Central Heating Systems Will Need To Be Updated In 1.4 Million Spanish Homes Under New Regulations
Spain News
Published: 11 November 2021 10:12 CET
It is believed that around 1.4 million homes in Spain will have to change their heating systems following a Royal Decree published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on August 6.
By May 2023, most buildings that have heating or cooling systems installed will have to have them either removed or upgraded, as a result of the new law which was approved by the Ministry of the Environment.
Under the new law, a number of requirements must be met, however, in most cases, systems that were installed prior to 1998 will have to be removed or modified.
Any buildings that were constructed after 1998, should already be compliant with RITE (Reglamento de Instalaciones Térmicas en los Edificios), where there was already a requirement to fit energy accounting devices.
Two deadlines have been established for those who need to remove or modify a system.
Firstly, the owner must first obtain a quote from an installation company that is regulated by RITE. The quote will be free when undertaken before 2022 and must be for the cost of modifying the existing system.
Secondly, must be no later than 15 months after the date on the quotation. This is according to the Spanish Association of Heating Cost Distributors (ACERCA).
Exceptions to the new legislation
A number of exceptions have been established to the new laws. These are:-
- Buildings that are located in the archipelagos or in the warmest regions of the Mediterranean coast, islands, Levante area, Guadalquivir, Ceuta and Melilla.
- Where it is not economically viable to adapt the properties consumption meters to the current standard. If the investment into the modification is not profitable in 4 years because the cost of the installation is not offset by the savings generated in that period.
- If the building's thermal installation is of the “series monotube” type. Although these buildings would still be required to install heating meters.
The new decree established that individual meters must be installed whenever it is technically possible and financially reasonable. It also has to be proportionate in relation to the potential energy savings.
Meters must be installed at a competitive price to the consumer, which accurately reflects the real energy consumption to the end-user as well as providing real-time usage information.
If the end-user is considered to be financially vulnerable, he or she may be able to seek direct assistance so they may comply with the obligations of the decree.
What are the benefits?
The new meters are more precise, whereas, with the allocator, you have to later work out the average by distributing the total cost among the different components which make up the bill.
Each allocator unit costs around €30, while a new meter can cost approximately €250.
The new meters have already been installed into around 180,000 homes, with an estimated saving of 24%.
Source
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4878068/0/adios-a-la-calefaccion-central-estos-son-los-edificios-que-tendran-que-eliminarla-antes-de-2023/
