ᐅ Heating System Quote Comparison – Request for Your Experiences

Detlev69 schrieb:

The gas-electricity factor and the annual performance factor basically cancel each other out. Do you really disagree with that?

On average, they will mostly balance out for most cases.
But you wrote that an air-to-water heat pump has a COP of 2 in cold winter conditions with electricity costing 28 cents and gas costing 5 cents, so that’s 14 versus 5 cents. Realistically, though, the COP should be at least 4. Then it’s 5 versus 7 cents.
That’s aside from fixed fees, chimney sweeping, maintenance, and of course the initial investment.

For my part, I found the air-to-water heat pump plus photovoltaics to be more cost-effective.
To give some rough numbers:
Initial cost for heating and photovoltaics around €25,000 (about $26,000)
Electricity costs for heating and household around €0–100/year (about $0–110)
Other costs are basically zero
I am not considering reserves for breakdowns here.
Over 20 years, that means the system costs me roughly €1,350/year (about $1,400/year).

I also considered gas, but I only have rough figures left.
Initial cost for gas heating plus installation was about €22,000 (about $23,000)
Connection fees here are €2,500 (about $2,600)
Electricity for comparison would be around €600–700/year (about $660–770)
Other costs around €70/year (about $75) for chimney service and maintenance
Gas costs for 10,000 kWh around €600/year (about $660), though likely to rise significantly over 20 years
Again, not factoring in reserves.
That totals at least €2,600/year (about $2,860/year) over 20 years.

If someone installs an air-to-water heat pump with heating surfaces for €50,000 (about $55,000), the calculation will obviously look different—same if someone gets a gas boiler with a flow temperature for €10,000 (about $11,000). It always depends on the individual case.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:

Purchase of heating system + photovoltaic system approx. €25,000

Does this price include the underfloor heating as well, or just the heat pump and photovoltaic system?

I also have a heat transfer coefficient (H't value) of 0.25. The living area is 150 m² (1,615 ft²):

3400 watts transmission heat loss (H't × area × temperature difference)
600 watts ventilation loss (with controlled residential ventilation and heat recovery)
= 4 kW heating load

Actual heating load including hot water generation is 3 kW, based on a design outdoor temperature of -12°C (10°F).

For selecting the heat pump, such a simple calculation for the entire house is sufficient. In my opinion, additional safety margins are not necessary.

For planning the underfloor heating, please perform room-by-room heating load calculations.

Hot water storage tank: as small as possible (for hygiene) but as large as necessary. Maximum 200 to 300 liters (53 to 79 gallons).

Lumpi_LE schrieb:

it's the same when someone gets a gas heating system with a supply temperature for 10,000. It always depends on the situation.

A very good gas heating system can be purchased complete for well under 10,000 euros including installation and piping, for example a Viessmann Vitodens 333F or a Weishaupt ThermoCondens WTC. It’s hard to spend more than that, especially without underfloor heating.

And this is exactly when the comparison becomes more realistic: in that case, heat pumps in a complete package are significantly more expensive than gas condensing boilers.

Detlev69 schrieb:

You can get a very good gas heating system complete for well under 10,000 euros including installation and piping, such as the Viessmann Vitodens 333F or Weishaupt ThermoCondens WTC. It’s hard to spend much more than that. Of course, this excludes underfloor heating.

And that’s exactly when the comparison becomes more realistic: in this case, heat pumps in an all-in package are significantly more expensive than gas condensing boilers.

However, you should not forget that you also need a chimney and a gas connection for that, which are not required with a heat pump. When you factor those costs back in, the difference is no longer significant or the heat pump becomes more affordable.

neubau2019 schrieb:

But you shouldn’t forget that you need a chimney for that

A modern gas condensing boiler only requires an exhaust pipe, which is very affordable—definitely no chimney. A chimney is only necessary for fireplaces, gas fireplaces, and similar appliances.

neubau2019 schrieb:

and the gas connection

That’s correct, but the cost is not that significant.

In general, maintenance costs for heat pumps are noticeably higher than for gas condensing units. In the long run, you unfortunately save less on regular expenses with heat pumps than is often suggested.