Applying for the German heating grant: six steps and their deadlines
The grant rarely fails on technology, but often on the order of events. This page shows which document must exist when, and when each deadline starts to run.
Worked through by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your deadlines after approval
Work finished by
1 November 2029
| Approval period | 36 months |
| Submit proof by | 1 May 2030 |
Counted from the first of the approval month; the date in your approval letter is what counts.
The KfW heating grant is applied for online in the “Meine KfW” customer portal before the project starts. First an installer or a listed energy efficiency expert prepares the confirmation for the application (Bestätigung zum Antrag, BzA) with the planned system and its cost. Then you sign a contract with the installer that only takes effect on approval, or lapses without it, and states an expected installation date. With the BzA and the contract you apply. After approval you have 36 months to install; the installer then confirms the work, and you submit evidence within 6 months of the last invoice. The rate and the cap depend on the day KfW receives the application. A household on €65,000 replacing an oil boiler with a €32,000 heat pump gets €12,880 if it applies at the end of January 2027, but €11,445 from 1 February 2027. With approval on 16 November 2026, the system must be finished by 16 November 2029.
The six steps at a glance
Information sheet 458 sets out the route to the grant in six steps. The first three must be done in this order before anything happens on site. Every document and the portal are in German only.
| Step | Who | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confirmation for the application | installer or energy efficiency expert | BzA with planned system, costs and compliance with technical minimum requirements |
| 2. Contract with grant clause | you and the installer | supply or service contract with a condition and expected installation date |
| 3. Application | you, in the “Meine KfW” portal | application for product 458 with BzA and contract uploaded |
| 4. Installation | installer | finished system, at most 36 months after approval |
| 5. Confirmation after completion | the same installer or expert | BnD with actual costs |
| 6. Evidence and payout | you, in the portal | identification, invoices, bonus documents, bank transfer |
Step 1: the confirmation for the application
Without a BzA the portal will not take an application. It records the planned system, the expected eligible costs and confirmation that the technical minimum requirements are met, for a heat pump for example the seasonal performance factor. It can be issued by a registered installer or by an expert from the federal list of energy efficiency experts. A BzA is valid for six months. If you are comparing quotes, have it issued only for the one you intend to accept, because the costs it states later limit the grant.
Step 2: the contract with a grant clause
This is where most grants are lost. Before applying, you need a supply or service contract concluded under a condition precedent or subsequent tied to grant approval (BEG EM guideline, no. 9.2.1). A condition precedent means the contract is suspended until approval and void if the application is refused. A condition subsequent means it applies at once but falls away without approval. The contract must also state the expected installation date, and that date must fall within the approval period.
A contract without such a condition counts as starting the project, as does actual work on site. If the project starts before the application, the grant is excluded. A condition added to a contract already signed is not recognised. Planning, advice and an energy consultation may take place beforehand at any time.
Step 3: applying in the portal
You register at meine.kfw.de and choose the product for private owners of residential buildings (458). You upload the BzA and the contract. The person who registers must be the person who applies and cannot be swapped later. KfW accepts representatives only for owners’ associations (heating grant in a WEG). The portal may put you in a virtual queue and may be closed at night.
Each measure allows one application, and the amount cannot be increased later. You select the bonuses at the same time; changing them afterwards is generally not possible (KfW 458 product page). The day the application arrives sets the rate. In the example with €65,000 income and an oil boiler, that is €12,880 with an application at the end of January 2027 and €11,445 from 1 February 2027, because the climate speed bonus and the cap both fall that day.
Apply now or later?
Grant on that date
€11,445
| Climate speed bonus | 12 % |
| If you apply now | €12,880 |
| Waiting costs | €1,435 |
Income above €50,000, so no income bonus.
Steps 4 to 6: installation, confirmation, evidence
Once the application has arrived, installation may start, though before approval at your own risk. From approval you have 36 months to finish the project completely. The installer or expert then issues the confirmation after completion (Bestätigung nach Durchführung, BnD) with the actual costs. You start the evidence process in the portal with its reference number. Before that you must identify yourself in the portal, and you need your German tax identification number (Steuer-IdNr).
| Event | Date in the example | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| KfW approval | 16 November 2026 | start of the approval period |
| Last invoice | 20 April 2027 | project completed |
| Evidence due | 20 October 2027 | 6 months after the last invoice |
| Installation finished at the latest | 16 November 2029 | 36 months after approval |
| Absolute limit for evidence | 16 May 2030 | 6 months after the approval period ends |
Miss the evidence deadline and the grant lapses. For applications with an income bonus, submitting evidence is expected to open from January 2027, according to the information sheet. After a positive check, the money is usually transferred around the middle or end of a month.
What the evidence needs
Invoices must meet the German VAT Act, show the property address and the eligible costs, be issued in German and in euros, and be paid without cash. KfW may ask for the heating industry association’s (VdZ) form confirming hydraulic balancing. For the climate bonus you upload your registration certificate and a land register extract; for the income bonus you add the income tax assessments for the second and third year before the application and the registration certificates of all household members who count.
After the payout
The system must be used as intended for 10 years. If you sell within that time, the guideline requires you to tell the buyer about the grant and the duty of use and to pass the obligations on in the sale contract. If KfW pays you €3,000 or more in a calendar year, it reports this to the tax authorities. After withdrawing from an approval, you can reapply for the same project only six months later. Your own share can be financed with the top-up loan, which you apply for after approval. KfW 458 describes the programme as a whole, and the grant calculator shows the amount for your case.