A wind energy installation connected to a network. The installation includes a tower and a pod having a wind rotor and a generator driven by the wind rotor. The installation further includes a converter configured to output electrical power, a control device provided with a temperature sensor and a heating device, and a preheating module. The preheating module includes a thermal switch configured to monitor a temperature of at least one component of the wind energy installation and a monitoring unit having an output device. The monitoring unit operates the heating device until the thermal switch reaches a threshold, whereupon the output device transmits an enable signal to start the wind energy installation. Operational reliability of the wind energy installation in low ambient temperatures can be thus improved.