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Heating costs 70/30: Understanding Germany’s heating-cost ordinance
Consumption shares, base costs and possible reductions: read your heating bill without assuming every unusual number proves an error.
“Seventy percent consumption, thirty percent floor area” sounds straightforward. Yet a heating statement may also list meter units, hot-water volumes, base charges, occupancy changes and several subtotals. Comparing only the final figure can hide how your personal share was calculated. This guide explains the basic structure of Germany’s Heizkostenverordnung and useful questions for an unclear bill. It addresses typical residential situations. Unusual systems, exceptions and particular agreements may require an individual assessment, and this article is not legal advice.
Why heating is not allocated only by floor area
The ordinance combines a consumption-related share with a base-cost share. It recognises personal usage while acknowledging that not every expense depends solely on one household’s behaviour. Providing heat and losses within the system also cost money. A flat can benefit from adjoining heated rooms even if its own radiators are used sparingly. The mixed approach reflects these features rather than treating every cost as a direct meter reading.
Under section 7(1) HeizkostenV, generally at least 50% and at most 70% of central-heating operating costs are allocated according to recorded heat consumption. The remainder follows the permitted area or volume measures. Section 8 provides a corresponding general range of 50–70% consumption allocation for hot water. The applicable provisions and any exceptions must still be checked for the actual property.
What a 70/30 calculation looks like
Suppose the building’s allocable heating costs total €10,000. A 70/30 split puts €7,000 in the consumption pool and €3,000 in the base-cost pool. Your flat receives a separate share from each pool. Only their sum is your heating charge. That is why multiplying the building’s entire cost by your floor-area percentage will usually not verify a mixed heating allocation.
If your flat has 10% of the relevant area and 8% of the recorded consumption units, this simplified example gives €300 in base costs plus €560 in consumption costs: €860 altogether. It does not yet account for time apportionment, separate user groups or hot water. The figures illustrate the method only. On your actual statement, check that every numerator and denominator concerns the same billing group and period.
Is another ratio automatically wrong?
No. A 50/50 or 60/40 allocation can also lie within the statutory range. In certain building circumstances specified by section 7, a 70% consumption share is required. You cannot determine whether those conditions apply from the total charge alone. Building characteristics, thermal protection and technical details can matter. If the statement does not explain the chosen ratio, ask for its basis.
Even a consumption share above 70% is not invariably prohibited. Section 10 HeizkostenV preserves certain agreements providing for higher consumption shares. The scope of the ordinance and exceptions, particularly under sections 2 and 11, must also be considered. An automated warning about an unusual ratio should therefore prompt a question rather than assert a certain breach or a guaranteed refund.
Follow heating and hot water separately
Combined systems require costs for space heating and hot water to be separated and then allocated to users. Section 9 HeizkostenV contains relevant rules. Your statement may therefore show the total system expense, a hot-water allocation and then your two personal shares. These intermediate figures must not all be added together as if each were an additional independent cost.
Find the total and personal units for each part. Check whether hot water is measured in cubic metres, energy in kilowatt-hours or radiator consumption in assessed allocation units. Those units are not interchangeable. A number on a radiator allocator is not necessarily a kilowatt-hour value. If units or conversion factors are missing, request them before attempting a proportion calculation using figures that do not belong together.
Missing consumption allocation and a possible reduction
Section 12(1) HeizkostenV provides, in specified circumstances, a 15% reduction where costs are not allocated by consumption contrary to the ordinance. This generally concerns the affected cost share attributable to you, not automatically your whole rent or every service charge. If the relevant allocated cost were €900, the arithmetic for 15% would be €135.
Whether that right actually applies depends on scope and exceptions. An unreadable consumption figure does not prove that no consumption-based allocation occurred. You may be missing a page or a separate heating statement. Similarly, an unusual percentage does not automatically establish the same reduction right. Obtain the complete calculation and check disputed conditions before reducing a payment yourself. The possible amount and the legal entitlement are distinct questions.
Estimates and changes of occupant deserve attention
Where consumption cannot be properly recorded because equipment fails or for other reasons, section 9a HeizkostenV provides methods involving comparable information. An estimate is therefore not automatically forbidden. It should nevertheless be understandable: what failed, which period was affected and which comparison was used? A large change from the previous year is a reason to ask, not proof that the estimation method was unlawful.
If you move in or out during the year, costs must be divided between occupants. Section 9b HeizkostenV contains specific rules. Heating costs are not necessarily divided into twelve equal monthly shares, since heat demand is higher in winter. For unclear time apportionments, ask about an intermediate reading, degree-day figures and the method used. Keep your occupancy dates available when reviewing the response.
High costs do not by themselves prove an error
Even a correctly applied allocation can produce a large additional payment. Energy prices, weather, building condition and advance payments all influence the result. The German Tenants’ Association operating-cost benchmark provides a broad comparison, not a statutory price ceiling. Compare consumption and price per energy unit separately. The final bill can rise because energy became more expensive even while your household consumed less.
For fossil fuels, allocation of carbon-dioxide costs between landlord and tenant under the CO2-Kostenaufteilungsgesetz can be a separate issue. A correct 70/30 heating ratio does not answer that question by itself. A useful technical report should make clear which checks it completed and which require additional documents. Treat an untested topic as open rather than assuming that a clean result on one rule approves the entire statement.
Questions that produce useful answers
Request the complete heating statement, energy and service-provider invoices, meter readings and an explanation of the allocation method. Identify whether your concern is the consumption ratio, an estimate or the division between heating and hot water. Include your occupancy period. A focused question is easier to answer than a general complaint that the heating bill seems too high.
After receiving the documents, check the figures again and remember the objection deadline for the service-charge statement. For substantial disputed sums, unclear exceptions or a proposed reduction, consider a tenants’ association or lawyer. Good preparation is not about collecting the largest number of legal references. It means documenting the exact line, its calculation and the information still missing, so that the next person can evaluate the real problem.
Read on and check your own bill
Whether a reduction is actually available is covered in the guide on which heating costs are recoverable. The guides on the CO₂ cost split and on average service charges per square metre explain the remaining lines and give you a reference point.
For a quick view of your own figures, upload the heating statement together with the service-charge statement to the free check. The consumption share and the split are read out and put in context there.