ᐅ Which heating system is best for a new 200 sqm house?

Dear forum members,

I am new here and, to be honest, I haven’t read all the previous posts yet, so a similar topic might already be discussed.

We are a family with three small children and are fortunate to be allowed to build in our hometown near Regensburg. In 2011, we built a small 145 sqm (1,560 sq ft) Tuscan-style house, but unfortunately, it no longer meets our needs, so we are planning to build again. Our current home is heated with a groundwater heat pump including cooling (which we rarely use). Overall, we are satisfied with the heating results, although on cold winter days, I miss the comfortable “warm feet feeling” that I have experienced with friends who have pellet or gas heating. What bothers me more is that our hot water takes quite a while to heat up and only reaches a temperature where I can still comfortably keep my hand under it.

We are considering a pellet heating system, but to be honest, we haven’t really researched heating systems at all yet—and a lot has probably changed in the last eight years. Our architect has proposed a compact heat pump with a central ventilation system and hot water storage, as this would likely be cheaper than a pellet system with central ventilation. However, for the heat pump, we definitely do not want an outdoor unit. An indoor installation might be possible, but we have concerns about the noise.

Is a central ventilation system really necessary or required? Currently, we have a decentralized ventilation system, which works well overall, but I am quite bothered by the plastic covers inside, which have yellowed over time.

What are your experiences? Ventilation—yes or no?
Heating—pellet, compact unit, or something else?

Thank you very much!
Best regards, Stefanie