Posted today, Thursday, March 16, 2023, on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the guide to the “Recycle – Change Water Heaters” program, with a total budget of 100 million euros, which come from the NSRF 2014 – 2020, through which they are served multiple objectives, since as stated by the Minister of Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas, “the country’s solar potential is utilized for hot water at no cost with obvious environmental benefits, but also added value for the Greek economy and employment”.

Through the new program, the beneficiary households will be able to receive a subsidy for the replacement of energy-consuming electric water heaters with new, modern technology, solar water heaters. This is how it is used solar potential of the country for hot water at a low cost for households, obvious environmental benefits and added value for the domestic and economy

They are going to benefit at least immediately from the “Recycle – Change Water Heater” program 120,000 Greek households, for which there will be a reduction of at least 210 million tons of CO2 per year. At the same time, it will be calculated that electricity consumption for the use of hot water will be reduced by approximately 65%.

In order to be able to subsidize the purchase of a new solar water heater, it is mandatory to withdraw for recycling the old water heaters that are being replaced.

Water heaters to be recycled should:

• Be functional before their withdrawal, which will be confirmed after a general visual inspection.
• Before their replacement, they must be placed in the residence declared in the financing application.
• To be electric water heaters with a capacity of ≥ 40 liters.

Conditions for the inclusion of beneficiaries in the program

• Potential beneficiaries of the program are domestic consumers who have installed an electric water heater in their residence (and not in a business premises).
• Applications are submitted by individual natural persons who were born before January 1, 2006 and reside permanently in Greece.
• Each natural person can submit only one application.
• Beneficiaries with an average annual income per family member exceeding 30,000 euros are not eligible.
• It is not possible to submit an application for households that have submitted an application or joined another energy saving program, such as for example “Save – Autonomy” or “Save 2021”.

Ranking criteria

The final selection of beneficiaries will result from a combination of economic and social criteria:
• The average annual income per family member.
• Families with disabled members.
• Single-parent families, with at least one dependent child.
• Families with dependent members.

Reinforcement height

• The subsidy is up to 60% of the purchase cost of each new solar water heater.
• Each beneficiary will receive a voucher, which they can redeem at a supplier of their choice.
• Installation costs are included in the maximum grant amount for the beneficiaries.
• The final value of each check depends on the characteristics of the solar water heater (hot water tank capacity), its purchase price and is determined as follows:

Selectable solar water heaters for purchase

The program subsidizes the purchase of solar water heaters with the following characteristics:

MINISTRY OF

The Minister of Environment and Energy, Kostas Skrekas, stated in this regard:

“The new program “Recycle – Change Water Heaters” comes to provide yet another significant support to households, as well as another boost to the policy of environmental protection. The electric water heater is the most energy-consuming household appliance and by replacing it, the average energy cost of every Greek household that makes the replacement will be greatly reduced. At the same time, we are achieving a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, since the rich solar potential of our country will now be used to provide households with hot water. We continuously take care of saving electricity and protecting the environment, as well as supporting household budgets.”