Balcony solar taking off: 1.5M Germans have them there must be something in it

Re:Balcony solar taking off: 1.5M Germans have them there mu... by itsoktocry on Monday February 10, 2025 @06:17PM (#43006547)

>In the USA, given that the vast majority of apartments don't have to pay energy bills, this means they don't have an economic incentive to upgrade appliances, provide adequate insulation during construction, or maintain air seals.

I don't understand this argument.

Someone is paying the bill (the owner), and they are also paying for maintaining air seals and upgrading appliances (you don't bring your own). Why don't you think there are economic incentives?

In fact, I'd argue there are greater incentives to do this for the building owner: greater scale and more efficiencies.

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Re:Balcony solar taking off: 1.5M Germans have them there mu... by tass on Monday February 10, 2025 @06:27PM (#43006635)

I think OP might be saying apartment owners don’t pay the bills (because the apartment tenants do).

Then the argument makes sense.

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Re:Balcony solar taking off: 1.5M Germans have them there mu... by maples37 on Tuesday February 11, 2025 @12:13PM (#43015322)

That's the key, though. The owner is not the one paying the bill most of the time, it's the tenant.

If the windows leak heat like a sieve, a cheap landlord won't care, because they have no incentive to lower energy costs.

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