Survey: More than half of Czech households with non-compliant boilers are still not arranging replacements

More than half of Czech owners of non-compliant boilers, whose use will be banned from this September, still have not arranged for their replacement. Meanwhile, up to around 200.000 boilers that do not meet emissions standards are currently in operation in Czech households, accounting for as much as a third of all boilers in use. This is according to a survey by Stiebel Eltron.

From 1 September, the operation of boilers in Czechia that do not meet the requirements for emissions class three or higher will be prohibited. Fines for heating with an environmentally unfriendly boiler can reach 50.000 crowns and may be imposed repeatedly.

Most Czechs are aware of the obligation to replace class one and two boilers. This was confirmed by 80 percent of households that use solid-fuel heating appliances in a survey of 1050 respondents conducted via the Instant Research app by Ipsos.

Industry representatives have repeatedly warned in recent weeks that there is little time left to replace the boilers. „It is high time to start looking for a supplier and installer. There has long been a shortage of heating engineers, and waiting times are quite long,“ said David Šafránek, head of the technical department at Stiebel Eltron.

The survey showed that the most common options households are considering for replacing non-compliant boilers are a modern solid-fuel boiler or a newer type of gas boiler. Both options were cited by 27,3 percent of respondents. Nearly a quarter of Czechs who have already approached a company about replacing a non-compliant boiler are considering a heat pump.

Households planning to replace their boilers have until the end of August to apply for the so-called boiler grant at its current rate. The grant will be reduced from September. Meanwhile, 39 percent of solid-fuel boiler owners are currently unaware that the grants will be reduced.

This year’s replacement of the lowest-emissions-class boilers—that is, boilers that do not meet the requirements for emissions class three or higher—will affect at least one in every twenty households in Czechia. According to statistics from the Ministry of the Environment, around 150.000 such boilers were still in operation this year. However, the association estimates that the actual figure is even higher. In June, it estimated the number at more than 200.000.