Whether maintenance or modernization, if you want to get your heating in shape before winter comes, you should get on with it or acquire do-it-yourself skills. Because the responsible trade sector lacks skilled workers and material.
Save gas, save gas, save gas: That's the order of the day. But homeowners and apartment owners who want to take this seriously in the face of dramatically increased energy prices and possible bottlenecks have a problem. Craftsmen who maintain or modernize the heating are hard to come by quickly. It can take months for a technician to show up. And if you want to have a heat pump installed, you have to be even more patient.
Full order books with the craftsmen
"The order books are currently as full as they rarely are - for the summer it is an absolute high," said Frank Ebisch from the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning (ZVSHK), summarizing the results of a current survey among member companies. On average, the companies are busy for 18 weeks. The association welcomes the fact that Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck now wants to oblige all owners of gas heating systems to carry out a heating check by the end of the next but one heating period, 2023/24. "Nobody who drives a car lets it roll for 10 years without an inspection, it's different with the heating," said Ebisch. But the heating system owners would have to be patient: "You can't optimize 20 million heating systems by Christmas. That's completely unrealistic."
Long waiting times for customers
In fact, customers often have to be prepared for longer waiting times and some desired modernizations may not be able to be implemented before next winter. "Finding a craftsman's business that will service the heating or have a new boiler installed is still feasible before winter. It may take two months for the craftsmen to come," says the energy expert from the Haus owners' association
It becomes much more difficult with more complex work such as hydraulic balancing of the heating system. "It can save a lot of energy, but the workshops don't seem to have enough capacity for that. Many people cancel," she reports. And it can get even worse. "When installing heat pumps, customers have to be prepared for waiting times of up to a year," says the industry expert. "This is still new territory for many heating companies. The shortage of skilled workers is noticeable and delivery bottlenecks also play a role. Everyone who can do it is working at full capacity and is pushing orders ahead of them."
skills shortage
In fact, according to the latest study by the Skills Shortage Competence Center of the Institute of German Economics, the shortage of skilled workers in occupations in plumbing, heating and air conditioning is particularly great - both in terms of journeymen and master craftsmen. "In these three professions, there were only about 20 suitably qualified unemployed people for 100 vacancies nationwide," the scientists wrote in the study. Mathematically, 80 percent of all vacancies could not be filled. In many companies, this slows down the processing of the full order books.
Missing material
But there is not only a lack of skilled workers, but often also of materials - from the boiler to the control technology to the heat pump. "Almost 95 percent of the companies report delivery problems," said Ebisch. Before the pandemic, only 31 percent of the companies complained about problems getting the necessary material. The difficulties with the coveted heat pumps are particularly serious. "There is currently no heat pump available on the market. The staff is there, the material is not," said Ebisch.
Appeals to the craftsmen
In view of the bottlenecks, the President of the Federal Network Agency advocated "that all craftsmen concentrate heavily on heating and hot water supply". The Central Association of Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning recently appealed to the trades to free up capacity wherever possible in order to better adjust as many heating systems as possible in Germany. "I think the solidarity is there," said Ebisch. If, for example, delivery problems bring work to a standstill at a construction site, this time can be used elsewhere for the maintenance of heating systems.
And tips for self-help
The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center is now giving tips on how to help yourself. "The subsequent insulation of heating pipes that are poorly insulated or not at all saves a few percent and can be done yourself with a little manual skill," explains energy expert Reinhard Loch. There is material for this in hardware stores, an explanatory video on the online site of the consumer center.
"Replacing the thermostat heads with suitable electronic, programmable thermostats will pay for itself in just a few years," recommended Loch. The same applies to the installation of economical shower heads made of suitable material, the setting of the instantaneous water heater to around 38 degrees and the fundamental reduction in hot water consumption.
