Hello everyone,
I’m somewhat heat-sensitive. Until now, I have always lived in apartments that would get extremely hot in summer, despite maximizing shading during the day and ventilating strongly with rapid air exchange at night. Those were the days of my childhood spent in a basement apartment, where even in the height of summer the bedroom stayed pleasantly cool.
To get to the point: I definitely don’t want to deal with that in my own home. So, air conditioning is an important topic for me. My question is: what is the best way to maintain comfortable temperatures even in the peak of summer?
I have read that heat pumps can also provide cooling through underfloor heating, although the effect seems to be relatively mild. It’s also said that mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can be combined with cooling, but here, too, there are obviously fairly strict limitations. Finally, there is the conventional split air conditioning system, which certainly cools well but also consumes a lot of electricity. However, combined with solar panels on the roof, electricity costs should remain manageable since there is usually a surplus of electricity in summer that’s hard to use otherwise.
What would you recommend considering both cost and comfort? Maybe some combination makes sense, for example cooling with a heat pump via underfloor heating and additional cooling through mechanical ventilation with heat recovery – perhaps a moderate amount of cooling from two systems is sufficient in combination. Who has experience and can share knowledge and opinions?
Best regards,
HB1
I’m somewhat heat-sensitive. Until now, I have always lived in apartments that would get extremely hot in summer, despite maximizing shading during the day and ventilating strongly with rapid air exchange at night. Those were the days of my childhood spent in a basement apartment, where even in the height of summer the bedroom stayed pleasantly cool.
To get to the point: I definitely don’t want to deal with that in my own home. So, air conditioning is an important topic for me. My question is: what is the best way to maintain comfortable temperatures even in the peak of summer?
I have read that heat pumps can also provide cooling through underfloor heating, although the effect seems to be relatively mild. It’s also said that mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can be combined with cooling, but here, too, there are obviously fairly strict limitations. Finally, there is the conventional split air conditioning system, which certainly cools well but also consumes a lot of electricity. However, combined with solar panels on the roof, electricity costs should remain manageable since there is usually a surplus of electricity in summer that’s hard to use otherwise.
What would you recommend considering both cost and comfort? Maybe some combination makes sense, for example cooling with a heat pump via underfloor heating and additional cooling through mechanical ventilation with heat recovery – perhaps a moderate amount of cooling from two systems is sufficient in combination. Who has experience and can share knowledge and opinions?
Best regards,
HB1
K
Knallkörper2 Jul 2017 23:00This has nothing to do with poor workmanship; it is basic physics that cannot be circumvented in this case.
Steffen80 schrieb:
If this is so great... why does nobody install something like this? At least, I have never seen it. Especially in commercial buildings, there are only regular air conditioning systems.. I worked for a while in a modern office building with ceiling cooling and window shading. It worked really well. Very comfortable indoor climate without drafts from air conditioners. It was never humid.
K
Knallkörper3 Jul 2017 12:02Addendum: I have nothing against chilled ceilings – but they are not miracle solutions and, in my opinion, only work effectively when combined with a mechanical dehumidification system, which can certainly be present, or is automatically included in the indoor unit of traditional air conditioning systems.
We installed a ground source heat pump with cooling function (additional cost €700) and the mechanical ventilation system includes a ground heat exchanger (additional cost €2,000).
In our case, combined with shading, this is sufficient to maintain indoor temperatures even during extended periods of high outdoor temperatures, such as recently with a maximum of 24°C (75°F).
In our case, combined with shading, this is sufficient to maintain indoor temperatures even during extended periods of high outdoor temperatures, such as recently with a maximum of 24°C (75°F).