Heating with fuel oil: what is still allowed and what is not?

• Legislation currently imposes requirements on those who want to replace a fuel oil boiler in a street where a connection to the natural gas grid is possible, and on those who construct a new building or carry out a deep energy renovation. You can therefore continue to use your current fuel oil boiler for the time being. It is best, however, to prepare for a fuel oil boiler alternative well before your boiler is beyond repair.
• If your fuel oil boiler breaks down, you may repair or replace a part, such as a burner or control. Please note that replacing a burner requires an inspection under the Heating Devices Decree.
• If you buy a house in which a fuel oil boiler is in use and you have no immediate plans to replace it, for example because it is still recent, you will not be required to do so.

• The installation and replacement ban applies to both residential and non-residential buildings, and specifically to fuel oil boilers that provide space heating and/or prepare sanitary hot water. A fuel oil boiler used for industrial processes is not covered by the fuel oil ban, and can therefore still be installed or replaced. A non-residential building is by definition any building except:
  • industrial buildings intended for the production, storage, handling or manipulation of goods
  • small stand-alone buildings (with a usable floor area of less than 50 m²)
  • warehouses and workshops
  • farm buildings
  • buildings used for worship and religious activities
  • temporary buildings (in principle not used for more than two years). 

The installation and replacement ban on fuel oil boilers therefore does not apply to the above list.

• Replacing a small part is allowed but as soon as the boiler body, i.e. the heating device as a whole, needs to be replaced, this is regarded as a ‘replacement of the fuel oil boiler’. If a natural gas grid is available in the street, replacement with a fuel oil boiler is no longer allowed.
• All blends with fuel oil (hybrid heat pump on fuel oil, fuel oil boiler on biofuels, etc.) are not allowed as of 1 January 2022 under the installation and replacement ban for fuel oil boilers. Combining fuel oil with another fuel is still regarded as burning fuel oil. R33, for example, is a blend of 67% conventional fuel oil and 33% biofuel.
• As of 1 January 2022, either a boiler body or an entire fuel oil boiler may no longer be replaced, not even if the boiler is under warranty.
• A fuel oil boiler used for industrial processes is not covered by the fuel oil ban, and can therefore still be installed or replaced. If the fuel oil boiler is used both for an industrial process and for space heating (e.g. at a bakery), it may no longer be replaced with a fuel oil boiler in 2022 if natural gas is available in the street.