Saving gas with old wood stoves: general decree of the district

Created: 09/16/2022 10:03 am

By: Stefan Reich

Cosy, but not in compliance with the law: Wood-burning stoves with high levels of pollutants had to go out of service from 2014.

Some are allowed to release district chimney sweeps like Andreas Haberzett in the Starnberg district.

© Andrea Jaksch

Some old wood-burning stoves that can no longer be used due to high levels of pollutants can be temporarily turned on again thanks to a general decree from the district - if this saves gas.

District – They provide comfort and warmth.

And even if there is no longer a wood fire blazing in them, fireplaces and tiled stoves can be decorative.

In many good living rooms there is still an old oven for which the operating permit has expired in recent years due to new guidelines on harmful substances.

In view of skyrocketing energy prices and the threat of a shortage of gas, some owners are wondering whether they shouldn't turn up the heat again.

In some cases, the legislature actually allows this again.

Burning wood produces toxic carbon monoxide and harmful dust.

Limits have been in effect since 2014.

Many fireplaces that did not meet the standards had to be shut down, depending on their age and design.

Many had their fireplaces or tiled stoves - with the exception of open fireplaces - retrofitted in such a way that they complied with the limit values.

Others dismantled their stoves or at least disconnected them from the chimney draft.

But there was another way of dealing with the situation in a legally compliant manner: the stove was left in its original state and a declaration was signed by the district chimney sweep that it would only be used in emergencies, such as a power failure or in the event of a disaster.

Owners who proceeded in this way can now use wood fireplaces normally again without retrofitting, under one condition: The house also has a gas heating system, so the operation saves natural gas.

How many owners of wood stoves benefit from the general decree is not recorded centrally

The state government had asked the districts to issue corresponding general decrees.

It has been in effect in the Starnberg district since September 1st.

How many owners of wood stoves benefit from the general decree is not recorded centrally.

The state guild association for the Bavarian chimney sweeps trade reports that there are around 1000 throughout Bavaria on request, also because the proportion of oil heating systems in the Free State is high.

“In my sweeping district there are almost no gas heaters.

There is simply no connection to the gas network in Pähl,” says Christian Mühlbauer, who looks after around 3,000 customers as a district chimney sweep in the Tutzing district.

In total, maybe five owners with a wood stove and gas heating would have signed the leaflet for emergency operation in the last few years.

Andreas Haberzett, on the other hand, who looks after 2,200 properties in the Wörthsee sweeping district, reports that most of those affected had their stoves retrofitted.

But he also received around 150 leaflets on the emergency operation of wood fireplaces.

About a third of the heaters in his district are gas heaters, so up to 50 wood-burning fireplaces could be put back into operation with the general decree without retrofitting.

Haberzett has already received inquiries from customers about this.

One of them had built a house in 1983, in which the daughter now lives.

“Back then we found an old farmhouse room from South Tyrol.

This also included a tiled stove.

A few years ago, it was no longer allowed to be operated,” says the man.

“Our daughter didn't need the oven.

But she didn't want to dismantle it either." Now, in view of a possible gas shortage, they at least want to have the option of using it.

Two customers have already approached chimney sweeps since September 1st

Haberzett's colleague Daniel Keppler has counted around 100 wood-burning fireplaces in his Gilching 2 sweeping district in recent years that had to be taken out of service.

Around 85 owners signed the leaflet.

Two of these customers had already approached him since September 1st to be allowed to put the furnace back into operation.

Right next door, in the sweeping district of Gilching 1, district chimney sweep Andreas Raschke didn't even count a handful of customers who had signed his leaflet.

"I don't think the new regulation is very important from an economic point of view either," says Raschke.

"Wood prices are rising at the moment." And then there's the effort involved, such as the mandatory prior assessment by the district chimney sweep.

This must issue a current fireplace decision.

Andreas Haberzett's customer, whose daughter wants to register her tiled stove again, is not thinking primarily about money.

“We bought a lot of wood cheaply years ago.

But it's all about the feeling of security," he says.

The furnace will probably be retrofitted soon.

The general decree is initially only valid until May 31, 2023.