Energy sobriety: without new measures, France will not be able to meet its objectives

The professional sector involved in the "Connected Room-by-Room Heating Control" Boost acknowledges the publication of the revised CEE sheet to assist with thermostat equipment. Despite requests from the sector, the amount of aid has not been increased, effectively reducing the scope of this scheme, even though the French are required to equip themselves by 2027.

This decision raises a broader question about how the CEE can promote low-value, high-performance work, a subject on which the sector is asking the Government to initiate work.

The revised CEE sheet “Room-by-room time-based programming regulation system” (BAR-TH-173) was published today in the Official Journal.

Despite the demand from stakeholders in the professional sector, and to the detriment of households, the amount of the form has not been increased, with the risk of rendering ineffective the only existing aid in terms of sobriety for residential buildings, and of breaking the dynamic in thermostat equipment initiated thanks to the Coup de Pouce.

Indeed, the low amount of the bonus, compared to the implementation costs increased by the necessary control requirements, will not encourage stakeholders to take advantage of the aid, at least at the individual level. Thus, the entire private sector risks being left by the wayside when it comes to controlling their consumption.

This issue is not specific to the CEE Thermostat sheet but more broadly to high-performance work involving small amounts and generating low CEE bonuses that are not often highlighted even though they represent a significant source of energy savings.

Professional industry stakeholders are calling on the Government to make this issue a priority, otherwise a number of devices, such as programmable thermostats, which are essential for meeting the challenges of environmental and energy transitions, will not be effectively supported by this aid system.

As a regulatory obligation comes into force on January 1, 2027, and many French people do not have programmable thermostats, it will be necessary to be vigilant regarding the equipment dynamics, while limiting the risk of fraud, without which France will not be able to achieve its objectives in terms of sobriety and energy efficiency.

Representatives of the sector point out that it is urgent to remobilize all stakeholders for the deployment of management systems in order to allow households to benefit from resources to reduce their energy costs.

Main changes made to the TH-BAR-173 sheet

“Anti-fraud” elements:

the obligation of a quality mark (RGE, Qualifelec, etc.) for installation companies;
the introduction of on-site controls (15% of operations), in addition to remote controls;
the mention of the Delivery Point (PDL) or Gas Account and Estimation Point (PCE) as proof.

Financial aspects:

the amount of Cumac kWh allocated depends on:
- the number of transmitters equipped and no longer the heated surface area or the type of housing (individual house / collective housing)
- no more class A / class B distinction
The new amounts are between the amounts for class A and the amounts for class B in the previous sheet. This means an amount between €100 and €200 for a home with 6/8 radiators (variable depending on the climate zone).

Technical aspects :

for hot water heating, the installer must take into account the existing condition of the generator;
for electric heating, the sheet does not apply to NF Performance 3 star eye radiators.