"Some are already panicking": Chimney sweeper Arthur Wolfseher on the energy crisis

Wood stoves, energy checks, need for advice: chimney sweeps are in high demand during the energy crisis.

In an interview, chimney sweep Arthur Wolfseher talks about the effects of the crisis on his job.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen –

Heating: what was previously a matter of course for most people has become a major issue since Russia's attack on Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis.

This is also noticeable in the everyday life of the chimney sweep.

Arthur Wolfseher (62) has been running the training center for chimney sweeps in the districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen and Miesbach for 33 years and looks after 2,300 properties in his hometown of Geretsried.

In an interview, he reports on what is currently bothering his customers.

Mr. Wolfseher, how do chimney sweeps notice the current energy crisis in their everyday work?

Well, some are already panicking and there's a run on stoves.

.

.

.which you then have to remove as a chimney sweep.

Yes, although the delivery times for stoves are now so long and there is a lack of craftsmen, so that not that many can be installed at the moment.

But I already have two or three more appointments a week.

In Geretsried, however, I also have a somewhat different clientele, in the countryside people heat more with wood, and some of my colleagues there now have a lot more work to do.

Rush for stoves: long delivery times

From the chimney sweep's point of view, what do you pay attention to when wood-burning stoves are installed or put into operation?

First and foremost, of course, that the chimney flue is properly installed.

Strictly speaking, it is only a fireplace if it is also connected to a fireplace - otherwise it is just a shaft in the building.

And such shafts are now misused in many houses.

For example, connections to the photovoltaic system or telephone lines were put through.

That has to be restored first.

In some houses, a whole new chimney would have to be built at great expense.

In the past, during the oil crisis of the 1970s, building regulations stipulated that every house had to have an emergency chimney for the operation of a tiled stove.

This rule was dropped in the 1990s.

Not every house today has a chimney.

Building a new one isn't that easy,

especially since it has to be relatively high for reasons of immission control.

And then you also have to pay attention to the fire protection distances with the stove.

Where a fireplace is paneled in wood or integrated into a fitted kitchen, it can become a problem.

How do you see the trend towards returning to the wood stove?

Heating with wood is not environmentally friendly, mainly because of the fine dust problem and other emissions.

If you now go for a walk in the evening, you will notice that the air quality you breathe has not improved.

If everyone heats with wood, this is a problem for air pollution control.

"Heating with wood is not environmentally friendly"

So you wouldn't necessarily recommend installing a wood stove?

I advise the customers on the requirements for the oven.

The problem is that if customers want something now, they won't get it because it's not available.

And you don't even know in which direction the path is going.

So there is often little choice but to wait.

You can hardly heat the whole house with wood anyway.

For most, it's just a backup system, an alternative.

With a supply of firewood for the heating period, they feel equipped to be able to provide for themselves when there is no more gas.

If you have oil heating or a liquid gas system at home, you will feel more relaxed.

You can't just create your own security of supply with a wood stove.

Yes, many also rely on photovoltaic systems with stand-alone solutions, they proudly show me their battery storage in the basement - or sometimes the 600-watt balcony system, with which they can at least charge their mobile phone in an emergency.

This idea of ​​independence is much more important today.

In the past, people only looked at it: does it pay for itself?

What am I saving?

Can I get a grant?

That has taken a back seat.

Back to the wood-burning stoves: what about the closed stoves that can now be put back into operation?

After an amendment to the Immission Control Act in 2010, furnaces that exceeded the limit values ​​for fine dust or carbon monoxide emissions had to be shut down.

However, it was said that they can be put back into service in the event of a disaster.

Due to the gas emergency, such an exemption is now available until September 1, 2023 - but only for houses that have gas heating.

Another requirement is that the furnaces are fireproof and safe to operate.

The owners must inform the district office and the chimney sweep of the re-commissioning, we chimney sweeps are then asked for the fireplace decision.

We have more work to do there.

And what if I just fire up the old oven again?

If you put a firing system into operation without acceptance, you commit an administrative offense that can become a criminal offense in the event of damage.

It also increases the likelihood that I'll come home in my capacity as a member of the fire brigade instead of as a chimney sweep.

You really have to make sure that everything is in order.

Heating control very individually adaptable

Speaking

The training courses are currently running.

With the right control of the switch-off times of the heating and the circulation or the optimization of the heating curves, the heating limit temperature, the flow and hot water temperature, you can definitely get a lot of savings.

Most heaters still have the default setting as delivered.

As long as the customer isn't freezing, he won't call.

But you can adapt the heating control to many individual factors: Is the house in the sun or is it in the shade?

At what angle is it facing south?

Is it in a cool hollow or in the wind?

How is it insulated?

You just need people to do it again.

The legislator is hoping for us chimney sweeps and also for the heating engineers and energy consultants, so that we can help citizens to save.

I'll try,

to join in with my normal work in the houses.

But it's a challenge because there are so many different types of heaters.

When customers ask you how best to convert their heating, what do you advise?

If you have an old house with gas or oil heating, then the current school of thought is to rely on a hybrid solution with an additional electricity-driven heat pump - and to leave the old heating in place until insulation measures have been implemented in the house, so that the heat pump alone is used for heating enough.

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