District heating in Prague
Whether a flat is heated by a heating plant, a boiler room in the house or its own gas boiler shows in the monthly advances and in your comfort. Where in Prague district heating prevails, what to expect from it and what to ask before you sign.
What district heating means
A house on district heating has no boiler of its own: heat comes through hot-water or steam pipes from a heating plant to a substation in the cellar and from there to the radiators and the hot water. Nothing burns in the flat, there are no boiler inspections and no chimney. The heat is split between the flats by floor area and by meters on the radiators or heat meters in the flats.
Where in Prague most flats are heated from a heating plant
We compare the share of flats in houses heated by a heating plant according to the building register across 85 neighbourhoods. The highest share is in Černý Most (96 %), Střížkov (95 %) and Kamýk (93 %), the lowest in Klánovice (0 %), Dolní Počernice (0 %) and Kolovraty (0 %). In the middle neighbourhood it is 31 % of the flats.
Where Prague is heated from the district plant: neighbourhoods
- 96 % of flats on district heating Černý Most Praha 14
- 95 % of flats on district heating Střížkov Praha 9
- 93 % of flats on district heating Kamýk Praha 12
- 91 % of flats on district heating Chodov Praha 11
- 90 % of flats on district heating Háje Praha 11
- 90 % of flats on district heating Letňany Praha 18
- 90 % of flats on district heating Prosek Praha 9
- 88 % of flats on district heating Bohnice Praha 8
- 87 % of flats on district heating Malešice Praha 10
- 84 % of flats on district heating Horní Měcholupy Praha 15
Least district heating
- 0 % of flats on district heating Klánovice
- 0 % of flats on district heating Dolní Počernice
- 0 % of flats on district heating Kolovraty
- 0 % of flats on district heating Šeberov
- 1 % of flats on district heating Lipence
The heating network leads mainly to the housing estates, which were planned with it. Villa districts and old tenement houses more often have their own gas boilers, boiler rooms in the house or heat pumps. The neighbourhood is only a first hint: the house decides.
Pros and cons
- Comfort: no boiler, no inspections and no boiler replacement for tens of thousands of crowns. Hot water runs in summer too.
- Safety: no gas burns in the flat, so there is no risk of a gas leak or carbon monoxide.
- Less control: the house switches the heating season on and off, not you. You set the room temperature with thermostatic valves.
- Price: set by the heat supplier and different for each network. You pay a fixed part even when you heat little, and the split between flats may not match exactly how much you used.
What to ask at a viewing
- The last annual bill: how much the house and the flat actually paid for heat and hot water, not only the advances.
- Metering: are there meters on the radiators or heat meters? Without them, you pay by floor area only.
- The flat’s position: corner flats, flats under the roof and above a passageway use more heat. The split between flats evens this out only partly.
- Insulation and windows: an insulated house with new windows uses far less heat than the same house without them.
- The substation: when the house last modernised it and whether the owners’ association or the cooperative plans to disconnect and build its own boiler room.
Frequently asked questions
Which Prague neighbourhood has the most district heating?
The highest share of flats heated from a heating plant is in Černý Most (96 %), Střížkov (95 %) and Kamýk (93 %). We count from the building register, each house once.
Where in Prague is there hardly any district heating?
The lowest share is in Klánovice (0 %), Dolní Počernice (0 %) and Kolovraty (0 %). Houses there are mostly heated by gas or heat pumps of their own.
Is district heating cheaper than a gas boiler?
It depends on the heat price in the given network and on the gas price, and both change every year. District heating saves you the worries about a boiler, inspections and a chimney, your own boiler lets you heat exactly as you like. Compare the bills for the last year.