Marco Hanke is a trained master craftsman for gas and water installations and master craftsman for central heating and ventilation. He is also the state guild master of the Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning Association (SHK) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
FOCUS online: A pensioner recently reported online on FOCUS how he is doing with the federal government’s heating plans. He spoke of existential fears. Gerd Zeidler has his own home with gas heating – and is a customer of yours. Are many of your customers similarly concerned?
Hanke: It’s fair to say that some people are downright panicking. In general, my job has changed for some time. The phone hardly ever stands still, my e-mail inbox is overflowing.
And it’s also becoming more and more common for customers to turn up in our office as soon as they’ve received an order for the installation of a device. They absolutely want to fix it immediately, are obviously afraid, otherwise someone could forestall them. I didn’t know that before.
Are you talking about installing heat pumps?
Hanke: No, the demand has died down for the time being. We had quite a boom with the start of the Ukraine war. A second wave then came in the winter when it was thought that gas would become scarce.
When the all-clear was given here, the situation relaxed. Since the traffic light government announced its plans for the heat transition in mid-March, we have been experiencing a new, crazy trend. People are really clamoring for gas heaters.
About new devices, although they are supposed to disappear from the houses in the future? How come?
Hanke: Well, the investments here are manageable, we’re talking about an amount between 7500 and 8500 euros. For the installation of a heat pump you have to reckon with significantly more.
The conversion often entails a whole bundle of measures: the property has to be insulated, ideally it gets underfloor heating, but this in turn requires different doors. The 20,000 to 25,000 euros for the heat pump itself are often only a fraction.
„Personally, I have a stomach ache when someone wants to replace their well-functioning heater”
There is a long-term solution for that. Heating with gas, on the other hand, will be difficult from 2024.
Hanke: But heating with gas will still be possible and will not be banned, as many wrongly believe. The prerequisite for continued operation is, of course, that no new device has to be installed.
Calls from people like Gerd Zeidler show where the regulation sometimes leads: The heating is around ten years old and in good condition. Many still think about switching to a new device. You want to be on the safe side.
Does that make sense to you?
Hanke: Personally, I have a stomach ache when someone wants to replace their well-functioning heater. This is neither economical nor sustainable.
What do you advise customers to do instead?
Hanke: There is no general answer to this, it is very individual.
That means you look at the situation and decide on the spot?
Hanke: We don’t have any on-site inspections at the moment. We are so overloaded that we simply don’t have time to drive to the customers.
And how do you assess the situation then?
Hanke: We have photos sent to each other and communicate a lot digitally. At the moment, we really depend on good customer cooperation. We have the heating systems described as specifically as possible in advance of a consultation.
“I’m constantly being told: If I live xy years, the current device will still work – if I die before then, I’ll have a problem”
Mr. Zeidler said the contact with you was different this time, more personal.
Hanke: Of course I can feel what’s going on with the customers. Especially with the older ones. Here you have to consider that after a certain age, a corresponding investment is no longer worthwhile and, in case of doubt, the savings for old age are used up. I can’t remember her death ever being discussed that often.
The prophecy is constantly being raised: if I live another xy years, the current device will still work. If I die before then, I have a problem. I find that undignified! And at the same time very understandable if you look at where these people stand.
Where, then?
Hanke: In a vacuum, without any orientation. Not only are politicians outlining unrealistic targets, communication is also fragmented. Such far-reaching changes have to be explained to people in a sensible way and given them security.
After all, the older people in particular were specifically addressed, they would take care of, relieve.
Hanke: That’s exactly what I mean: phrases like: “Don’t worry, everything will be fine” are proclaimed – and that’s it. Honestly, that only creates more fear. Our consulting effort is enormous these days and sometimes that makes me really angry.
Of course, as an expert, I want and should provide information. But the type of advice we are providing at the moment goes well beyond technical information. Again: It would be the task of politics to take people with them. Berlin leaves people alone, that’s why they come to us. en masse.
Can you reassure the customers a bit?
Hanke: How you take it. We philosophize in all possible directions, because we still don’t know what’s coming and can only say again and again: We still don’t have any new legal regulations, so we’re moving within the usual framework. What we do is to show possible regulations and price developments. In the end, the customer has to decide for himself. I don’t have a crystal ball either.
“When a Robert Habeck stands up like that, it stuns me”
But soon a golden nose, as some think. Is that correct?
Hanke: How you take it. I don’t want to complain, a bad order situation looks different. But I can’t say that it’s a sure-fire success. It starts with the delivery of materials. Up until a few weeks ago, we were still able to guarantee our customers prompt delivery of a gas heating system.
Parts are always missing. Sometimes the water tank is the problem, sometimes the exhaust system, often the regulator. A heating system consists of several components. If I don’t have all of them together, I can’t install the device.
You can imagine what that means: more calls, more panic. I don’t know if those responsible in Berlin are aware of what they have started.
In any case, the fact that so many people are currently relying on fossil fuels cannot have been the goal.
Hanke: When Robert Habeck stands up in all seriousness and says he doesn’t think it’s great that so many gas heaters are now being ordered, it stuns me. The behavior of the people was foreseeable.
What would you say to the minister if you met him?
Hanke: That I think the heat transition is important, but the way things are being done here is a disaster. The hasty pace at which the transformation of the heating market is to be implemented is absurd. Almost overnight. At first it looked different to me.
Namely?
Hanke: I found it reasonable how the then new traffic light government sat down with the industry and brainstormed about a possible roadmap for the energy transition. To me, the plans at the time sounded optimistic, if perhaps a bit vague.
But still: the industry then started to build heat pump factories. The direction was right, as far as I know, the year 2025 was in the air as a first orientation for laws. The sudden bringing forward of the deadline honestly shocked me – right after that things started to get busy in our company. Although I believe that this is just the beginning.
“It is not surprising that there are dislocations in the industry”
Do you think the waiting times for new devices will become even longer? what are we talking about Two months instead of two weeks?
Hanke: That won’t do. This raises the question of whether customers who order a gas heater now can still install the devices when the new regulations take effect. As a trade association, we are already saying that an appropriate waiting period is essential.
That the parts are delivered is a point. The limited capacity of us craftsmen another. We at the trade association calculated how long it would take if we were to convert all heating systems in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with immediate effect. The number of households, the number of businesses and also their employees – all of that is included in the calculation.
And?
Hanke: We would be employed for 20 years. It should be noted that no bathroom in the country could be renovated or converted to make it age-appropriate during this time. After all, our range of tasks is not just limited to heating systems.
Tel…
Hanke: Yes, exactly. That’s another thing that Berlin probably doesn’t have in mind. It is not surprising that there are also upheavals in industry, as is currently the case at Viessmann.
The heat pump manufacturer going to the US?
Hanke: Correct. From a business point of view, I find that understandable. Viessmann also builds gas heating systems and would like to remain internationally competitive. If only heat pumps are installed in Germany, such a company will have to react.
Speaking of creativity: your customer, Gerd Zeidler, said you advised him to procure spare parts for his gas heating system. Is that a general tip from you and if so: do you have a specific recommendation for putting together the “spare parts store”?
That depends entirely on the device type and the device series, but unfortunately you cannot generalize. In addition, not every twelve-year-old heating system is in as good a condition as Mr. Zeidler’s. In his specific case, I think a good solution was found.
But is that always the best solution when future gas heaters are repaired down to the last detail? Let’s put it this way: sustainable is something else, because the replacement of outdated inefficient technology is unnecessarily delayed.
