HOUSEHOLD HEATING PRACTICES SURVEY Research report

The purpose of this research is to confirm/check the findings in the study “Skopje is heating up”, performed in 2017, and to assess the progress in implementing energy efficiency measures (eg. replacement of old and inefficient heating stoves and windows, installation of insulation, etc.) within residential houses/buildings. Additionally, this research aims to assess citizens’ awareness level on the sources and effects of air pollution, their willingness to invest in heating devices and other energy efficiency measures and what is the most influential in their decision when buying a device for heating.

The report was prepared by the “Indago” team and presents the findings from the analysis of the data obtained from the survey conducted on the manner of heating of households in the Skopje Valley.

According to the 2019 annual report of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, the share of emissions from the category of households and administrative buildings (especially from wood burning) in 2018 in the total emissions of total solid particles (TSP) is 40%, in the emissions of solid particles up to 10 µm (PM10) is 42% and 67% in particulate emissions up to 2.5 micrometers in size (PM2.5). This data indicates the fact that heating practices are a key factor for air pollution in the Skopje Valley. In the period from 2017 to 2021, various measures were taken by several different institutions to increase energy efficiency in terms of heating households in Skopje. Subsidies were provided by various institutions for those households that would replace old and inefficient heating stoves with new more efficient heaters, such as modern pellet stoves and inverters. followed by a public campaign to raise awareness of the importance of energy efficiency in household heating. Additionally, the VAT for central heating was reduced from 18% to 5%.The Ministry of Economy , the City of Skopje and some municipalities in Skopje provided subsidies for  purchase and installation of pellet stoves and air conditioners (inverters). In the period 2016-2019, the City of Skopje together with the Municipality of Gazi Baba and Aerodrom provided a total of 1,711 subsidies for pallet stoves and 1,640 air conditioners (inverters). Last year the City of Skopje provided about 5,000 subsidies for air conditioners (inverters).

Diagram. Source of subsidy

The presence of harmful fuels used for heating in the Skopje Region is still at a relatively high level, as well as the occurrence of burning stubble. Every fourth household states that harmful fuels are used in their environment and every fifth household states that stubble are burned in their surrounding. These phenomena are more frequent in rural municipalities, but are also present in  the City of Skopje’s suburbs.