Heating costs: from €0.40 in Minsk to over €2,000 in León

Heating costs: from €0.40 monthly in Minsk to over €2,000 in León

The question seemed innocent: how much does it cost to heat a home per year? The answer has become a map of Spain's energy inequality, with data that disorients anyone checking their bill. According to one user, in Minsk, a 140-square-meter apartment with high ceilings and non-adjustable heating costs €0.40 per month in December, €0.30 in November and October, and €0.20 in September. Cooking gas, hot water, and heating are included. At the exchange rate, one euro equals three Belarusian rubles. The same user adds that the average salary is around €700, but transport, childcare, schools, university, theaters, and internet are free.

On the other side of the mirror, a detached house in León with underfloor heating and oil exceeds €2,000 per year, according to another testimony. In Madrid, a 120-square-meter home in a cold area of Catalonia ranges between €2.50 and €3 daily variable cost with a regulated tariff, programmed at 21 degrees during the day and 17 at night, for two residents who, according to the account, are always freezing. This contrast is not an anecdote: it is the price structure each household has decided—or could afford—to implement.

Annual gas costs by housing type

The ranges mentioned in the conversation go from €179 annually for a 75-square-meter apartment in Madrid with two people—heating only on very cold days and during the day, showers at the gym—to €1,200-1,500 for another unspecified dwelling. In between, a flat in Lleida with one person, programmable thermostat, regulated TUR tariff, and gas hot water, showering at the gym: the annual consumption curve shows the winter peak and summer drop. Another two-person household pays about €30 per month for gas. A bimonthly bill for November and December reaches €129.

There is no average. Some pay €600 a year, while others turn off the gas in April and reopen it in autumn. Seasonality is the only constant: consumption in September and October plummets, December and January skyrocket, and suppliers working with estimates generate discrepancies that must later be corrected with actual meter readings.

Insulation, orientation, and solar panels: the bill you don't pay

The variable that most affects the figure is not the boiler. It is the building. A new home in Barcelona with an A certificate, south-west facing orientation, and an upper terrace acting as a visor maintains 23.5 degrees in winter without turning on the heating, and 25.5 at noon in short sleeves. The heating is decorative. Another home in Madrid with south-facing orientation and good insulation stays between 18 and 20 degrees, a temperature its occupant considers ideal. In Bilbao, a three-year-old building with an A rating, central boiler, and aerothermal system pays €460 per year for hot water and heating, even though they are among the highest payers out of 65 homes.

The other path is producing energy. A detached house with underfloor heating, aerothermal system, solar panels, and thermal collectors declares €0 in expenses. The 3,300-watt photovoltaic installation with 7 kilowatts of batteries cost €8,500, of which €5,300 was recovered through subsidies, income tax (IRPF) deductions, and property tax (IBI) reductions. The owner uses heating four days a year in southern Alicante and air conditioning full blast for three months, and his current electricity expense is zero. The immediate question asked: how long does it take to amortize this? There is no closed answer.

The cold that isn't measured by the thermostat

There is a trend arguing that heating is dispensable. Physical exercise at home, national-made thermal clothing with different temperature ranges, a wood stove fed by two hectares of fruit trees gifted by a neighbor, or simply not turning it on. A home in a town where, from October to March, days above 8 degrees are counted on fingers registers 17 degrees in the room with the thermostat set to 20, and 12 degrees upon waking, with 75% humidity. Another person wakes up with 9 degrees and 80% humidity after insulating.

The comfort threshold generates its own war. For some, 18 degrees is perfect and 24 is excessive, causing illness due to the contrast with the street. For others, 18 degrees at home brings penguins and 24 is glory. The Mediterranean coast has an advantage: 12 degrees at seven in the evening and a sunny day keeps the house at 24 without turning anything on. In mountainous Basque Country, 24 degrees prevents sleep.

The trap of initial investment

The undisputed data is the entry cost. Replacing a complete boiler costs €2,000 before spending a single kilowatt-hour. Installing aerothermal systems, underfloor heating, panels, and batteries exceeds €8,000. Insulating, blowing into air cavities, changing windows to PVC with argon: each item adds up. Renters cannot touch anything. Buyers of used homes inherit the previous owner's boiler, and if it is worn out, the party starts at €2,000.

The discussion gets stuck exactly here. The figures from Minsk are not replicable in Spain, and those for new homes with an A certificate do not exist for most of the built stock. Between oil exceeding €2,000 annually and €0.40 monthly lies an entire country of bills depending on the postal code, construction year, and whether the sun enters in the morning or afternoon.