Kaunas is officially starting its heating season on Thursday, October 2. Amid colder weather and forecasts, the city will be switching on heating in apartment buildings, schools, kindergartens, and healthcare facilities, the Kaunas city municipality announced.
“All decisions are made based on prevailing weather conditions, low temperatures, and forecasts. A brief warm spell may occur soon, but to protect residents’ health, we decided to start the heating season this week,” said Karolina Sakalauskienė, head of the municipality’s Housing Modernisation, Administration, and Energy Division, in a statement.
Residents who notice that radiators are not heating are advised to contact their building manager or the operator responsible for the heating system. Typically, heat reaches apartment buildings within five days.
In previous years, Kaunas started its heating season on October 11 in 2024, October 16 in 2023, October 17 in 2022, and September 27 in 2021.
Other towns follow suit
Lithuania’s largest cities are beginning the heating season earlier than usual this year as colder weather sets in, municipalities said this week.
Vilnius switched on centralised heating Tuesday.
In Šiauliai, heating will be switched on October 1 in schools and social institutions, with other consumers to follow October 6, according to the municipality.
Panevėžys officials said heating will also start Wednesday in education and healthcare institutions in Lithuania’s fifth-largest city, but the date for apartment buildings and other facilities has not yet been announced.
Klaipėda will begin heating October 6, starting with kindergartens, schools, healthcare institutions and later apartment buildings and other consumers, city administrator Andrius Žukas told BNS. He said forecasts show daytime temperatures will not exceed 10 degrees Celsius, signalling the start of the cold season.
The port city began heating on October 26 in 2022, October 18 in 2023, and October 14 in 2024, according to Žukas.
The Vilnius District municipality will also start heating on October 1 in schools and healthcare facilities, with apartment buildings and other institutions to follow on October 2, under an order signed by Mayor Robertas Duchnevičius.
“Residents have already been asking when heating will be switched on. It’s important to ensure comfort in homes as well as for employees, children and patients in institutions. This year we are starting the season at the same time as last year,” Duchnevičius said in a statement.
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said the city decided to begin heating earlier than usual due to poor weather forecasts.
“Since Friday, all our education and healthcare institutions could turn on heating if needed, and starting tomorrow [Tuesday, September 30] central heating will begin across the city,” he said Monday.
Meteorologists forecast average daily temperatures will remain below 10 C for the next two weeks.
According to the Lithuanian District Heating Association, heating in apartment buildings should be turned on once average indoor temperatures fall below 18 C.
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