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Abstract

In the summer of 2023, the third survey of the German Heating and Housing Panel (GHHP) established as part of the BMBF-funded Kopernikus project Ariadne took place among around 15,000 households. The German Heating and Housing Panel combines information on the building stock and the energy demand with the socio-economic characteristics of the households living in the buildings. This article summarizes the main results of the third survey. One focus was on the implementation of twelve energy-saving measures that were suggested to the respondents in the second survey so that they could arm themselves against the impending gas shortage and high energy prices in winter 2022. In the third survey, respondents were asked which of these twelve measures, which included switching off the heating when they were away and venting radiators, they had actually implemented. There was a strong discrepancy between the intention and the actual implementation. For example, 80.3% of respondents had planned to reduce the room temperature overnight, but 42.0% of those who had planned to do so said they had not implemented this measure. Another focal point was the opinions on the reformed German law on the energy efficiency of buildings, which was the subject of much debate during the survey. Among other things, participants were asked about their acceptance of a ban on the installation of new gas and oil heating systems from 2024. The overwhelming majority of participants rejected such an installation ban. As the heat pump is seen as the heating technology of the future, heat pump owners were asked about their satisfaction with this heating technology. It emerged that around 20% of the more than 1,000 households with a heat pump are somewhat or very dissatisfied with it. The most common reason reported was a sharp increase in electricity consumption as a result of the installation of a heat pump use.