion research institute "YouGov", 63% of respondents want monthly transparency on heat consumption in order to be supported in the conscious use of energy.

The digitalization atlas can be found on the Ista website.

Source: Energy & Management Powernews
Author: Günter Drewnitzky