The present paper reviews the problem of short term thermal energy storage for low temperature solar heating applications. The techniques of sensible and latent heat storage are discussed, with particular emphasis on the latter. Requirements for hot water storage subsystems are provided and the importance of stratification in hot water storage tanks is described. Concerning latent heat storage, both material and heat exchanger aspects are considered in detail. The example of a passively operating latent heat store employing a finned heat pipe heat exchanger is used to elaborate upon the heat transfer problems in the generally poorly conducting phase change heat storage materials. Finally, some data pertaining to the current economics of heat storage are presented