Residents of a Tallinn apartment association in Lasnamäe have not yet received their January heating bills, but the board already has an overview. Compared to December, the cost of indoor heating has increased significantly.

"About 45 percent higher. If last month the bill from Utilitas for all three buildings was €16,000, then this month it's €25,000 and change," said board member Alex Roost.

On a year-over-year basis, heating bills are about 50 percent higher, according to Roost. Major district heating providers Gren and Utilitas confirm this, citing a significantly colder winter that has increased consumption volumes.

"The 10-year average temperature is -3.3 degrees [Celsius], but this January's average was -9.2, which means heat sales volumes were about 50 percent higher. When I looked at the bill for my own apartment building, it was about 40 percent higher than in December, but slightly lower than in January 2024," said Margo Külaots, head of Gren's Estonian operations.

"In terms of volume, it's very similar to 2024, with fluctuations of just a few percent. 2023 and 2025 were clearly warmer years and compared to those, consumption was dozens of percent higher. But at our latitude, this is nothing unusual — just slightly colder than the multi-year average," said Robert Kitt, head of district heating operations at Utilitas.

According to Külaots, customers have not complained about district heating prices, since other home heating options are even more expensive.

"Customers also compare with alternatives. And I noticed, for example, that in January, the price of electricity was 3.6 times higher than the price of heat. This means that the main alternatives, like heat pumps or gas heating, were extremely expensive," Külaots said.

The relatively new apartment buildings in the Meeliku tänav association use various heating systems. At the moment, the cheapest option is using only district heating.

"In the buildings that have heat recovery ventilation, an electric air heater helps the ventilation system function properly during cold weather. So part of that heating cost actually shows up in the electricity bill. If, say, the heating bill in an older building is €100 and €70 in a newer one, then take a look at the 'electricity' line — you'll see the electric bill is about twice as high compared to the older building," Roost explained.

To reduce heating bills, district heating providers recommend insulating apartment buildings. According to the association, this does lower bills, but not endlessly.

"The flip side of insulation is ventilation. If you insulate everything properly and turn your apartment into a perfectly sealed vacuum space, then you'll start seeing mold, moisture and so on. You have to ventilate it and that brings its own costs. So it's a cycle," Roost said.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!