In order to counteract the price increase in electricity and gas and to prevent a potential undersupply of natural gas, the German federal government has decided on new energy saving guidelines. The first regulation to secure the energy supply via short-term measures ( EnSikuMaV ) came into force on September 1, 2022 and is valid until February 28, 2023. Mimikama reported here .

The second regulation to secure the energy supply via medium-term effective measures ( EnSimiMaV ) intervenes more heavily in the private sector and initially had to be passed by the Federal Council. This approved the regulation on September 16, 2022, so the measures can now come into force in October as planned. These are valid for two years until September 30, 2024.

These are the most important requirements that apply from October 1st:

  • Owners of buildings heated with natural gas must carry out a heating inspection and have the heating optimized
  • Gas central heating systems must be hydraulically balanced in residential buildings (at least six apartments) or non-residential buildings (more than 1000 m² heated).
  • Companies with more than 10 gigawatt hours of total energy consumption per year are obliged to implement energy audit measures within 18 months

Hydraulic balancing

Hydraulic balancing means adjusting the pressure conditions and volume flows so that all radiators in a heating circuit are supplied equally. Without hydraulic balancing, the radiators that are closer to the heat source are better supplied and those that are further away remain relatively cold: a “hydraulic short circuit”. Combined with poor positioning of room thermostats, this can lead to overheating of some areas and thus waste of energy.

Save energy with hydraulic balancing
Undersupply of the top radiator, oversupply of the bottom one © Ra Boe / Wikipedia

Hydraulic balancing is achieved by throttling the inflow to the more conveniently located radiators and ensuring uniform volume flows for all connected radiators. This means that all connected rooms receive the right amount of heat to achieve the desired room temperature.

The regulation stipulates that this comparison (with further technical specifications) must be carried out by a specific deadline for the following gas heating systems:

  • Non-residential buildings within the scope of the Building Energy Act with a heated area of ​​1,000 square meters or more: September 30, 2023
  • Residential buildings with at least ten residential units: September 30, 2023
  • Residential buildings with at least six residential units: September 15, 2024

The obligation to carry out hydraulic balancing does not apply if this has already been carried out, a heating replacement is imminent within 6 months or the building is shut down.

Confirmation of the hydraulic balancing, including all relevant setting values, the heating load of the building, the set output of the heat generator and the room-by-room heating load calculation, the design temperature, the setting of the control and the pressures in the expansion tank, must be recorded in text form and made available to the building owner.

Excerpt from the EnSimiMaV

Heating testing and heating optimization

The need for hydraulic compensation results from a mandatory heating test, which also looks for further optimization options for the building's entire heating system. The regulation lists four points that must be checked. Namely,

  1. whether the technical parameters that can be set to operate a heater are optimized for the operation of the heat generation system in terms of energy efficiency,
  2. whether the heating needs to be adjusted hydraulically,
  3. whether efficient heating pumps are used in the heating system or
  4. to what extent insulation measures for pipes and fittings should be carried out.

The “technical parameters” that must be checked and, if necessary, optimized include: lowering the flow temperature, optimizing the heating curve, activating night reduction and lowering the heating limit temperature (minimum temperature). The result of this heating test must be documented in writing and the documented measures must be carried out by September 15, 2024.

The heating check must be carried out by a qualified person, including: chimney sweep; Plumber and heating engineer; Furnace and air heating builders; as well as energy consultants who have been included in the federal expert list. The obligation to carry out heating inspections does not apply to buildings that are already managed using an energy management system or controlled by building automation. If such a check was already carried out after October 1, 2020 and no need for optimization was identified, it can also be omitted.

Energy efficiency measures in companies

The requirements for saving energy are also changing for certain companies with the regulation for medium-term measures. Those affected are those who consume more than 10 gigawatt hours of total energy per year. Excluded are those for whom stricter requirements apply anyway Federal Immission Control Act

The Act on Energy Services and Other Energy Efficiency Measures (Section 8) requires companies to carry out energy audits. All measures that have already been specifically identified within this framework and that have been assessed as economically feasible must be implemented within 18 months. If these measures are not economically feasible, this must be confirmed by “certifiers, environmental verifiers or energy auditors”.

All of the above-mentioned requirements of the Ordinance to Secure Energy Supply on Medium-Term Effective Measures ( EnSimiMaV ) come into force on October 1, 2022. They are valid for two years until September 30, 2024. They supplement the already effective regulation to secure energy supplies via short-term measures ( EnSikuMaV ), which is valid until the end of February 2023.

Click here for the article with the short-term measures: Requirements for saving energy from September 1st


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )