The invention relates to a method and a device for operating a cyclical thermal adsorption heating or refrigeration system having a desorption phase and an adsorption phase, comprising at least one adsorber/desorber unit (A/D), a refrigerant cyclically adsorbed during the adsorption phase and desorbed during the desorption phase, and an evaporator/condenser unit (V/K) that acts as an evaporator (V) or as a condenser (K) depending on the process phase. The method and the device intended for carrying out the method are characterized by a cyclic heat recovery that occurs at the same time in a heat recovery circuit having a temporary store (ZS) and a heat transfer medium, comprising the following steps. At the end of the desorption phase, the heat transfer medium having a low temperature is brought from the temporary store into thermal contact with the evaporator/condenser unit, and at the same time the hot heat transfer medium is transferred from the evaporator/condenser unit into the temporary store in a first temporary storage phase. At the end of the adsorption phase, the heat transfer medium having the higher temperature is brought from the temporary store into thermal contact with the evaporator/condenser unit. At the same time, the cold heat transfer medium is transferred from the evaporator/condenser unit into the temporary store in a second temporary storage phase.