ᐅ Heating System Concept for a New Single-Family Home of Approximately 190 m²: Split Heat Pump vs. Ground Source Heat Pump
Created on: 1 Mar 2019 11:22
C
chridre
Hello everyone,
We are currently working with our architect to prepare our building permit / planning permission application. To make good use of the time, I have already asked a heating company for a cost estimate regarding heating, bathrooms, and plumbing.
They proposed two different heating system options:
Split heat pump: Buderus Logaplus package WPLS.2 -8 (an equivalent ELCO unit could also be offered here)
Ground source heat pump: Buderus Logaplus package WPS 1-1 WPS 8K-1, 1HK E plus, buffer tank (an equivalent ELCO unit could also be offered here)
The price difference (after deducting the BAFA subsidy) is about €6,000 (approximately $6,500). According to the heating company, the ground source heat pump will not pay off in energy savings compared to the split system, although it has a slight advantage in efficiency. However, they estimate the ground source heat pump to be lower maintenance and more durable. They also openly admit to being more convinced by the ground source system. In the end, though, the conclusion is that both solutions are “solid” options.
In principle, I find the idea of geothermal energy convincing, but in practice I would like to be able to justify the additional €6,000 (about $6,500) cost rationally.
The system will be installed in a new single-family home without a basement, roughly 190m² (2,045 ft²), with underfloor heating.
So, is this partly a matter of personal belief? Or are there still many missing details I haven’t considered for a final evaluation? What other questions should I be asking myself to move forward in my decision-making?
Best regards from the Ruhr area
Christian
We are currently working with our architect to prepare our building permit / planning permission application. To make good use of the time, I have already asked a heating company for a cost estimate regarding heating, bathrooms, and plumbing.
They proposed two different heating system options:
Split heat pump: Buderus Logaplus package WPLS.2 -8 (an equivalent ELCO unit could also be offered here)
Ground source heat pump: Buderus Logaplus package WPS 1-1 WPS 8K-1, 1HK E plus, buffer tank (an equivalent ELCO unit could also be offered here)
The price difference (after deducting the BAFA subsidy) is about €6,000 (approximately $6,500). According to the heating company, the ground source heat pump will not pay off in energy savings compared to the split system, although it has a slight advantage in efficiency. However, they estimate the ground source heat pump to be lower maintenance and more durable. They also openly admit to being more convinced by the ground source system. In the end, though, the conclusion is that both solutions are “solid” options.
In principle, I find the idea of geothermal energy convincing, but in practice I would like to be able to justify the additional €6,000 (about $6,500) cost rationally.
The system will be installed in a new single-family home without a basement, roughly 190m² (2,045 ft²), with underfloor heating.
So, is this partly a matter of personal belief? Or are there still many missing details I haven’t considered for a final evaluation? What other questions should I be asking myself to move forward in my decision-making?
Best regards from the Ruhr area
Christian
montessalet1 Mar 2019 15:26chridre schrieb:
In our case, a brine heat pump with horizontal ground collectors is not feasible due to the size of our plot/garden, according to our heating engineer. Therefore, my price is based on ground probes with a borehole depth of 70 meters (230 feet).Brine heat pumps with horizontal ground collectors are rarely seen nowadays—mainly because drilling has become considerably cheaper.
From the feedback I've received so far, I am actually leaning more and more towards a split heat pump.
The outdoor units in a split heat pump are significantly smaller than those of a conventional air-to-water heat pump.
The heating engineer advised against a conventional air-to-water heat pump because of the installation size of the outdoor unit and the small price difference compared to the ground-source heat pump (approximately 2,000€).
I will follow up on the advice regarding the building permit / planning permission.
The outdoor units in a split heat pump are significantly smaller than those of a conventional air-to-water heat pump.
The heating engineer advised against a conventional air-to-water heat pump because of the installation size of the outdoor unit and the small price difference compared to the ground-source heat pump (approximately 2,000€).
I will follow up on the advice regarding the building permit / planning permission.
Have you checked the heat pump consumption database to see the energy use of the two units there? An efficient air-to-water heat pump is not that far behind a ground-source (water-to-water) heat pump anymore; if the air-to-water heat pump only achieves an annual performance factor around 3, the comparison might look different.
chridre schrieb:
That means my price refers to geothermal ground probes with a borehole depth of 70m (230 feet).What is the drilling cost supposed to be? For example, we had a quote here for €65 per meter (gross) (depth 85m (280 feet)). Based on your 70m (230 feet), that would amount to approximately €4,600. If I then assume that both units cost about the same for purchase and installation, the difference in government subsidies from BAFA should almost offset the additional drilling costs.
So maybe start by reviewing the costs for the geothermal source.
ares83 schrieb:
Have you checked the consumption data for both units in the heat pump database? An efficient air-to-water heat pump isn’t that far behind a ground-source heat pump anymore. If the air-to-water heat pump only manages a seasonal performance factor of around 3, it might look different.I looked up the Buderus Logaplus WPLS.2 (the split unit) in the database; it appears once with a seasonal performance factor of about 3 in 2018. I couldn’t find the ground-source unit offered (Buderus Logatherm 8K-1) in the database.
Right now, I’m reading up on the topics of trench collectors and, in parallel, the popular Panasonic Monoblock.
Regarding the Panasonic, I’m wondering how long the water pipes from the outdoor unit to the utility room can be, since the garage is attached directly to the utility room, and I would have to place the outdoor unit several meters away (or on top of the garage?!).
@Dr. Hix: Could you possibly share the contact via private message? You’re also from NRW, right?
I have quoted drilling costs here at a gross price of €10,600 (2 boreholes of 70 meters (230 feet) each, including accessories and piping trench up to 20 meters (65 feet), plus fault-dependent borehole insurance); this comes to a steep €151 per meter.
With your price, after deducting the subsidy, I would come out about the same, that’s true.
Similar topics