A pensioner has developed a groundbreaking and affordable heat pump solution that can be implemented quickly for every household. The special feature: Existing gas heating systems do not need to be replaced.
Frankfurt/Schenefeld – In 2019, 83-year-old Willy Kanow won the title of "Energy Hero of the Year". But that wasn't enough for the Schenefeld. The retired electrical engineer was itching to find a pragmatic solution to the big dilemma of the energy transition – the high costs and the large amount of time required to switch to heat pumps. He has succeeded: Kanow has developed an ingeniously simple method of converting heating systems to heat pumps, while retaining existing gas or oil heating systems – and thus making rapid implementation possible for everyone. fr.de of IPPEN. MEDIA spoke to the clever inventor.
Heat pump under 10,000 euros: The 83-year-old inventor Willy Kanow has developed an ingenious solution for a standardised heat pump system. © Willy Kanow
Heat pump under 10,000 euros: 83-year-old inventor invents ingenious solution
It still has to pass the Bundestag and Bundesrat, the controversial heating law. And it is foreseeable that in the long run the end of oil and gas heating will come. The regulations laid down in the amendment to the Building Energy Act have unsettled many people.
The planned ban from 2024 does not mean that intact heating systems will have to be removed. And it would hardly be feasible, according to Willy Kanow: "Here in Schenefeld alone, the complete conversion of the approximately 4600 households and businesses would take several decades, provided that all available craftsmen were exclusively occupied with the installation of heat pumps". For months, Kanow pondered how the alternative to gas heating could be done faster and more cost-effectively. Then the inventor came up with the idea: "You don't replace the entire heating system, you simply add to it."
We need to move away from fossil fuels. But this requires solutions that can be implemented quickly.
Willy Kanow, retired tinkerer and electrical engineer
Energy transition: German pensioner wants to help achieve heat transition with ingenious heat pump solution
Based on this insight, the 83-year-old developed a standardised heat pump system solution that can be used affordably and in a short installation time, even in existing buildings: "By separating the energy supply for hot water and heating". In other words, the existing gas heating system – or the oil burner – will continue to be used, but only for hot water preparation, which accounts for about twelve percent of the energy requirement. The remaining 88 percent for heating requirements is supplied via the connected air-to-water heat pump.
Heat pump under 10,000 euros: German pensioner has solution to big dilemma
The installation of the solution developed by Kanow takes only two days. The advantages are obvious: "The burden on craft businesses is relieved and the investment costs are manageable." The total costs for the subsidized purchase and installation of less than 10,000 euros in the existing building are amortized after about nine years, "the energy cost savings amount to about 928 euros per year".
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I do the same for my grandchildren.
Willy Kanow, "Energy Hero of the Year" 2019
Ingenious solution for the heat pump: quick installation and low costs
The committed Schenefelder has also developed a concept for new construction projects: "It also combines the heat pump with a buffer tank for hot water". According to Kanow's estimates, the cost of this subsidized variant is about 14,000 euros, and the energy cost savings compared to a gas heating system are about 1,034 euros per year. Based on his calculations, this system pays for itself after 13 years.
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Drive of the heat pump tinkerer: the following generations
Willy Kanow is living proof that climate protection and the heat transition cannot only be driven forward by young people. The dedicated "energy hero" acts out of a firm conviction: "We have to move away from fossil fuels. But that requires solutions that can be implemented quickly." He is driven by the future of future generations: "I'm doing the same for my grandchildren. They're already studying and they're saying to me, 'Keep up the good work, Grandpa!'" explains Kanow.
The climate savior's next project: the development of a refrigerator for Africa "that is powered exclusively by solar energy." The patent has already been granted to Kanow.
