Gas boiler ban in Germany: the rules for a new boiler in 2026
You may install a new gas boiler in your German home. The duties that follow, and what they cost each year, are set out here with section and date.
Worked through by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Rules for your new gas boiler
Green gas in 2030, at least
15 %
| Installation allowed | yes (section 42 GModG) |
| CO₂ split 50/50 if let | yes |
| Climate neutral by | 2045 |
For gas boilers installed after 29 July 2026.
Germany has no ban on gas boilers, not even on new ones. Since 29 July 2026 the Building Modernisation Act (Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz, GModG) applies, and it scrapped the rule that a new heating system had to run on 65 % renewable energy. Section 42 lists the gas boiler again as one of ten equal options. If you install one in an existing building after 29 July 2026, section 43 requires a rising share of the heat to come from biomethane or hydrogen: 10 % from 2029, 15 % from 2030, 30 % from 2035 and 60 % from 2040. For a 140 m² house in class E in North Rhine-Westphalia that means about 20,753 kWh of gas a year, of which 2,075 kWh must be green gas from 2029 and 12,452 kWh from 2040. Landlords pay half the CO₂ cost of such a boiler from 2028.
No ban, but a staged duty
The word "ban" comes from the 2023 debate on the Building Energy Act. Even then a new gas boiler was not banned, but after certain deadlines it had to run on 65 % renewable energy. That rule in section 71 was deleted by the act of 23 July 2026, along with sections 72 and 73. Since 29 July 2026 the Building Modernisation Act lists the gas boiler in section 42 as an ordinary option again. Many English articles written for expats still describe the 2024 law; check the date before you rely on one.
In place of the percentage rule comes the duty in section 43 GModG to produce part of the heat in a climate-friendly way. It falls on the owner, or the operator under a contracting deal, and it does not start on installation but on 1 January 2029.
| From | Required share | Green gas, example house | Natural gas left |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2029 | 10 % | 2,075 kWh | 18,678 kWh |
| 1 January 2030 | 15 % | 3,113 kWh | 17,640 kWh |
| 1 January 2035 | 30 % | 6,226 kWh | 14,527 kWh |
| 1 January 2040 | 60 % | 12,452 kWh | 8,301 kWh |
When comparing with older guides: the 2024 law set 15 % from 2029 for boilers fitted during the transition period. The GModG starts at 10 % and adds a 15 % step in 2030. A page quoting 15 % from 2029 describes the law as it stood until 28 July 2026.
Required share for your new gas boiler
Required from 2030
15 %
| Green gas a year | 2,700 kWh |
| Extra cost at your premium | enter a premium |
Applies to gas, oil and LPG boilers installed after 29 July 2026.
Which boilers are covered
The duty applies only to gas, oil and LPG systems newly installed in an existing building after 29 July 2026. A boiler that was running before is not affected, however old it is. The former rule forcing boilers out of service after 30 years was in section 72 and has also been deleted, as has the end date for fossil fuels at the close of 2044. Instead, under section 42a the federal government must present a separate law by 1 December 2026 that will require suppliers to make gas and oil for buildings fully climate-neutral by 2045. That law does not exist yet.
New buildings face more: from 1 January 2030 every new building must be a zero-emission building that causes no on-site CO₂ from fossil fuels (article 4 of the act of 23 July 2026). A gas boiler in a new build is then effectively ruled out. That rule does not apply when you replace the heating in an existing house.
The hybrid way out
If you want to keep gas but not buy a biogas tariff, you can pair the boiler with a heat pump. Under section 43(5) the duty then counts as fully met if the heat pump reaches at least 30 % of the gas boiler output at test point A of DIN EN 14825, or 40 % in bivalent alternative mode. A house with a 20 kW boiler would therefore need a heat pump of about 6 kW at that test point. In buildings with six or more homes, the owner must prove after 2039 what share the heat pump actually supplies if more than 30 % is to be counted. The heat pump in a hybrid is renewable heating and can be funded under programme 458; the gas boiler cannot. Direct electric heating instead runs into section 46: it is only allowed if the insulation beats the requirements by at least 30 per cent, except in buildings with no more than two homes where the owner lives in one.
What the duty costs each year
The premium for biomethane depends on the tariff, and there is no official price statistic for it. That is why the calculator above uses your own premium in cents per kWh. Two other items are certain. First, the CO₂ price on the natural gas share: in the example house about €291 a year at €65 per tonne, more under CO₂ price 2027. Second, the heating bill itself: at the gas price from the Federal Statistical Office survey the heat costs €2,403 a year. An air source heat pump with a measured seasonal performance factor of 3.4 would use €1,310 of electricity on a heat pump tariff in the same house. The full comparison with purchase cost and grant is under heat pump or gas boiler.
Grants and letting
A new gas boiler gets no grant from programme 458. Only renewable heating and connection to a heat network are funded (KfW 458). If you let the property, know the CO₂ cost allocation act: for systems installed under section 43, CO₂ costs are split equally from 2028 rather than by the stage model, and from 2029 so is the extra cost of green fuels. The cost split calculator shows the difference. Whatever a municipality sets out in its heat plan has no longer forced a heating replacement since 29 July 2026 (heat planning).