Germany starts rationing hot water and turning down the heating in case Russia cuts off its natural gas supplies

• Some tenants in Germany are facing the possibility of cold showers and reduced heating this winter.
• German real estate company Vonovia said it would lower temperatures in tenants' gas central heating systems.

Some landlords in Germany are rationing hot water and will turn down the heating as Europe's largest economy battles soaring energy costs due to reduced supplies of Russian natural gas.

German real estate company, Vonovia, said it would lower tenants' heating during the night to cut costs.

In a statement sent to Insider, the company said the move was designed to "save as much gas as possible," adding that reducing temperatures between 11pm and 6am would reduce heating costs by about 8%.

Some tenants in Dippoldiswalde, Saxony, will only be able to take a hot shower between 4am and 8am, 11am and 1pm and 5pm to 9pm after a housing association said it would cut back on hot water to save for the winter, the Financial Times reported.

German energy bills have shot up since Russia slowed supplies in the wake of sanctions imposed following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Germany, which gets more than a third of its gas from Russia, moved to stage two of a three-stage emergency gas plan in June.

Russia started reducing flows to Europe last month in retaliation for European sanctions. On June 14, the Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said it was cutting flows of natural gas to Germany through the Nord Stream pipeline by 40%.

Gas shortages could become even more acute if Russia does not resume flows through the pipeline after it closes for 10 days of maintenance from Monday, as Berlin fears.

The final stage of the plan would involve the government rationing gas by allocating supplies to certain sectors, but several areas across Germany have already started to prepare for the worst.

One district is turning off the hot water in more than 80 schools and 60 gyms, the Financial Times reported.

In Düsseldorf, a huge swimming pool complex has been closed to save energy.

Berlin is also lowering the temperatures of its outdoor pools, and the city of Cologne is also dimming its street lighting after 11pm, according to the FT.

"The situation on the gas market is tense and unfortunately we can't guarantee that it will not get worse," Germany's economy minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday.

Insider contacted local governments in Cologne and Düsseldorf for comment.