Heating and Ventilating Your Home in Germany

Why heating and ventilation belong together

In many German homes, you are expected to keep rooms warm enough and to ventilate them regularly. Heating keeps surfaces and rooms warmer; short ventilation removes moist, used air from cooking, showering, drying clothes and everyday living. Both habits help reduce condensation and mould risk.

Every building, rental contract and heating system is different. Use this guide for everyday orientation, then follow your landlord’s or building manager’s instructions for your own home.

Understand the heating in your home

Most apartments have radiators (Heizkörper) with a numbered thermostat dial. Others use underfloor heating, district heating or a central system. You can normally adjust the control in your room, but do not change boiler settings, system pressure or technical controls in a shared building unless the landlord or Hausverwaltung has told you to do so.

Underfloor heating reacts more slowly than a radiator. It is usually better to make small, steady adjustments rather than repeatedly switching it from very low to very high.

What the thermostat settings mean

A thermostat setting is a target temperature, not a speed control. On many common radiator thermostats, the approximate scale is:

• ❄ or *: frost protection, about 5°C;
• 1: about 12°C;
• 2: about 16°C;
• 3: about 20°C;
• 4: about 24°C;
• 5: about 28°C.

These are guides only; models differ. Turning the dial to 5 does not make the room warm faster. It only sets a much higher target temperature and may waste energy.

How to heat day to day

Choose a moderate temperature that is comfortable for the room. Consumer guidance commonly uses around 20°C for living rooms, around 18°C for bedrooms and around 16°C for rooms used less often. Avoid allowing rooms to become very cold for long periods, especially in winter.

• Keep radiators clear: do not cover them with furniture, curtains or wet laundry.
• Keep doors closed between noticeably warmer and cooler rooms where possible.
• Use a small room thermometer or hygrometer if you are unsure about your indoor conditions.
• Before a longer winter absence, do not turn all heating completely off unless your rental instructions specifically say so.

What Lüften means

Lüften means airing out a room by opening the windows. Its purpose is to bring in fresh air and remove moisture. It is not only about making a room feel less stuffy: moisture can collect on cold surfaces and, over time, contribute to mould.

In cooler weather, short and wide ventilation is usually more effective than leaving a window tilted for many hours. This is often called Stoßlüften. If windows on opposite sides can be opened safely, Querlüften creates a faster airflow.

A simple ventilation routine

• Open windows wide for roughly 5–10 minutes, especially in colder weather.
• Ventilate after showering, cooking, drying laundry indoors or when several people have been in one room.
• Open windows in the morning and again later in the day as needed.
• Turn the radiator down while the window is wide open, then return it to its normal setting afterwards.

The exact frequency depends on the home, weather and household. A visibly wet window, stale air or a persistently high humidity reading are signs that you may need to ventilate more often.

When to contact your landlord or Hausverwaltung

Report a problem in writing and keep photos where useful. Contact the landlord or building manager promptly if:

• the heating remains cold even though the thermostat is set correctly;
• there is no heating or hot water when it should be available;
• a radiator, pipe or valve is leaking;
• you see persistent mould, damp patches or heavy condensation despite normal heating and ventilation;
• you are unsure whether a control belongs to your apartment or the building’s central heating system.

For an urgent water leak, follow your building’s emergency contact instructions. If water is actively escaping and you cannot reach the responsible contact, use the emergency procedure stated in your tenancy documents.

Useful German words

• die Heizung — heating
• der Heizkörper — radiator
• das Thermostat — thermostat
• lüften — to air out a room
• Stoßlüften — short, wide ventilation
• die Feuchtigkeit — moisture / humidity
• der Schimmel — mould
• die Hausverwaltung — property management

Official information

For detailed, current consumer guidance, use these sources:

• Verbraucherzentrale: Heizen und Lüften – so geht’s richtig
• Verbraucherzentrale: Thermostat richtig einstellen
• Umweltbundesamt: Türen und Fenster auf gegen Schimmel