Ecological heating with wood, air and sun

Switching from heating oil and natural gas to solar energy, thermal energy and wood as a fuel has many advantages. They are renewable and environment-friendly energies, they are significantly cheaper and regionally available: In Central European latitudes, the sun shines from January to December, if not with the same intensity, then with sufficient intensity. As a result, the air is mostly warm and wood grows more in Germany than what is consumed, as confirmed by the Forest Farmers' Association. 

Thus, if you properly combine a solar system or heat pump with modern fireplaces, you can feed your heating and hot water with CO2-neutral energies all year round.

The use of a solar thermal power system makes sense especially from May to September, when the sun is high enough to cover the entire hot water demand. The remaining, cooler months require the support of another heating system; a water-bearing wood-fire stove with heat exchanger is recommended. This first heats the room where it is installed and then passes on the further energy to the heating circuit, where it can be used both as space heating and for water heating.

Air heat pumps use thermal energy, they extract heat from the outside air and convert it into heating energy. One disadvantage of air-source heat pumps is that in winter, of all times when heating is needed most, temperatures are around and below the freezing point. An air-source heat pump then becomes an electricity guzzler: the heat demand and the heating output rise to a point where 1:1 heating is provided with electricity. The more sensible solution is to supplement the heating system with a water-bearing tiled stove or heating fireplace. This way, peaks can be covered and heating costs saved.