Reinhard lives with his wife in a former train station inn in the northern Palatinate. It's a 150-year-old house that he bought 37 years ago in a not very good condition and renovated for the most part himself. In the meantime, it can be described as a low-energy house, because the sound engineer and artist tried to save energy and reduce heating costs in his renovation and conversion work from the very beginning.

For example, he insulated the house almost 20 years ago with 20 cm of exterior insulation that he built himself from wood and soft wood fiberboard and filled with a blow-in insulating material - highly insulating materials that helped the whole thing pay off after only a short time: Reinhard was able to reduce his heating costs by two-thirds.

In order to be able to use a heat pump in the future, Reinhard is gradually installing wall heaters in all the rooms. The walls are to radiate heat over a large area. To do this, pipes are plastered into the exterior walls, similar to underfloor heating. This will make it possible to heat with very low flow temperatures, as is most efficient for heat pumps.

Because of the pleasant indoor climate and to conduct the heat well, Reinhard plastered the walls with clay. He likes the natural building material, which does not create dust, is easy to work with and consumes almost no energy in its production. He applies the fine plaster by hand, which gives the walls and ceilings a light texture. Compared to smooth walls, Reinhard and his wife find this much more pleasing to the eye.

The artist also built the lamps himself. The cloud-like structures on the ceiling provide a warm light in the living room, and the lamp, built as a mobile, changes the light. Especially in the evening, this creates an enveloping feeling of light and space for Reinhard.
The furnishings are also very individual - much of the furniture is inherited, bought second-hand or built by Reinhard himself. He and his wife like to surround themselves with furniture that has experienced something and tells a story.

Reinhard has renovated his old house with many of his own ideas and will be able to heat it almost self-sufficiently when he switches to the heat pump and uses the photovoltaic system. The heating system with copper pipes from the Selbstbau brand and the clay plaster have kept costs down and, thanks to the original design, make his house a personal gem that is well equipped for the future.

A film by Sabine Keller (editor), Stefanie Vier and Yannick Gaul (camera), Yannick Gaul (sound) and Marco Martin Büttner (editing).

00:00 Old building renovated for energy efficiency
00:33 Living room
04:26 Regina's study
04:54 Kitchen
06:40 Upper floor
07:29 Bedroom
08:37 Guest room
10:05 Reinhard's music room
11:06 Exterior facade
12:05 Garden