Central heating in Georgia: a boiler in the flat, not a city network

Central heating in Georgia: usually one boiler for one flat

Central heating, in a Georgian property listing, is a wet heating system that serves a single flat: a small gas boiler inside the flat heats water and pumps it through pipes to radiators or floor loops in each room.

No property law defines the phrase; the clearest definitions are statistical. Geostat's 2022 survey "Energy Consumption in Households" separates a "central heating system", fed by "the public heating central pipe-network, thermoelectric plant, municipal boilers, building boilers, etc.", from an "individual central heating system (gas)", whose source is a "boiler of small capacity" on the gas network. What a Georgian seller ticks as ცენტრალური გათბობა is nearly always the second kind. For recent buildings, the technical rules sit in Government Resolution No 354 of 13 July 2021 on minimum energy-efficiency requirements, published on the Legislative Herald of Georgia.

A British buyer will find the arrangement familiar, because at home central heating also means a boiler and radiators. The trap is for readers of Russian, where центральное отопление suggests heat from a city network that the flat owner neither runs nor controls. In Georgia the owner holds the gas account, decides when the heating goes on and pays for the boiler's upkeep. So ask where the boiler is, how powerful it is and who services it.

How Geostat sorts heating, and what households use

Geostat surveyed households for the year from 1 May 2021 to 1 May 2022. Its questionnaire listed a "central heating system (individual boiler of building)" and an "individual central heating system" as separate answers: a building boiler and a flat boiler are different things.

Among households heating room by room, town dwellers mostly burn natural gas (59.4%), then firewood (10.5%) and electricity (9.3%) (Table 3.12). Urban households most often heat for 5 months (39.2%) or 6 months (34.1%) (Table 3.13), and 36.4% of all households heat only 16 to 30 m² (Table 3.10). That last figure matters when a seller shows you past winter bills: a family that heated one or two rooms paid far less than a buyer heating every room will.

What happened to Tbilisi's district heating

The published abstract of a 2002 report by G. Vardigoreli for the United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme, based on a Saburtalo survey covering 1990 to 2000, describes a Tbilisi district heat system of dozens of thermal stations that failed after the Soviet collapse, after which most households switched to electric heating. We could not open the full report, so we do not quote its figures. A JAMnews oral history of the 1990s crisis recalls gas being cut off and kerosene stoves spreading through unheated flats.

We could not confirm whether any such network still runs in Tbilisi. So when a Soviet-era flat is advertised with central heating, ask who installed the boiler and when, and whether the pipes were renewed with it. Our comparison of a Soviet block and a new building covers the other differences.

Rules for heating systems in new buildings

Resolution No 354 applies to buildings whose permit application was filed after 30 June 2022, and to renovations touching more than 25% of the envelope. We read its first published version and the three resolutions that amended it, No 283 and No 328 of 2023 and No 229 of 2025; they changed the rules on checking a design for compliance, not the heating rules below.

The resolution also sets three climate zones: zone 1 covers Batumi, Kutaisi and Poti; zone 2 Tbilisi, Mtskheta, Gori and Telavi; zone 3 Borjomi with Bakuriani, Kazbegi and Mestia. Above 900 m a building moves from zone 1 to zone 2, and above 1,500 m to zone 3. The zone sets how well the shell must be insulated, and so how hard the boiler works; our page on humidity and mould in Batumi gives the coastal wall values.

Gas supply and boiler safety

• Connection fee. Since 1 July 2026, a household joining the gas network pays GEL 1,100 with VAT in a self-governing city, or GEL 800 in other places, and the work may take up to 60 working days (GNERC Resolution No 14 of 4 June 2026). The owner builds the gas network inside the flat.
• Unfinished projects. Permanent gas follows the building's acceptance into use, so before a project is commissioned a boiler may hang on the wall with nothing to burn.
• Inspections. In October 2023 the Energy Ombudsman told First Channel that open-combustion water heaters are already prohibited and that breaches lead to disconnection. Tbilisi Energy had found violations at 5% of the 200,000 users it checked, and 12 recent carbon-monoxide incidents in the capital had occurred in rented flats and business premises.

Appliances burning gas fall under Government Resolution No 84 of 2020, whose text we have not read; we could not confirm its rules on flues, bedrooms or carbon-monoxide detectors. Gas tariffs and winter bills are on our page on the yearly cost of owning a flat.

How central heating shows up on listings and papers

• ss.ge listing. "ცენტ. გათბობა" ("Central heating" on the English interface) is an amenity tick with no field for the source, the boiler or its age, often next to "ბუნებრივი აირი" (natural gas). Commercial units carry the same tick.
• Developer specification annex. Here the system becomes binding: boiler brand and kW, radiator type, whether a flue (საკვამური) is provided, and the pipe routes.
• Frame descriptions. Korter describes white frame as including heating, while the developer XO says white frame typically lacks heating pipes; our guide to black, white and green frame shows how far the labels vary.
• Gas account. After the sale, the account with Tbilisi Energy or SOCAR Georgia Gas moves into your name, as our guide to utilities for a new owner explains.

The internal measurement drawing records areas, not heating. The 2020 Law on Energy Efficiency of Buildings introduced A to G energy certificates, but ss.ge shows no energy class, and we could not confirm whether the duty to show one on sale or rent is in force. The International Energy Agency notes that new buildings applying for permits after 30 September 2029 must be nearly zero-energy.

Worked example: two Tbilisi flats with the same tick

Our illustration, not a real case. Two Tbilisi listings both tick "ცენტ. გათბობა".

Flat A, in a Soviet-era block. The buyer asks to see the boiler, photographs its data plate and checks the flue to the outside. Resolution No 354 does not reach this building, so whether each radiator can be controlled is simply a fact to check.

Flat B, a white-frame flat in a new building. The permit application was filed after 30 June 2022, so Resolution No 354 applies. The specification annex lists heating pipes but no boiler and no radiators, and the building is not yet commissioned. The buyer budgets for a boiler, radiators with thermostatic valves, the internal gas network and a GEL 1,100 connection fee, and allows up to 60 working days for the connection once the building is accepted into use.

Same tick, but only one of the two flats came with a boiler.

Central heating, district heating, heaters: easily confused

Hot water is a further question: a combination boiler also heats the taps, a heating-only boiler leaves them to a separate water heater, and the tick does not say which you are buying.

The term in five languages

Georgian listings use ცენტრალური გათბობა, shortened on ss.ge to ცენტ. გათბობა, while a developer's annex should name the parts instead: boiler, radiators and flue.

Warning signs around a central heating tick

• Reading the tick as a city network. Expect a boiler and ask to see it.
• Pipes counted as a system. In a frame flat, "heating" may mean pipes with no boiler or radiators yet.
• A boiler without a flue. Ask where the combustion gases go.
• No valve on a radiator in a recent project. For permits filed after 30 June 2022, every emitter needs a shut-off valve or a thermostatic regulator.
• A shared gas meter in a new block. New multi-apartment buildings must meter gas per unit.
• Bills from part-time heating. A seller who heated one room shows bills that do not fit a whole-flat budget.

How to check central heating before you buy

1. Find the boiler

   See it, and photograph its data plate.

2. Check the flue

   Combustion gases must leave the flat.

3. Test every radiator

   Run the system during the viewing.

4. Read the annex

   Boiler, radiators and pipes named in writing.

5. Check the permit date

   After 30 June 2022, Resolution No 354 applies.

6. Confirm the gas supply

   Connection, meter and account in your name.

Frequently asked questions

What does central heating mean in a Georgian listing?

Usually a gas boiler inside the flat feeding radiators or floor loops, not a city network.

Does Tbilisi still have district heating?

Geostat's 2022 survey recorded no household heated that way. We could not confirm whether any network still runs.

How many households heat with their own gas boiler?

17.1% nationally and 25.6% in towns, for May 2021 to May 2022, according to Geostat.

Which rules apply to heating in new buildings?

Government Resolution No 354 of 13 July 2021, for permit applications filed after 30 June 2022.

Do radiators need thermostatic valves?

Not necessarily. In buildings covered by Resolution No 354, every emitter needs a mechanical shut-off valve or a thermostatic regulator (Art. 10(2)).

What does a new gas connection cost?

Since 1 July 2026, GEL 1,100 with VAT in a self-governing city and GEL 800 in other places.

Does the ss.ge tick say what the heat source is?

No. It has no field for the source, the boiler or its age.

Which climate zone is Tbilisi in?

Zone 2 under Resolution No 354; Batumi, Kutaisi and Poti are in zone 1.

Sources

1. Energy Consumption in Households, Geostat, 2022 (accessed 28 October 2026)
2. Household energy survey questionnaire, Geostat
3. Government Resolution No 354 of 13 July 2021, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
4. GNERC Resolution No 14 of 4 June 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia
5. Vardigoreli, UNU Geothermal Training Programme report, 2002, abstract (accessed 28 October 2026)
6. How Georgia survived the energy crisis of the 90s, JAMnews
7. Are gas appliances safe in Georgia?, First Channel, 23 October 2023
8. Resolution No 84 of 2020, UNEP LEAP listing
9. Law of Georgia on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, International Energy Agency, updated 8 April 2026
10. What is green frame, XO, and white frame projects in Tbilisi, Korter

Change log

• 28 October 2026 - Glossary entry published from Geostat, the Legislative Herald of Georgia, GNERC, the UNU Geothermal Training Programme, JAMnews, First Channel, UNEP LEAP, the International Energy Agency, XO and Korter.