ᐅ Possible House Purchase – Air-to-Water Heat Pump Could Become a Money Pit

Hello Yvonne, thank you. What is the approximate cost of a comparable property in Lower Saxony? That is, about a 200 square meter (2,150 square feet) house with a double garage, kitchen and outdoor area, painting work, flooring, underfloor heating, air-to-water heat pump, fireplace—what is commonly known as a "city villa."

I would suggest involving a professional heating installer or setting aside around 15,000 euros for heating system repairs. No matter how poorly constructed, a 200m2 (2,150 sq ft) house should not have heating costs exceeding 100-120 euros per month according to energy saving regulations.

Chris1982_1 schrieb:
Hello Yvonne, thanks. How much does a comparable property roughly cost in Lower Saxony? That means about 200 square meters (2150 square feet) house with a double garage, kitchen and outdoor area, painting work, flooring, underfloor heating, air-to-water heat pump, fireplace—what you would call a "city villa."

Insulation aside, the Energy Saving Ordinance applies.

Comparable house here, near the outskirts of Hamburg: prices range from ... to ...
In our area, a Bauhaus-style house as well as a city villa are for sale. Smaller living areas, 140 / 160 square meters (1505 / 1720 square feet). The agents are aiming for 450,000 and 520,000 respectively. Without justification, since it is leasehold land.
Other houses are not comparable as they are older or entirely different style, e.g., a timber-frame house for 700,000.
You can compare different areas on Immonet and similar sites—enter the location and start.
Basically, though, that won’t help you much.

I find the values of your property questionable!

Best regards, Yvonne

tomtom79 schrieb:
People build the house airtight and then open the windows wide every day instead of recovering heat through a heat exchanger, very clever.

Well, I am also an advocate for controlled mechanical ventilation in new builds. However, one should objectively say that it only pays off after a long time.
Ventilation and heating behavior are crucial for preventing mold.
And the myths about windows being too good in old buildings really annoy me.

Back to the topic.
I assume there is a buffer tank installed here and that the heat pump is oversized in terms of capacity. In addition, it is set up very poorly.
How the homeowners could accept this in a new build is a mystery to me.
Possibly the underfloor heating system is also incorrectly designed, meaning it requires too high a flow temperature. That would be difficult to fix.
Have them show you the secondary meter if there is one.
Also, check the heating load calculation and the design of the underfloor heating system. From these, you can tell if something went seriously wrong.

In summary: a house built in 2013. It’s not the insulation. So, the issue must be with the technical systems. Something is wrong there. It can definitely be fixed. You just need to know where the problem lies. Expertise on site is required—heating engineers or similar specialists.

You also asked about benchmark prices for such a new build? Rough guideline: basic house 200,000. 50,000 additional costs. 25,000 for extras. Plus the land price, taxes, notary, and official fees. If I calculate the land at around 120,000, which is certainly not exaggerated for the outskirts of Hamburg, we arrive at about 400,000. Karsten

If the underfloor heating is incorrectly designed, the only solution is to redo it or switch to a gas heating system.
And €120 per square meter (about $130 per square yard) is very cheap in the Hamburg area.