We again join the voice of proPellet.ch and its recommendations by reporting its recent press release in full.
Heating economically with wood pellets!
Zurich, Sept. 22, 2022
"Zero waste" is the motto of SwitzerlandEnergy, the federal government's energy promotion program. This also applies to wood pellets: indeed, this alternative to diesel and gas is in demand as never before.
The boom of renewable fuel "pellets," made from pressed wood, began as early as 2021. Sales of pellet systems in Switzerland have increased by 45 percent over the previous year, mainly to easily and ecologically replace old
oil-fired heating systems. Moreover, since the war in Ukraine broke out, many homeowners have been switching from gas to pellets.
At present, however, even renewable energy sources have limited availability. Pellets, made from pressed wood, are in demand throughout Europe. Switzerland covers nearly 70 percent of its needs with locally sourced fuel. The more we avoid wasteful heating, the more independent we thus become from abroad.
Order pellets on time and save energy
As for wood, SwitzerlandEnergy's invitation is clear: "Contribute to the security of supply in Switzerland during winter and avoid wasting energy by applying our energy-saving tips."
Useful tips for heating with pellets:
- Order pellets in good time: be prepared in time for winter. To enable our retailers to meet all supply requests, order pellets well in advance: order lead times are at least 3 weeks. Also allow for the possibility of partial deliveries.
- Venting the heating system: performing venting at the beginning of the winter season can reduce energy consumption by up to 15 percent. If you don't know how to do this yourself, enlist the help of professionals.
- Reduce the room temperature: the room temperature should not exceed 20°C. Reducing it even slightly can already achieve significant pellet savings.
- Install thermostatic valves: thermostatic valves on radiators automatically keep the room temperature at the desired value and prevent unnecessary fluctuations. This can save up to 20 percent energy and thus also reduce pellet consumption.
- Air intelligently: ventilate rooms briefly but intensively; ideally do this three times a day for 5-10 minutes. Avoid constantly tilting windows, otherwise a large amount of heat is lost to the outside, and the heating system has to constantly kick in.
- Do not obstruct radiators: hot air must be able to circulate unobstructed in the rooms. Radiators should therefore be left unobstructed: do not cover them with furniture or curtains
Europe seeks pellets everywhere
The situation in Europe is a real challenge. The EU now consumes far more wood pellets than
any other region in the world. In many countries-such as England, Denmark, the Netherlands, or Belgium-pellets are not only used for heat production as in Switzerland, but also to generate "green" electricity. For this purpose, mainly industrial pellets are used, which are not produced and practically not sold here. Hoarding on the one hand, rising raw material prices, and the lack of pellets from Russia and Belarus on the other have meant that prices in neighboring countries are partly even higher than in Switzerland.
The trade association proPellets.ch has been working on the issue of security of supply since last fall and is in close contact with producers and retailers to ensure that needs are met. All plants that had ways to increase their pellet production in the short term have already done so in the summer. At the same time, retailers have expanded their warehouses and partly ordered new trucks.
However, the lead times for delivery of the special tanker trucks are in some cases as long as two years: the filling of the increasing number of customer depots will therefore have to be ensured with the current fleets. Nevertheless, we are convinced that-with the support of our customers-it will be possible to successfully face the coming winter.
proPellets.ch invites you to participate in the SwitzerlandEnergy program, avoiding waste and saving between 10 and 15 percent energy compared to the previous year! www.zero-spreco.ch
- For every degree of reduction in room temperature, between 6 and 10 percent is saved.
- Installing thermostatic valves results in a reduction of up to 20 percent.
Give your input and tell us about your successes!
More information on pellet heating can be found at. www.propellets.ch
