In short and in plain language
Many radiators still have old meters. Someone has to come into your home to read them. This will soon end.
By the end of 2026 the meters must send their data by radio. The owner of the building has to do this. As a tenant, you just let the fitters in.
With the new meters you get a report every month. It shows how much you used for heating. It also shows the month before and the year before.
If the report is missing, you may pay a bit less for heating. Ask a tenants' group for advice first.
We set up the app for the report. We also show you how a heating plan saves energy.
For decades a small glass tube has sat on the radiator, and once a year a notice in the stairwell announces the meter reading appointment. That is coming to an end: under the German Heating Costs Ordinance, meters and heat cost allocators that cannot be read remotely must be retrofitted or replaced by 31 December 2026 (Section 5(3) HeizkostenV). The building owner has to act, not the tenant. The change still matters to everyone who lives in the flat: where remotely readable devices are installed, residents are entitled to a consumption report every month. This article explains which devices are affected, who has to do what, which exceptions apply, what the monthly report must contain and which rights tenants have if something is missing. At the end you will find how to use the monthly figures with heating schedules and smart thermostats to influence your next bill yourself.
Key takeaways
- Meters and heat cost allocators that cannot be read remotely must be retrofitted or replaced by 31 December 2026 (Section 5(3) HeizkostenV). Exceptions apply where this is technically impossible in the individual case or would cause undue hardship.
- The duty lies with the building owner; for condominium flats, with the owners' association towards each owner. Tenants must allow the fitting and can demand that the owner meets the obligation (Section 4 HeizkostenV).
- Remotely readable means readable without entering the flat. In spring 2025, the share of remotely readable devices in the stock of surveyed housing companies, metering services and property managers averaged 79.8 percent (Öko-Institut for the BMWE).
- With remotely readable devices you have been entitled to a monthly consumption report since 1 January 2022: consumption in kilowatt hours, compared with the previous month, the same month last year and an average user (Section 6a HeizkostenV).
- If required remotely readable devices (for existing devices, only after the deadline) or the monthly report are missing, the occupant may reduce their share of costs by 3 percent (Section 12 HeizkostenV). Without consumption-based billing, it is 15 percent.
- The monthly figures show whether a heating schedule works: programmable thermostats can save around 10 percent of energy, and the German Environment Agency recommends no more than 20 °C in living areas where possible (Umweltbundesamt).
What the ordinance requires by the end of 2026
The Heating Costs Ordinance (HeizkostenV) governs how the costs of central heating and hot water are shared among the occupants of a building. For this to be based on consumption, every flat needs metering devices: heat meters or heat cost allocators for heating and hot water meters for hot water (Section 5(1) HeizkostenV). The revised ordinance added a requirement: devices installed after 1 December 2021 must be remotely readable and must ensure data protection and data security in line with the state of the art (Section 5(2) HeizkostenV).
A transition period applies to existing equipment. Devices that cannot be read remotely and were installed up to that cut-off date must meet the new requirements by 31 December 2026, either by retrofitting or by replacement (Section 5(3) HeizkostenV). The same applies to devices that could still be fitted without radio after the cut-off date because they only replaced or added a single unit within an otherwise non-remote system (Section 5(2) HeizkostenV). From the turn of the year, all meters and allocators in the building are therefore meant to be readable from a distance, unless an exception applies.
European law sits behind the deadline. The Energy Efficiency Directive requires existing meters and heat cost allocators that are not remotely readable to be retrofitted or replaced by 1 January 2027, unless a member state shows that this is not cost-efficient (Art. 16 EU Energy Efficiency Directive 2023/1791). The German cut-off date falls one day earlier. For you as a resident this means: if glass tubes or devices without radio are still fitted in your building, an appointment for the replacement is likely to be announced in the coming weeks, unless it has already taken place or an exception applies.
The rules mainly affect rented homes, and there are many of them: 58 percent of households in Germany lived in rented accommodation (Destatis, Mikrozensus 2022). Anyone who lives alone in their own house does not share costs with anyone and is usually not affected by the ordinance. Condominium flats in a building with central heating are different: there the ordinance also applies between the owners' association and the individual owner.
Which devices are affected
Many buildings contain different generations of devices, often without residents knowing the difference. What matters is not the age of a device but whether it can be read without entering the flat. That is exactly how the ordinance defines the term: metering equipment is remotely readable if it can be read without access to individual units (Section 5(2) HeizkostenV). The overview below helps you classify what is fitted to your radiators and pipes.
| Device | How to recognise it | Remotely readable? | By the turn of the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat cost allocator using the evaporation principle | Glass tube with liquid and a scale in a sealed housing | no, read on site | Replacement with a remotely readable device |
| Electronic heat cost allocator without radio | Small display, the reader comes into the flat | not included | Retrofit if the model allows it, otherwise replacement |
| Electronic heat cost allocator with radio | Display, the bill arrives without an appointment in the flat | included | No deadline by 2026; if fitted by 1 December 2022, extra requirements from 2032 |
| Heat meters and hot water meters | Counter on the heating or water pipe | depends on the model | Radio module or replacement if not remotely readable |
An evaporation tube has no electronics. It can only be read by someone standing in front of the radiator, so it cannot become remotely readable. Where such tubes are fitted, replacement is the only route. For electronic devices without radio, the model decides whether a radio module can be added. The ordinance expressly leaves the choice of equipment to the building owner within the limits of Section 5 (Section 4(2) HeizkostenV). As a tenant you therefore have no say in the device, but you do have a say in the date on which the fitters come into your flat.
Check it yourself
Who has to act and who does not
The duty lies with the building owner. The owner has to record each occupant's share of heat and hot water consumption and fit the rooms with metering devices for this purpose; occupants must allow this (Section 4 HeizkostenV). For condominium flats, the owners' association takes the place of the building owner towards each individual owner, and anyone who lets a flat they own takes that place towards their tenant (Section 1(2) HeizkostenV). The devices are usually rented from a metering service rather than bought (Öko-Institut for the BMWE). The metering service usually fits them, reads them and prepares the bill.
As a tenant you do not have to buy or commission anything. You have to allow the fitting, which means giving the fitters access after notice or arranging another appointment. At the same time you have a claim: the occupant is entitled to demand that the building owner meets the duties of consumption recording (Section 4(4) HeizkostenV). If nothing has happened so far, a polite written enquiry to the landlord or property management is therefore not a provocation but a reminder of a shared deadline.
Small buildings have a special rule. In buildings with no more than two flats, one of which the landlord occupies, agreements in the tenancy contract take precedence over the ordinance (Section 2 HeizkostenV). If you live below your landlady in a two-family house, check your tenancy agreement first before relying on the deadline.
Exceptions: when the deadline does not apply
The deadline is not without exceptions. The duty to retrofit lapses if, in the individual case, it is technically impossible due to special circumstances or would cause undue hardship through unreasonable effort or in any other way (Section 5(3) HeizkostenV). This is a case-by-case assessment, not a blanket exemption for older buildings. In addition, the ordinance exempts entire types of buildings from consumption recording.
- Technically impossible: retrofitting fails in the individual case because of special circumstances (Section 5(3) HeizkostenV).
- Undue hardship: retrofitting would cause unreasonable effort or lead to undue hardship in another way (Section 5(3) HeizkostenV).
- Special buildings: buildings with very low heating demand as well as care homes, nursing homes and student and apprentice residences are exempt from the recording rules for heat (Section 11 HeizkostenV).
- Two-family house with the landlord on site: the tenancy agreement takes precedence (Section 2 HeizkostenV).
The owner must be able to justify an exception. If in doubt, a tenants' association, a homeowners' association or legal advice can help. This article explains the legal position and does not replace advice on an individual case.
Radio, gateway, keys: what remotely readable means
There are two common ways of reading devices remotely. With walk-by or drive-by reading, the devices send their values by radio over short distances, and a reading service collects them with a mobile receiver during a walk round or a drive past. With stationary radio reading, receivers installed permanently in the building collect the values at regular intervals and send them encrypted to the metering service. For newly fitted devices, the stationary solution is now standard in the market, according to the evaluation commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (Öko-Institut for the BMWE).
Legally, both count as remotely readable, because the legislator also included walk-by and drive-by technology (Öko-Institut for the BMWE). The evaluation points to a tension: these systems are not designed for regular monthly reading, although monthly reports are exactly what comes with remotely readable devices. If you receive no monthly figures despite having radio devices, it is therefore worth asking the property management which method is used in your building.
A survey of housing companies, metering services and property managers shows how far the switch has progressed: the share of remotely readable devices in their stock rose on average from 59.7 to 79.8 percent between 1 December 2021 and March/April 2025 (Öko-Institut for the BMWE). Private small landlords hardly took part in the survey. The figure therefore says little about small buildings with a private landlord; there it pays to look at the radiators yourself.
Since 1 December 2022, two further requirements apply to newly fitted radio devices. They must be able to connect securely to a smart meter gateway, the communication unit of intelligent metering systems that is also used for electricity (Section 5(2) HeizkostenV). And they must be interoperable with devices of the same kind from other manufacturers, so that a new reading service can read the existing devices remotely itself; the key material must be made available to the building owner free of charge (Section 5(5) HeizkostenV). Radio devices fitted up to 1 December 2022 only have to meet these requirements after 31 December 2031 (Section 5(4) HeizkostenV).
An actual connection is not normally required: connecting to a smart meter gateway is voluntary and follows the Metering Point Operation Act, and so far it is rarely done for heat metering (Öko-Institut for the BMWE). What a smart meter gateway does for electricity and when it becomes mandatory is explained in our article Smart meters are coming: the intelligent electricity meter at home.
Reading the monthly consumption report
The real gain for residents is in Section 6a. Where remotely readable devices are installed, the building owner has had to send occupants billing or consumption information for heating and hot water every month since 1 January 2022 (Section 6a(1) HeizkostenV). For households with old glass tubes, this entitlement starts with the replacement. Anyone who already has radio devices but still only sees one bill a year should ask.
The ordinance sets out precisely what the report must contain. At least three items must be included (Section 6a(2) HeizkostenV):
- Your consumption in the last month in kilowatt hours.
- A comparison with your consumption in the previous month and in the same month of the previous year, where these data have been collected.
- A comparison with the consumption of a standardised or benchmarked average user in the same user category.
Section 6a does not prescribe how the report is delivered. Letter, email, web portal or app are all possible. If a portal or app is used, it is worth setting up access right after the first letter and switching on notifications so that the figures do not go unread. Keep the letter with your access details in a fixed place; you will need it again on a new phone.
A simple order helps when reading the report. First the same month last year: it is usually the fairest comparison, because the weather in the same month is more similar than between two consecutive months. Then the previous month, which fluctuates strongly in autumn and spring because the heating season is starting or ending. Finally the average user: if your figure is clearly higher, look at room temperatures, ventilation habits and heating times. A higher figure is not a mistake in itself, because a flat under the roof or on a corner of the building usually loses more heat than a flat in the middle.
Collect the monthly figures
The annual bill also becomes more detailed. If it is based on actual consumption or on readings from heat cost allocators, the owner must make available, among other things, the share of energy sources used, the charges for device rental, reading and billing, and a graphic comparison of weather-adjusted consumption with the previous billing period (Section 6a(3) HeizkostenV). These details are the basis for judging the cost of the metering service at all.
Costs, device rental and the right to reduce
In most cases the tenants end up bearing the ongoing cost of the devices through the heating bill. The costs of running the heating system expressly include the cost of renting metering equipment, of using it including calibration, and of calculation, allocation and the billing and consumption information under Section 6a (Section 7(2) HeizkostenV). The Operating Costs Ordinance also lists device rental, use including calibration, and calculation and allocation under the costs of the central heating system (Section 2 BetrKV).
If the owner wants to rent the devices rather than buy them, the owner must inform the occupants in advance and state the resulting costs. The measure is not permitted if the majority of occupants object within one month of receiving the notice (Section 4(2) HeizkostenV). Read such a notice carefully, compare the stated costs with your last bill and talk to your neighbours if necessary.
How high the costs are is hardly documented in public. The evaluation gives example figures that expressly do not represent the market as a whole: in typical buildings with 10 to 11 flats, metering services' revenue in 2024 was around 130 euros per flat, with a range of plus or minus 25 euros; in buildings with only three flats it reached more than 200 euros per flat and year (Öko-Institut for the BMWE). Between 2022 and 2024, costs in the example buildings evaluated rose on average by 1.3 percent where devices were remotely readable and by 6.3 percent where they were not (Öko-Institut for the BMWE).
If the owner does not follow the rules, the occupant has a right to reduce the bill. If the building owner has not installed remotely readable equipment contrary to Section 5(2) or (3), the occupant may reduce their share in the bill by 3 percent (Section 12(1) HeizkostenV). The same applies if the information under Section 6a is not provided or not provided in full. If billing is not based on consumption at all, the reduction is 15 percent (Section 12(1) HeizkostenV). For existing devices without radio, the reduction for missing remote readability only applies once the deadline at the end of the year has passed. The reduction rights do not apply between an individual flat owner and the owners' association.
Reduce with a sense of proportion
Using the monthly figures to cut heating costs
What counts for your wallet is what you do with the figures. Heating is the largest item: in 2024, private households used more than two thirds of their final energy consumption to heat rooms (Umweltbundesamt). At the same time, any saving only affects part of the bill, because at least 50 and no more than 70 percent of the costs of the central heating system are allocated by recorded consumption and the rest by floor area or enclosed volume (Section 7(1) HeizkostenV). If you heat more economically, you reduce your consumption-based share while the base share remains.
The German Environment Agency recommends no more than 20 °C in living areas where possible, provided this feels comfortable, and advises lowering the temperature to around 18 °C at night or when you are out for a few hours (Umweltbundesamt). According to the agency, programmable thermostats that only heat to the desired temperature at set times can save around 10 percent of energy (Umweltbundesamt). How thermostats, schedules and electricity tariffs work together is shown in our article Smart home 2026: cutting heating and electricity costs at home.
A schedule that fits your day
A warm bathroom in the morning, lower temperatures during the day, cosy in the evening: a schedule in the thermostat puts the recommendations into practice without you having to think about it every day.
Room by room
Bedroom, kitchen and living room need different temperatures. Smart thermostats control each room separately instead of heating the whole home the same way.
Visible in the monthly figure
A new heating schedule set in October shows up in the report for November. Comparing it with the same month last year shows whether it has made a difference.
Smart radiator thermostats only replace the thermostat head on the valve; the heat cost allocator on the radiator stays where it is and keeps measuring. The two devices work independently of each other. In a rented flat, keep the old thermostat head so that the original condition can be restored when you move out. If you want to integrate the thermostats into an existing smart home, smart home setup provides the right framework. If you lower the temperature, keep an eye on humidity too; how to do that is covered in our article Measuring room climate: preventing mould in the heating season.
Checklist up to the turn of the year
For tenants
- Check what is fitted to your radiators: glass tube, display without radio or radio device.
- Allow access on the announced date for the replacement or arrange another appointment in good time.
- Read notices about device rental carefully; a majority of occupants can object within one month.
- If no monthly report arrives despite radio devices, ask the landlord or property management in writing.
- Set up access to the portal or app and keep the monthly reports permanently.
For landlords and owners' associations
- Record the existing equipment: which devices, which year of installation, which reading method.
- Obtain quotes and clarify whether the monthly report is included via stationary remote reading.
- If devices are rented, send the notice with the resulting costs to all occupants in advance (Section 4(2) HeizkostenV).
- Schedule the fitting so that it is completed before the turn of the year and inform tenants in good time.
- Request the key material for the radio devices; the owner is entitled to it free of charge (Section 5(5) HeizkostenV).
- For condominium flats, put the topic on the agenda of the next owners' meeting.
How Technik daheim helps
The metering service commissioned by your landlord or property management replaces the devices; that is not our job. We help with what happens afterwards in your flat and on your phone. In the Hildesheim area and the Leine valley we come to your home, set up access to the consumption portal or app on your smartphone or tablet and show you where the previous month, the same month last year and the average comparison can be found. If you want to use your phone more confidently in general, our smartphone courses and tablet courses offer a calm start.
To help you save, we set up smart radiator thermostats, create heating schedules that match your daily routine and explain how to use them at your own pace. If you do not yet know which thermostats suit your radiators, start with our smart home consulting. We explain the monthly figures to older relatives without jargon; more on this on the page tech help for seniors. You can arrange an appointment via the contact form for a home visit; if you have it, please have the metering service's letter with your access details ready. All home visits are listed under services.
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