Quick to install and not that expensive: For some consumers, wood-burning stoves were a “safety anchor” during the past heating season – experts say. In view of the fear of empty gas storage tanks in winter and rising energy costs, this purchase was often a first reflex, especially for residents of single-family houses, describes energy consultant Hans Weinreuter from the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer center as the reasons for the run.
This year it looks quite different. That’s a good thing in view of the “massive fine dust problem”, says Weinreuter, who calls for a dust filter obligation for all ovens.
Up to twelve million stoves in Germany
There are around ten to twelve million stoves in German households, of which around 8.5 million are in operation, says the first chairman of the Federal Association of Firewood Trade and Firewood Products, Klaus Egly. Only a few people only heat with wood, for the vast majority it is an additional heat source. “If at all, a heating system with a firewood boiler – as a replacement for an existing heating system – is probably only an option in rural areas.” Before buying a stove, however, it makes sense to ask the municipality whether there could be a conflict with the heating concept that they have to develop.
According to industry information, there are almost 700,000 pellet heating systems in addition to the wood-burning stoves. “The exhaust gas values from pellet heating systems are significantly better than those from log wood central heating systems and even more so from wood-burning stoves,” says Weinreuter. Pellets – pressed wood residues from sawmills – are also better than logs because they are a product with a defined quality. The operation of the systems can also be controlled in a much more sensible and controlled manner than manual operation of stoves.
Demand for pellet heating systems has fallen significantly
“In some cases, the market has collapsed completely,” says Anna Katharina Sievers from the German Energy Wood and Pellet Association and the German Pellet Institute. “As things stand at present, our sales forecast for 2023 will not be achieved.” This assumes around 744,000 pellet boilers and stoves. Consumers are very unsettled because of the Building Energy Act (GEG) – also known as the Heating Act. “The Federal Government has thus ensured that oil and gas heating systems are booming again this year,” adds the Managing Director of the Pellet Association and the institute, Martin Bentele. Weinreuter also reports from his consultation that many consumers are primarily concerned with the acquisition costs, but not so much with the overall costs, especially in view of the future increase in CO2 prices.
In fact, heating construction companies and associations in several federal states reported record-breaking orders for fossil heating systems in May.
The GEG, which is to be adopted after the summer break, aims to make heating in Germany more climate-friendly by gradually replacing oil and gas heating systems.
Pellet price could go down
Customer demand for heating with pellets is now so low that there are first signs that the price of pellets will go down at the beginning of the heating season in autumn, said Sievers. Despite the significant drop in demand for pellet stoves and heating systems, the price of the fuel is currently only slightly below the previous year’s level, although in August 2022 it was 194 percent higher than the previous year. According to the association, in August of this year it was EUR 403.63 per ton – after EUR 682.98 in the same month last year (minus 40.9 percent).
In the case of sustainable forest management, the potential for pellets is also limited, says Weinreuter. After all, only as much wood should be removed as will grow back in the same amount of time. The energy expert and consumer adviser warns that pellets of “questionable origin” should certainly not be imported.
However, pellets could support the energy transition, says Rhineland-Palatinate Environment Minister Karin Eder. “This is particularly useful in houses where the installation of a heat pump does not make sense due to a lack of options,” says the Green politician. From a climate point of view, however, building with wood is preferable to burning. “As a result, the carbon contained in the wood is bound in the long term and carbon dioxide is thus removed from atmospheric release in the form of a greenhouse gas.”
“For many people, especially in rural areas, heating with wood or pellets plays an important role. It should therefore continue to make a contribution and be counted as 65 percent renewables,” says a motion for a resolution by the traffic light government before the summer break. And: “But wood is also a limited raw material that is in urgent demand for other sectors. Sustainability criteria must therefore be met and false incentives avoided.”
Warning about cuts in subsidies
However, the German energy wood and pellet association, together with three other associations, warns against a cut in state subsidies for wood-based heating systems. There must be reliable funding for investors, according to a recently published statement, which is supported by the German heating industry, the Wood Heat Initiative and the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning.
According to the House, Heating and Kitchen Technology Industry Association, around 17 million solid cubic meters of wood are used to generate heat in German households every year. As a rule, crown or trunk wood is used for this, which has grown in poor quality and is therefore not suitable as furniture or construction wood. “Firewood is wood that is a by-product of the necessary thinning of the forest or in the sawmills.” The use as heat energy is therefore sensible.
According to Egly, the prices for wood are about the same as last year. “Due to the well-stocked warehouses, panic sales like last year are not to be expected.” The demand for firewood has returned to a normal level. The firewood price of a cubic meter of dry beech wood is currently on par with gas and around 20 percent below heating oil.
