France still under-equipped to adjust its heating

Non-residential buildings, large offices, shops and professional premises are the first to be targeted, with a decree in force since April 7, but housing will follow.

Everyone will be obliged to have at least a basic thermostat connected to the boiler, or buttons for adjusting the radiators to several modes.

This is indeed one of the lessons learned from the past winter: small gestures to turn off, lower or shift allow savings, but are not enough. National consumption decreased by around -13% for gas and -9% for electricity compared to normal.

"We did the easiest, but we can do twice as much with control solutions and by programming buildings", underlines Delphine Eyraud, a delegate from Gimelec, which brings together 200 manufacturers of electrical and digital technologies for large buildings.

Gimelec took part in a press presentation on Tuesday with other federations, craftsmen, electricians, equipment and electricity suppliers (Capeb Una3E, Coedis, FFIE, Ignes, Serce, UFE).

Programmable heating

“The reality is that in 2020, during the first confinement, we should have had a major drop in consumption in buildings, but it was 30% when we were all teleworking”, remarks Gilles Mailet, president of Capeb Una3E. This proves that "eco-gesture is not enough" and that "more technical solutions are needed", he says. He adds: "We can find a source of energy savings of 15 to 30% accessible thanks to a hunt for waste in buildings, based on technical eco-gestures".

Some did not wait to equip themselves.

In the last quarter of 2022, sales of radiator valves or thermostats, free-standing or wall-mounted, recorded "a boom of more than 40%", according to Ignes, an alliance of equipment manufacturers for the residential park and small businesses. buildings. And one out of two thermostats sold was connected.

In large buildings, technical managers have purchased more measurement units, which allow consumption to be monitored using multisensors and software (+17% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to Gimelec).

Sales also accelerated sharply (+25% in the last quarter of 2022) on control systems, linked to an automation and control server to drive heating instructions according to the time of day, week or week. 'year.

Obligations

However, the gap to be filled remains immense.

Only 6% of tertiary buildings (offices or shops) of more than 1.000 m2 in France are equipped with functional and recent management tools for ventilation, heating or lighting. And 12% of private housing used control or programming solutions in 2018. On a winter's day, however, these buildings represent "more than 70%" of French electricity consumption, according to RTE.

With the new decrees, the objective remains to oblige the largest buildings to be equipped before 2025 with an automation and heat control system: "this concerns roughly speaking buildings of more than 2.000 m2", deciphers Mrs. Eyraud.

The novelty comes from the fact that the obligation is extended to smaller buildings, of around 1.000 m2, which will have to be equipped before 2027. There will also be fewer possible derogations and compulsory technical inspections.

"A cost for companies but a rapid return on investment, even more so with high energy prices", assures Ms. Eyraud.

In the residential sector, it will be necessary before 2025 to invest in thermostatic valves allowing a minimum adjustment of the radiators on four modes, "comfort", "reduced", "frost protection" or "off", according to the draft decree consulted by AFP .

There is more efficient equipment to choose the temperature room by room, to adjust it remotely, to program it, or even intelligent radiators capable, just like the hot water tank or the shutters, of learning the rhythm of life occupants of a dwelling, but the regulations do not go so far as to impose them.