Aecherli Holz AG , Regensdorf ZH, Switzerland

Sawmill with tradition, innovation and sustainability

For more than 50 years and over three generations, Aecherli Holz has grown into a modern family business offering a wide range of products and services related to wood. For over 30 years, Aecherli Holz has also had a wood heating plant on its premises, which supplies heat to the sawmill and the self-built district heating network in Regensdorf.

Warehouse becomes district heating center

In 1994, the world had yet to be won over to the idea of district heating from wood. Paul Aecherli, on the other hand, had long been fascinated by this possibility and the wooden storage shed on the Aecherli site was turned into a district heating center.

Once ridiculed - now systemically relevant for Regensdorf

Paul Aecherli had the idea of using residual wood sustainably and wanted to try something new. In Hans-Jürg Schmid, he had found a partner who was equally interested in renewable energy and district heating. Aecherli's district heating network was already being supplied by two Schmid boilers, each with an output of 1,800 kW. At the time, this size of boiler was not yet standard for Schmid. Accordingly, the project was a challenge that Hans-Jürg Schmid took on with great pleasure.

The size of the wood chip silo was also larger at 2,000 m3, which is still proving its worth today. Fresh Wood chips can be dried in this way to achieve a better calorific value.

Over the years, P. Aecherli AG has been able to convince more customers to purchase district heating. The output already had to be increased in 2015. A 1,800 kW boiler was replaced with a Schmid UTSR-2400 furnace. Today, it is impossible to imagine Regensdorf's energy supply without the district heating center. In November 2023, another Schmid boiler, a UTSR-4600 visio, was put into operation.

Why are you backing Schmid again?

"The choice of efficient, reliable and robust boilers on the market is small, Schmid's service is top-notch and our experience has always been very good. That's why it was clear to us that we would use a Schmid boiler again," Celine Hartmann-Aecherli tells us.