REPLACE Highlight Croatia: Renewable heating and cooling in a tourist environment – Open house event in Croatia

The island of Mali Losinj in the Adriatic Sea is a popular Croatian holiday destination. Since in summer the rooms are not only cooled for the island population, but also for tourist guests, the energy demand is quite high. To show how the demand can be met by renewable energy systems, REPLACE partner Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar (EIHP) organised an open house day on the island on 12th April 2022.

In cooperation between EIHP and the City of Mali Lošinj a very interesting best practice example was selected: Mr Šarlija has a house with six rooms and uses solar panels to cover the consumption, and batteries to store energy. He often resides there during the summer and in addition to that, he rents out the space to tourists. That way his energy demands are quite high during the summer, when the whole space has to be cooled in order to insure comfort for all residents.

The invitation by EIHP and the City of Mali Lošinj was accepted by 13 participants who are in the same situation as the owner. „Does the system provide enough energy?”, „What are the maintenance requirements?” and „What is the lifetime of the equipment?” were some of their key questions regarding cleaner options for their heating and cooling.

Directly on site, the host Mr Šarlija showed how the system works and encouraged everyone who is considering implementing cleaner and greener systems that it is worth it. “I am most of all pleased that I have got an independent and reliable system”, as he pointed out. To be able to answer also technical questions, Mr Šarlija even went the extra mile and brought his installer to the event, who had overseen the whole process and selected the equipment.

Concerning the whole process, EIHP can look back on a very good cooperation with everyone involved; from the City of Mali Lošinj with their help with finding the location and by inviting citizens to the event, to the owner who was very open to sharing his experience and the participants who showed a lot of interest in the topic.

EIHP’s conclusion after an entirely successful open house day? These kinds of events can help all those who are interested to take that last step and decide on a better heating/cooling option for their home.