Gone are therefore the € 1 offers for certain successful operations, the premiums granted so far will globally fall by half for insulation and sharply decrease for gas heating and electric radiators.
Other financial aid continues, however, such as MaPrimeRenov ', premiums from conventional Energy Saving Certificates¹, etc., but which will no longer be sufficient to cover 100% financing.
A study carried out by Hellio, a player in energy management, with its beneficiaries one year after carrying out roof insulation work or changing the heating for a gas or wood pellet boiler, sheds some light on the possible reasons for this reduction in aid: these types of work are not very economical when they are carried out in isolation, and moreover, without concern for the control of eco-gestures. The savings achieved are also minimized in the face of the regular increase in energy prices. The elimination of offers at € 1 for this work was also decided by the government to put an end to scams, in the absence of a sufficient control policy.
“The sense of history is that these operations must now take place within the framework of a package of work and overall renovation, while being aware of the control of its energy consumption. Aid will still exist, but households will systematically have a rest to charge for their energy renovation work ”, comments Marina Offel, Head of Public and Legal Affairs Hellio.
A study carried out on several Hellio workstations
In detail, this study was carried out with 13 Hellio beneficiaries who insulated their attic more than a year ago, as well as 819 households who replaced their equipment with a high energy performance gas boiler and 842 households with a boiler. with wood pellets.
Historically, Hellio started its activity with the general public with roof insulation, before launching its heating programs: first pellet boilers, then gas, and lastly, quite recently, the heat pump. By positioning itself on several heating energies, Hellio wishes to offer each household the system best suited to the geographical location, the configuration of the home, but also to habits, and not to impose a single solution under the pretext of being able to mobilize a maximum help.
The energy saving specialist is thus deploying integrated offers, from carrying out the work to administrative support and the advance of aid, using quality equipment: HS France pellet boilers, Viessmann gas boilers and Daikin, Saunier Duval and Viessmann heat pumps.
Small savings ...
If the majority of respondents interviewed by Hellio indicate having made savings on their energy bills one year after their work, these are far from spectacular.
In fact, ¾ of respondents who have carried out roof insulation work indicate having saved less than € 100 on their annual bill.
The same goes for respondents for the gas boiler, who say 59% have achieved annual savings of less than € 100; they are only 17% to have seen their annual bill decrease by more than 150 €.
The results are a little more convincing for the pellet boiler, with slightly higher savings: 67% of respondents believe they have saved more than 150 € per year, 49% of which have savings of more than 250 €. The pellet boiler therefore seems to generate more savings. But this difference is not necessarily explained by the performance of the equipment:
“The typologies of houses are not the same. Pellets often replace fuel oil in large houses in rather rural areas. Gas is more present in urban areas, in apartments, where people are connected to the gas network. The budget for heating houses with fuel oil is often greater because of the surface area of the houses above average, of the order of 160 m² ”, specifies Arthur Bernagaud, responsible for Hellio solutions for individuals.
... correlated with more comfort
For the 3 workstations, the respondents are unanimous and all feel they benefit from more comfort. The energy saving on the bill also depends on the uses and the order in which the work is carried out:
“The theory is 30% for energy savings when replacing a boiler, but sometimes it happens that there are no savings because these are also correlated with uses or linked to a lack of energy. insulation. At Hellio, we try to change behavior, to talk about energy sobriety with our customers ”, analysis Artur Bernagaud.
The rebound effect, i.e. the increase in the use of an equipment following a reduction in its operating cost, is one of the main explanations: after having isolated, the user does not lower his heating or tends to to make more use of its equipment for the sake of comfort.
“Our partnership with Schneider Electric in controlling energy consumption makes perfect sense. The challenge is to popularize the importance of eco-friendly practices and energy sobriety, to achieve a renovation that has an impact on the bill, ”adds Marina Offel.
The choice of a pellet boiler is a good way to change its behavior with an environmental gesture, beyond resorting to renewable energy: "Loading pellets makes people aware of their consumption, it is different for gas because we do not charge it. Users of a pellet boiler are therefore more attentive to their energy consumption ”, explains Arthur Bernagaud.
Prioritize work packages and overall renovation
Another lesson to be noted is that this isolated work hardly triggers other work. More than ¾ of respondents to the attic insulation study do not plan to carry out further energy renovation work. This proportion is slightly lower among beneficiaries of a new gas boiler (58%) and a new pellet boiler (54%).
This finding goes against the efforts currently being made by the State to encourage individuals to undertake comprehensive renovations, including several workstations, for greater efficiency. The figures of the TREMI survey carried out by ADEME in 2017 confirm the scale of the task to be accomplished since 75% of the renovation work in single-family houses did not allow these dwellings to change DPE class.
But these types of work are still doomed to last since they are part of the actions recommended in the course of a global renovation because of the comfort they provide.
“The actions of isolated works such as the insulation of the attic no longer need to be in 2021. Today, with the end of the offers at 1 €, efforts are made to defend the insulation within the framework of bouquets work or an overall renovation, or even better with a local and / or biobased insulation, more and more requested by households, anxious to use more ecological materials ”, Marina Offel analysis.
Hellio's strategy is to do it on a case-by-case basis, depending on each person's reality. Because the remainder of a comprehensive renovation (between 20 and 000 € once the aid has been deducted) can constitute a brake for households.
Hellio is therefore looking for the best solution to implement to achieve efficient energy gain, while benefiting from a maximum of aid:
“It becomes systematic to do the end to end, in a well established order of work in order to arrive at real savings. When our customers call us to change their boiler, we always ask them if the accommodation is insulated as this will affect the choice of heating equipment. We strongly encourage them to give priority to work packages with at least 2 actions because they are more efficient and less expensive than doing them separately ”, explains Arthur Bernagaud.
Decrease aid to stop scams
Thanks to the Coups de Pouce scheme launched by the State in 2019 as part of the Energy Savings Certificates scheme (aid financed by energy suppliers such as Total, Engie, Leclerc, etc.), it was possible until then to have its attic insulated or to change its heating for a symbolic € 1.
Problem: this attractive offer very quickly aroused the interest of unscrupulous companies and gave rise to numerous scams. To guard against these abuses, it is important to remember that one of the keys is to call on a craftsman certified RGE (Recognized Guarantor of the Environment) and not to accept an offer made during a telephone canvassing, since it has been banned since September 1, 2020.
“Initially, these offers at 1 € were a good thing because they were made by competent actors and aware that the remainder to be paid is the main obstacle for households to undertake work; they have made it possible to massify energy renovation work among individuals in modest circumstances. However, the controls of these sites and the legal proceedings instituted against these companies were insufficient, making it impossible to neutralize the windfall effects! ", deplores Marina Offel.
The government therefore decided to reduce financial aid:
- The Roof and Floor Insulation Boost will be maintained until June 30, 2022, but its packages will be halved from July 1, 2021. In concrete terms, the premiums should thus drop from an average of € 20 per square meter at present, at a range between 8 to 12 € (on a cost between 20 and 25 € per square meter of insulated surface).
- Regarding heating, the accumulation of EEC premiums and MaPrimeRénov 'which allowed offers at € 1 for the installation of heating equipment (gas, heat pumps, biomass boiler, etc.) was already subject to a mandatory remainder since January 2020: from 10% of the cost of the works for very precarious households to 60% for higher incomes. It is also a way of empowering consumers, who will undoubtedly be more vigilant in choosing their business. Because spending several thousand euros means paying more attention to the quality of the work. The remainder of the charge for a gas boiler will therefore be greater from July 1, 2021, depending on household income: between € 1 and € 600 against € 2 to € 000 before.
The aid scales, on the other hand, remain unchanged for the wood pellet boiler and the heat pump (air / water or water / water or hybrid) which continue to benefit from the Heating Boost.
1 The Energy Saving Certificates system, called CEE, was set up by the State in 2006 to finance the energy transition. This device obliges energy suppliers to encourage consumers to save energy with targets to be observed for given periods. Households with modest to very modest incomes can benefit from increased support. In order to obtain Energy Saving Certificates (CEE), energy suppliers can distribute financial aid to individuals to partially or totally finance their energy saving work.