Benedikt Doll: the passion for sport runs in the family
A dark-green tiled stove, a vista of autumnal trees – as a child, Benedikt Doll spent many happy hours with his grandmother in this house in the Black Forest. Now, after becoming the biathlon world champion, he has set himself a new and entirely different challenge: how to make a house built in 1970 fit for the future.
Benedikt Doll, his parents and his aunt – all with the family passion for sports – set about converting and upgrading the house to create a modern, multi-generation family home. The winter sportsman explained that he was responsible for the technical side of the project. In particular, he put a lot of thought into the heating system: ‘To some extent, both my father and I are technology-freaks. We wanted something innovative and sustainable.’ The athlete already knew the perfect partner for this from his sporting career – Viessmann, his sponsor for many years.
Heat from a depth of 150 metres
A high-efficiency brine/water heat pump covers the family’s entire domestic heating needs with geothermal energy. His plans for the future also include the storage of autonomously generated solar power from a photovoltaic system in a power storage unit for around-theclock availability on demand. Benedikt Doll’s reason for choosing this sustainable heating solution was to cut energy costs and protect the climate – also from a professional point of view. ‘Winter sports obviously need a certain basic level of winter’, explains Doll, ‘and over the last few years, we have had some problems when it comes to getting the snow we need.’
The biathlon-star can set the optimum balance between energy saving and comfort in the ViCare App on his smartphone. Like when he’s training, Doll has a passion for optimisation: ‘I love trying out all the settings to see what they can do.’ For instance, when the alarm wakes me at 7, the water has been hot enough for my morning shower since 6.45. Another advantage of the heat pump: it can also be used to keep the house comfortably cool in summer.
Where good energy is at home
With the successful modernisation of the multi-generation house in his home region, Benedikt Doll has created an important place of retreat that lets him relax with his family between sporting events and make plans for the future. He is already looking forward to a future that includes having fun in the garden with children of his own: ‘That brings back memories of my own childhood, and then it’s even better when you can have the whole family around you all the time and simply enjoy life as it comes.’
Find more projects of our athletes here
Other athletes have also opted for a climate-friendly heating solution from Viessmann. Follow the links and find out more about their projects!