Seoul City to Distribute 37,000 Eco-Friendly Home Boilers Next Year

Priority Replacement Support for Boilers Over 10 Years Old... Excluding Public, New, and Commercial Use Boilers

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 31st that it will invest approximately 7.5 billion KRW in the new year budget to distribute a total of 37,000 eco-friendly boilers for home use. Homeowners who wish to replace old boilers will receive a subsidy of 200,000 KRW, and low-income households will receive 600,000 KRW. Applications will be accepted through each autonomous district starting from the 4th of next month.

The subsidy will be primarily provided to homeowners of single-family, multi-family, apartments, row houses, and multi-unit houses who intend to replace boilers that are over 10 years old with eco-friendly boilers. Considering the durability period, support will be given on a first-come, first-served basis starting with boilers urgently needing improvement in fine dust and thermal efficiency. However, public facilities, newly constructed buildings, and commercial use boilers are excluded.

When applying for the subsidy, applicants must submit a certificate confirming the installation of the eco-friendly boiler. For boilers over 10 years old, a photo of the nameplate (showing manufacturing date and serial number) proving this, and a photo showing that the eco-friendly boiler was newly installed in 2021 (with the installation date visible) must be submitted.

Support will continue for apartments switching from central heating to individual heating by installing home-use eco-friendly boilers. In this case, since support may be difficult once the budget is exhausted, prior consultation between the autonomous district and the apartment complex is necessary.

The city plans to rapidly distribute a total of 55,000 eco-friendly boilers from this month, during the fine dust seasonal management period, until March next year to enhance the effect of reducing fine dust. Additionally, in accordance with the implementation of the Air Quality Management Zone Act, the city plans to replace old boilers in public rental housing managed by SH Corporation and LH Corporation with eco-friendly boilers at an early stage.

The eco-friendly boilers eligible for subsidies are those certified by the Minister of Environment from six companies?Kyungdong Navien, Kiturami, Daesung Celtic Enersys, Rinnai Korea, Lotte Aluminum Mechanical Business Division, and Altoen Daewoo?covering 451 models.

If purchasing a boiler through a supplier (sales agency), the buyer can pay the boiler price minus the subsidy amount. The supplier installs the boiler after receiving confirmation of subsidy payment from the autonomous district. If the boiler is purchased and installed directly by an individual, a post-installation subsidy application is also possible.

The city plans to strictly supervise eligibility for the eco-friendly boiler subsidy as cases of false or fraudulent subsidy claims have occurred. If subsidies are received through fraudulent means, the subsidy will be immediately reclaimed, and if installation records are falsified, a fine of 10 million KRW will be imposed on the installer.

Seoul explained that since 2015 until December 2020, it has distributed about 230,000 eco-friendly boilers, reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 460 tons and carbon dioxide (CO2) by 44,000 tons, and saving 18.3 million cubic meters of city gas (equivalent to the annual usage of 29,360 households).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.