ᐅ Energy Saving Regulation 2014 – Gas Boiler Without Solar?

You’re welcome, even though I’m not sure what you’re thanking me for.

Regards, Bauexperte

nordanney schrieb:
No, but what prices are you assuming? You still owe us the answer.

Good morning.
We visited Okal Haus and had them calculate the cost of a house for us.
The additional cost to upgrade from KfW 70 with gas heating to KfW 55 with a heat pump was €9000 (about $9600).
The extra cost to go from KfW 70 with gas to KfW 70 with a heat pump was still €4000 (about $4300).

Bieber0815 schrieb:
In my opinion, this effect always occurs with a central controlled residential ventilation system with heat recovery. The (warm, fresh) air from the living room flows through overflow areas (hallway) to the exhaust area (e.g., kitchen or bathroom), where it is extracted and in the central heat exchanger is then cooled against the fresh supply air from outside. In an open living/dining/kitchen area, you usually have supply and exhaust vents close to each other.

Controlled residential ventilation systems are not inherently quiet in my opinion; special requirements then call for special measures in the planning (generally smaller volume flows per vent, rather low air velocities in the ducts and overflow vents [especially large gaps under doors reduce air velocity but eventually defeat the purpose of a door; however, there are alternatives] ...).

Building legally with gas heating according to the energy regulations calls, in my opinion, for an architect and a creative energy consultant. With a general contractor or developer, this usually won’t work (exceptions prove the rule). In my humble opinion, gas is ideal for heating (of course with condensing technology and underfloor heating with low flow temperature), but unfortunately, the legislator wants us to heat electrically. So that’s what we will do.

Last point: I cook with induction and haven’t missed a gas stove at all since then. But that’s up to you ...

Good morning.

Thank you for the description of the ventilation.

Since the chimney is supposed to provide passive warm air distribution into the hallway, the office, and upstairs to the hallway, the ventilation will probably cover the rest.

I guess I will have to experience the noise level myself.

So, gas according to the 2016 Energy Saving Ordinance with a creative energy consultant.

That’s socialism for you. You have to be creative

I will probably have to have a conversation to be sure. Or I will have to wait until 2016 and see what happens with all the prefabricated / solid house manufacturers.

What surprises me is that the manufacturers of gas heating systems seem to take this very lightly.

Bauexperte schrieb:
It is my job to know this; however, I should have phrased it differently and much better, not so briefly and right before a deadline.

It is always difficult—at least for me—to find sources that are not prematurely dismissed as biased; like "you sing the song of the bread you eat." So I hope that with the attached jpgs I have found a neutral explanation of the changes effective from 01.01.2016.

The most important changes to the Energy Saving Ordinance 2016 relate to

• Primary energy factor for electricity: 2.4 (from 1.5.2014) and 1.8 (from 1.1.2016)
• Reference technology: unchanged for residential and non-residential buildings,
but partially described more clearly
• Tightening from a system technology perspective applied through the general multiplier (0.75) on QP,REF from 1.1.2016
• Tightening of heat transfer (HT) by an average of 20% from 1.1.2016
• Introduction of energy efficiency classes in the energy performance certificate and
mandatory information for real estate listings
• Verification of certificates

If you look at how much more effort you will have to invest in the future to operate a single-family house with a gas condensing boiler, on the next slide you will see that this effort is not necessary if you install an air-to-water heat pump. And if you also keep in mind that an air-to-water heat pump is nowadays priced roughly the same as a gas condensing boiler—and photovoltaic systems and storage are becoming more affordable—you will understand why I wrote that you won’t make it with gas. I can hardly imagine that there will be many builders from January 2016 onward willing to bear these additional costs just to supposedly heat “cheaply” with gas. When considering the overall investment costs, gas is actually not cheaper than electricity.

Renewable energies are subsidized and therefore also required in new buildings so that the target—allowing only Passive Houses (PH) from 2020 and only zero-energy houses from 2050—can be achieved. With this goal, the traditional gas condensing boiler must, in my opinion, become the loser; however, heat pumps—such as domestic hot water or fresh water heat pumps—will still be able to meet the Energy Saving Ordinance requirements for some time.

Source: Energy Saving Ordinance 2014/2016 Overview, Changes, Consequences. Brandenburg Chamber of Engineers March 2015, Dr.-Ing. K. Jagnow ♦ Braunschweig ♦ Magdeburg

Best regards, Bauexperte

Good morning.
Thank you for the graphics.
Now I can imagine it a bit better.
So the conclusion is that it is possible but involves additional effort.

What about, for example, a micro combined heat and power system (micro CHCP) or a natural gas heat pump, such as a zeolite gas heat pump? Some suppliers do build such devices.

Does anyone here have experience with these?
In terms of price, the zeolite gas heat pump is, for example, usually below that of a brine heat pump.

Best regards

Good day,

Rafaelsen schrieb:

We visited Okal Haus and had a house cost estimate done.
The additional cost from KfW 70 with gas to KfW 55 with a heat pump was €9,000.
The additional cost from KfW 70 with gas to KfW 70 with a heat pump was still €4,000.

Building with a subsidiary of Deutsche Fertighaus Holding has always been something special. By the way, their contracts are too; make sure to read and get advice carefully so you know exactly what you are agreeing to.

Rafaelsen schrieb:

Thanks for the graphics.
Now I can imagine it better.
So the conclusion is that it is possible, but involves extra effort.

Yes. But the extra effort will be so high that gas is no longer the obvious affordable solution. I can also well imagine going back to walls with roughly 50cm (20 inches) thickness including external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) in combination with gas; unfortunate for a semi-detached house. I am very curious how the marketing agency hired will make this attractive to the gas customer base. In my opinion, manufacturers of ETICS are once again the winners, as comparable mineral or natural insulation is still too expensive.

Rafaelsen schrieb:

For example, under brine heat pump.

A brine-to-water heat pump will receive an A+ rating starting in January (whereas an air-to-water heat pump gets only A), but in private house construction it remains an expensive nice-to-have; therefore, we do not recommend it as the first choice. Those who decide on this type of heat generator are aware of this and thus make a good decision!

I cannot provide any information about gas heat pumps because we have completely excluded gas as a heat source from our building specifications, so I am unaware of their costs.

Best regards, Bauexperte

We are building a KfW-55 house, designed with a gas condensing boiler plus solar panels, underfloor heating, and a decentralized controlled ventilation system. According to our architect/energy consultant, this is still the most cost-effective solution at the moment. Heat pumps consume a lot of electricity, which mainly comes from nuclear power or fossil fuels, and due to losses in production, only about one-third reaches the end user. I’m not sure how that is more environmentally friendly. If cost were not an issue, my preference would be a pellet heating system, but according to everything I’ve read regarding nearly zero-energy houses (NZEB), it is not economically viable.