State subsidies

Upper Austria offers the least for renovators

Environmentalists are calling for consistent and equal subsidies for all Austrians in the long term.

(Bild: Daikin)

The state subsidies for changing heating systems and thermal refurbishment vary greatly. Environmentalists are calling for consistent and equal subsidies for all Austrians in the long term. The Land ob der Enns in particular could benefit from this, as Global 2000 shows in a sample calculation.

The nationwide subsidies "Raus aus Öl und Gas" (Get out of oil and gas), which supported private individuals and companies in switching to renewable heating methods, ended abruptly and unexpectedly for many at the turn of the year, as was reported in detail in the "Krone". However, subsidies from the individual federal provinces are still available.

Clear disadvantage
As is so often the case with state-specific measures, however, the differences from state to state are serious. And as Global 2000 notes, Upper Austrians are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to both replacing boilers and thermally renovating a house.

In our province, the subsidy amount is the lowest in Austria - as the environmental protection organization found out in an analysis of the various support models using a sample calculation.

Tyroleans pay half as much
This assumes a thermal renovation and the replacement of the boiler with a heat pump for 110,000 euros and 10,000 euros of own funds. With the repayment of the necessary loan (€500 per month), the environmentalists arrive at a total cost of €195,000 without a subsidy. With the Upper Austrian subsidy, €161,000 would be due, whereas in Tyrol it would only be around half as much, namely €81,000.

In terms of one-off grants, the province ob der Enns is in seventh place with a maximum of 9375 euros. Tyroleans would receive up to 39,300 euros, while Lower Austrians would receive nothing at all.

Conditions to blame
The office of the responsible state councillor Markus Achleitner replied to an inquiry from Krone that Upper Austria was only in last place because of the conditions chosen in the example and not because of lower funding amounts. However, Achleitner himself is calling on the future federal government to revise and secure nationwide subsidies in the long term: "I have proposed a degressive model for replacing heating systems: in the first year, the conversion should be subsidized at a rate of 50 percent, which is reduced by five percent each year."

This would allow the subsidy to expire after ten years. Global 2000 is calling for "stable, attractive and permanent funding conditions throughout Austria", says spokesperson Johannes Wahlmüller.