Saving energy in rented rooms and worker housing

01Where does the energy go in a shared house?

In an ordinary Dutch home, most natural gas is used to heat the rooms. According to CBS, Statistics Netherlands, that was 78 per cent; 20 per cent went to hot water and 2 per cent to cooking (figures for 2016). In a house let by the room the pattern is a little different, because more people shower. But heating remains the largest item, and it is the item where you as a landlord have the most influence.

Electricity is less clear-cut. Lighting, fridges, washing machines and chargers all add up per resident. The big hidden item is often the plug-in heater: a 2 kW heater uses as much in one hour as a fridge does in a few days. In our article on the electricity cost of a plug-in heater we work this out per room.

That is why this article follows a set order: first get the heating right, then find the heaters, and only then invest in insulation.

02Where should the thermostat be?

In most homes the thermostat is in the living room. It only measures the temperature in that one spot. When the living room reaches 20 °C, the boiler stops, even if a north-facing bedroom is still at 16 °C. In a family home that is fine: everyone sits in the living room in the evening. In a shared house almost nobody does. The residents are in their own rooms.

The result: the thermostat controls the wrong space. Residents in the cold rooms turn the thermostat up or fetch a heater. The living room gets too warm, the boiler runs longer and the bill goes up, while the cold room is still cold.

• Check first whether the problem is in one room. A radiator that stays cold, a valve that is shut or air in the system is cheap to fix.
• Consider smart radiator valves or zone control if rooms really need different temperatures, for example with shift workers.
• Lock the thermostat with a maximum setting or a programme residents cannot change. Explain why: one degree higher costs roughly ten per cent more in heating costs, according to the Dutch Kenniscentrum Duurzaam Leven (formerly Milieu Centraal), as quoted by the ANWB.

03How much does a lower night setting save?

A lower temperature at night saves something, but less than many people think. The ANWB puts the saving from a lower night setting at around €60 a year for an average household. More important in a shared house: watch out for shift work. Someone who sleeps during the day needs a warm room exactly when the programme is set to ‘night’. One fixed programme for the whole house then does not suit the residents.

Do not go too low either. According to the Kenniscentrum Duurzaam Leven, temperatures below 15 °C bring a risk of damp, condensation and mould. In a room where someone sleeps, breathes and dries laundry, this happens faster than in an empty living room. Mould damage ends up costing more than the gas you save. Read more in preventing mould in worker housing.

04What is hydronic balancing and what does it deliver?

With hydronic balancing (in Dutch: waterzijdig inregelen) a heating engineer adjusts the central heating so that hot water is spread evenly over all radiators. He sets the lockshield valves, adjusts the pump and lowers the flow temperature where possible. Without balancing, the radiator close to the boiler gets too much hot water and the radiator on the top floor too little. That is exactly the pattern of ‘one room too warm, the other too cold’.

The Dutch trade association NVDE writes that balancing can save up to 20 per cent of gas, partly because residents then stop turning up the thermostat to warm a cold room. Since 2020, balancing has been required when a boiler, hybrid boiler or heat pump is installed or replaced. An existing system that was never balanced is not covered by that duty. In a shared house with large temperature differences between rooms, it is often the cheapest measure with the biggest effect.

Radiator valves are part of this. A thermostatic valve set to ‘5’ in a bedroom and a living-room thermostat that is then set low: that combination only works if the system distributes the heat properly.

05Ventilating or heating: what about heat loss?

Ventilation costs heat. That is true. But in a room where someone sleeps, moisture has to go. A room with a window that is always shut becomes damp, and damp air feels colder and is harder to heat. Residents then turn to extra heating. Closing vents is therefore not a saving.

• Keep trickle vents open and make sure mechanical ventilation is switched on.
• A short, thorough airing after showering and cooking works better than a window left ajar all day with the heating on.
• Radiator foil behind a radiator on an uninsulated outside wall helps. Based on the Kenniscentrum Duurzaam Leven, the ANWB mentions a saving of about 7 m³ of gas per m² of foil on an uninsulated cavity wall. In a well-insulated home it makes little sense.

06A worked example using September 2026 prices

Below is an indicative worked example. It concerns a fictional shared house with six residents and a gas use of 2,000 m³ a year. That figure is an assumption for this example, not an average. In the example, 78 per cent of that gas goes to heating: 1,560 m³.

The prices come from the CBS table ‘Average energy tariffs for consumers’ for September 2026 (provisional), including VAT: variable gas supply tariff €0.6618 per m³ plus energy tax €0.7268, together €1.39 per m³; electricity €0.1487 per kWh plus energy tax €0.1109, together €0.26 per kWh. Fixed charges and network costs do not change when you use less, so they are left out.

This is an estimate. The amounts do not simply add up: once the system is balanced, part of the saving from a lower thermostat is already gone. Your own building, contract and the weather decide the real result.

What the example shows: one heater that runs four hours a day for a heating season costs about as much as all the gas you save by setting the whole house one degree lower. So it pays to know first which rooms are being heated with extra heaters.

07How do you see per room where heating runs unnecessarily?

The energy bill only shows a total per house, often once a year. What you do not see: which room is too cold, which room has an extra heater, and whether the central heating actually goes down at night. Measuring per room makes this visible:

• A room that stays below 17 °C for days while the rest of the house is warm points to a radiator or balancing problem.
• A room much warmer than the rest while the central heating is low is probably being heated electrically.
• All rooms cold at the same time on a cold day often means the heating is not working.
• High humidity in a cold room is an early warning of mould.

eyesonrooms measures temperature and humidity in every room and reports a room that is too cold, a likely plug-in heater or heating that is not working, in a summary that arrives in your inbox at 07:30. So a visit goes straight to the right room.

08Which grant can a landlord get in 2026?

The well-known ISDE grant for insulation is for owner-occupiers. If you let the home, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) says you may be eligible for the SVOH, the subsidy scheme for making rental homes sustainable and maintaining them.

• Who: private and business landlords and institutional investors with one or more existing rental homes that are already let. Housing associations cannot get the SVOH.
• How much: up to €15,000 per home for a combination with a heat pump or solar water heater, otherwise up to €10,000.
• Amounts from 1 January 2026, per m²: HR++ glass €25, cavity wall €5.25, facade €20.25, floor €5.50, roof €16.25, attic €4. Ventilation with CO₂ control or heat recovery: 30 per cent, up to €1,200.
• When: the scheme runs until 31 December 2029. If you apply for less than €25,000, you carry out the work first and apply within 24 months. According to RVO, 68 per cent of the budget was still available on 30 September 2026.

Check the current conditions and minimum surface areas on the RVO website before you place an order.

09What do the energy label rules mean for rental homes?

The Dutch government wants rental homes with energy label E, F or G to be improved to at least label D by 1 January 2029. On 10 July 2026 the draft decree was sent to both chambers of parliament. It still has to go to the Council of State and is expected to be added to the building regulations (Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving) at the end of 2026. According to the government there will be no ban on letting: it is a duty to improve, with exceptions for monuments, among others.

If you own homes with a poor label, it makes sense to plan the work now and combine it with the SVOH. With measurements per room you can also see after the renovation whether the work has had an effect.

10Frequently asked questions

11Sources

• CBS: Average energy tariffs for consumers (September 2026, provisional)
• CBS: Energy use of private households (2018)
• ANWB Kampioen: saving energy in winter (with Kenniscentrum Duurzaam Leven)
• NVDE: Position paper on hydronic balancing (2025)
• RVO: ISDE for home owners
• RVO: SVOH subsidy scheme for rental homes
• RVO: SVOH sustainability measures, 2026 amounts
• Omgevingsweb: label E, F and G rules sent to parliament (10 July 2026)

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