Whether central heating is needed in the South, which “basically relies on shaking” for heating in winter, has been a hotly debated topic in recent years.
During the National Two Sessions in 2021, Zhou Hongyu, a deputy to the National People's Congress and a professor at Central China Normal University who has repeatedly made relevant suggestions on central heating in the south, once again spoke out and suggested launching a clean and low-carbon heating pilot demonstration project: During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, priority should be given to Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Hefei, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuhan, and Ningbo are 10 key cities with good foundations. At the same time, 10 pilot cities will be selected from cities with high potential to carry out demonstration projects; and we will strive to build 20 A pilot city, benefiting 400,000 residents and covering 40 million square meters of heating area.
Almost at the same time, on March 12, news came that Chengdu could apply for central heating.
It is understood that this move is a market behavior of Chengdu Gas Group. The company will use its resources and technological advantages to create a distributed heat source centralized heating model that neither requires the construction of a large municipal pipe network nor affects urban planning and existing order, providing low-cost solutions for newly built residential areas and renovated old residential areas. , high-efficiency heating solutions. Judging from the fact that more than 10,000 customers have signed up in less than four days, Chengdu Gas Group’s distributed heat source central heating model has received an enthusiastic response in the market and has also attracted widespread attention in the society.
In fact, this is not the first case of central heating in the South. It is reported that there are precedents for central heating in Guiyang, Hefei and other places, but users have mixed reviews about the cost and effect of heating.
For southerners who suffer from cold and wet conditions, the realization of central heating in the south gives them hope of escaping from cold and wet conditions. However, for pottery builders who make a living by selling heating tiles, this fact is tantamount to bad news——
The humid and cold South provides a huge potential market for heating tiles, but this possible opportunity has become uncertain and impossible under the "impact" of waves of calls for central heating and some fait accompli; while the North has Some places have central heating, and the market for heating tiles is extremely limited.
However, builders do not need to worry too much about this, because the possibility of widespread central heating in the south is not very high.
This is mainly subject to two major factors.
The first is the upfront cost. From a macro perspective, most cities in the South have not considered heating pipes at all before. If they want to re-lay them, it is equivalent to digging all the roads again. Such reconstruction is obviously unrealistic.; From the user's perspective, the humid weather in the south can easily accelerate the aging of heating equipment, consume a lot of manpower and material resources, and the gains of central heating outweigh the losses. Even if central heating can be implemented, various expenses such as initial installation fees and piping fees must be borne by the user and the municipal government. In addition, after installing heating equipment, users' homes also need to invest a lot of money in updating auxiliary facilities such as installing exterior wall insulation materials and replacing windows with better thermal insulation.
The second is later charges. There is definitely a charge for central heating, and it’s not cheap. If calculated based on 24-hour uninterrupted heating for four months, the heating price in a heating community in Guiyang is 26 yuan per square meter. A 100-square-meter house costs 2,600 yuan per heating season. In some places, the price may be higher. In the south, there is no need for a heating period of 4-5 months. If the heating period is only about 2 months, the heating fee collected will not be enough for pipeline maintenance.
In fact, central heating is only a "potential threat" to heating tiles that are still in the growth stage. Consumer distrust is the biggest problem they face in the development process.
This distrust is mainly reflected in four aspects, namely "two disagreements" and "two worries".
First of all, I don’t agree with the method of using heating tiles for heating. In most people's minds, the main function of ceramic tiles is decoration rather than heating; and there are too many ways to keep warm, whether using traditional tools such as hot water bottles, braziers, charcoal, or electric heaters and air heaters. Heating with electrical appliances such as air conditioners and air conditioners is much more convenient than heating with heating tiles. To use an inappropriate analogy, using heating tiles for heating is equivalent to using a convex lens to focus sunlight to make a fire. Although it is possible to make a fire, it is still troublesome and far less convenient than directly using a match or lighter to ignite a fire.
Secondly, they do not agree with the value of heating tiles. In the eyes of many consumers, whether it is traditional heating tiles or new heating tiles blessed with graphene black technology, the price is always much more expensive than ordinary ceramic tiles, and their heating value is not worthy of the product price.
The third is the worry about the side effects of heating ceramic tiles. Take traditional heating tiles as an example. Although many brands will emphasize in their advertisements for heating tiles that they are heated by electric heating. The far-infrared "radiation" generated when heating is not only harmless to the human body, but also harmful to the human body. Useful. But everyone knows that this kind of words are just official words used by businesses to promote products. No one can guarantee whether they are harmful to the human body. Although the new heating tiles blessed with graphene black technology have a higher safety factor, they may not be harmful to the body. The key is that consumers will not believe it easily. No one wants to be a guinea pig!
The fourth concern is that laying, repairing and replacing heated tiles will be troublesome. There is no need to explain this. Ordinary ceramic tiles are so troublesome to lay, repair and replace, let alone high-tech heating ceramic tiles?
If the problems of consumers’ “two disagreements” and “two worries” cannot be fundamentally solved, heating tiles can only remain in the self-promotion stage of “applause but not popularity” for a long time, and will always be a niche product. And cannot create a big market.
