10/26/2026

Energy subsidy applications are open, but the subsidy turns on three E-numbers

The energy subsidy is granted first come, first served, and it turns on comparing the building's original E-number, its current state and the state after the renovation. Apex Heat calculates all three on the same basis and shows which costs count towards the subsidy and why.

Varke opened applications for the residential energy subsidy on 28 September 2026. Applications are handled first come, first served, and 25 million euros is reserved for 2026 (Varke). The subsidy is at most 4,000 euros per apartment or half of the eligible costs. Calculating the amount is easy. The hard part is finding out whether the project qualifies at all and which costs count.

Three E-numbers

The subsidy turns on comparing three E-numbers:

• The original E-number describes the building as it was built: its construction-year structures, ventilation and heating. It usually has to be calculated. An existing energy certificate can be used only if it was calculated under the current energy certificate decree (1048/2017) and describes the building's original solutions.
• The current-state E-number describes the building today, earlier renovations included.
• The E-number after the renovation describes the building after the planned measures.

The E-number after the renovation must be at least 23% lower than the original for an apartment block, and at least 28% lower for a detached, semi-detached or terraced house. The applicant is always a housing company or an organisation owning state-subsidised housing, so a private owner of a detached house cannot apply. It must also be lower than the current state. A building renovated earlier may already be below the limit, but only measures that improve it further earn the subsidy.

All three are calculated on the same basis: standard use and table values. Measured air tightness or fan power is left out of the subsidy's E-numbers, because Varke says the before and after figures must not mix measured and table values.

Apex Heat calculates all three in the same calculation. It estimates the original E-number from the rules of the construction year and from register data, and the consultant can replace the estimate with their own calculation or state the building's original ventilation, heating and U-values. Where the building's use has changed, the original is calculated at the level of the year of the change.

What counts towards the subsidy

The eligible costs are not the price of the renovation. Only a share of each measure counts, and some shares come with a condition:

• Giving up oil or gas heating counts in full, but only if the old boiler goes. A hybrid that keeps the boiler in use is not giving it up.
• 50% of ventilation heat recovery counts, exhaust-air heat pumps included.
• 40% of windows and external doors counts, but only if the new window's U-value is at most 0.70.
• 20% of added wall and roof insulation counts, but only if the insulation reaches the U-value level of the renovation regulation.
• Equipment acquired by leasing or as a service does not count unless ownership passes entirely to the applicant by the time payment is requested.

In a housing company with several buildings the conditions are checked building by building. An apartment block and a terraced house are each held to their own limit, and a building that does not qualify takes its apartments and costs out of the subsidy.

Apex Heat places every cost item on its own row, checks the U-value conditions and shows a row whose condition is not met with the reason. The consultant sees why the eligible amount is what it is, and can choose the measures and compare how the subsidy changes.

The calculation is not a decision

Apex Heat's calculation is a preliminary estimate to support the application, and Varke grants the subsidy. The application needs a statement signed by a professional and the E-number calculations, and the payment request needs an official energy certificate drawn up after the renovation. Read more about how the energy subsidy is calculated.