In order to promote the REPLACE activity and raise public awareness regarding the transition to heating systems based on renewable energy sources, the ENOVA project team visited examples of best practices, i.e. 7 households that recognized the importance of switching from heating systems based on fossil fuels to heating systems based on renewable sources energy, mainly on pellet stove systems, and distinguished themselves by “opening the door” to all citizens who are interested in being informed about this type of replacement.
Despite the significant increase in the price of pellets in BiH in the last year, most households confirmed that this investment was profitable for them, and that the new boiler is much more efficient, and the temperature in the homes is significantly higher. It was concluded that good thermal, i.e. facade insulation plays a big role when it comes to energy consumption. A house with good insulation consumes up to 5x less pellets per day compared to those with worse insulation.
As a symbolic incentive to continue with examples of good practices, the REPLACE team allocated several bags of pellets to each household. Of the 7 households visited, only two families had a subsidy from the municipality and UNDP to replace the heating system, while the other 5 independently invested in these systems.
The general conclusion of the project team from the field visit is that the transition of households to pellet heating systems increased the internal comfort of all families and enabled them to face the harshest winters in BiH without worry.
All visitors who had the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences are very satisfied with the information they received. We certainly hope that the “open days” will result in new examples of good practice in switching from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
