"Criminal" in your own cellar

Go into your own basement and "search" for antiquated heaters there. Then consider how these "corpses" can be disposed of and exchanged for new, climate-friendly heating devices. A new initiative of the Ministry of the Environment calls for this. You can find "help" for tracking down the "climate killers" here.

Heating someone up properly? Right away - we are talking about climate-friendly heating here - with appropriate heating appliances and heating material. The Austrian Ministry of Climate Action has launched a new campaign under the slogan " Österreich holt die Leichen aus dem Keller " ("Austria takes the skeletons out of the closet").

Skeletons? By "corpses" it means outdated coal, oil and gas heaters that can often be "discovered" in Austrian cellars. And more or less silently bubbling away. But they have a huge negative impact on the environment and climate, as well as "damaging" the wallet. As they are often expensive to run. Therefore, they should be "turned off" as soon as possible.

No criminal tango. The Ministry of Climate Action therefore calls on all Austrians to get these "climate killers" out of their own cellars and into the light of day. Afterwards, new, climate-friendly alternatives are to be purchased, with renewable energy providing heat. An essential intermediate step: the old, climate-hostile heaters must be disposed of properly, i.e. professionally. Then up to €7,500 in subsidies are possible for private households.

More information and registration www.sauber-heizen.at

Turn up the heating. But which one? Alternatives to the "climate killers" include

- connection to a climate-friendly local and district heating network or

- switching to heat pumps or biomass

- biomass heating systems

Building owners and businesses can also benefit from state subsidies when replacing a fossil heating system with the above-mentioned climate-friendly alternatives. All details can be found at www.kesseltausch.at and on the folder "Get the skeletons out of the closet"!

With the Austrian Ecolabel. When switching to biomass heating systems, the Austrian Ecolabel provides consumers with an important orientation aid. There are high-quality biomass heating systems on the market that are allowed to carry this strict government test mark. A list of suppliers can be found here: https://www.umweltzeichen.at/de/produkte/gr%C3%BCne-energie#guideline=UZ37

Of course, these award-winning heaters should be "fed" with biomass that has also passed the Austrian Ecolabel testing procedure. You can find out who offers such systems here: https://www.umweltzeichen.at/de/produkte/gr%C3%BCne-energie#guideline=UZ38

Heating must be provided, but please in an environmentally friendly way! When the old "corpses" have disappeared from the cellar, the fire in the Ecolabel stove generates cosy warmth - yes, then even the most environmentally and climate-conscious Austrian can make himself comfortable on the sofa and listen to the flames crackling!

Further information:

www.kesseltausch.at

Folder „Holt die Leichen aus dem Keller“