District heating plants in Czechia to start heating season a month earlier than last year

District heating plants in Czechia are ready to start the heating season after temperatures dropped sharply this week. The first to do so will be in the Karlovy Vary Region and higher-altitude areas, with some starting on Thursday. The Czech District Heating Association informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today. The season is starting significantly earlier this year than last year; in 2023, heating exceptionally began around mid-October. Before last year, however, heating usually started around mid-September.

According to the association, other district heating plants will follow depending on local conditions, either supplying heat for heating throughout the day or providing additional heat in the morning and evening. „For the average daily temperature to drop by 15 degrees over just a few days in September is quite exceptional. It is essentially a temperature jump from a tropical summer to mid-October,“ said Jiří Vecka, director of the Czech District Heating Association.

The beginning of September was exceptionally warm, with average daily temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius during the first eight days and dozens of temperature records broken in Czechia. This week, by contrast, temperatures have dropped sharply, and the average daily temperature is expected to fall below ten degrees before the weekend. Czechia has experienced such cold weather in mid-September only in 2010 and 2015, the Czech District Heating Association said.

„Last year, heating did not start until mid-October. By contrast, radiators were warm from the beginning of September in 2010 and 2017. Based on long-term averages, heating in Czechia starts around September 17,“ the association said.

By law, the heating season runs from the beginning of September to the end of May. District heating plants start supplying heat if the average daily temperature falls below 13 degrees for two consecutive days and no rise is expected the following day. Heating may then be limited or suspended if the average daily outdoor temperature in a given location exceeds 13 degrees Celsius for at least two consecutive days.

In May, the Czech District Heating Association told the Czech News Agency that this year's heating season in Czechia was the shortest and warmest in the past 60 years. The country's district heating plants recorded their lowest heat deliveries during the season, up to a tenth below average. They said the main reason was exceptionally warm weather during the season.