ᐅ Is an additional charge for controlled residential ventilation reasonable in a general contractor contract?

Hello dear forum members,

I have finally received the additional charge/price increase offer from my general contractor.
I found out here that since March, the BAFA (Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control) also subsidizes ventilation systems, as long as they can communicate with the heat pump. For this reason, I had the controlled residential ventilation system – which I had initially not planned for financial reasons – included again by my general contractor.

Since the subcontractor installing the system only uses Vaillant heat pumps and I didn’t want to implement KNX, the ventilation system also had to be from Vaillant. Apparently, Vaillant’s ventilation systems do not have the best reputation – I would be interested to know if they really perform poorly or if they are just not the top choice.

What makes the evaluation a bit difficult is that, compared to the standard, the heat pump was also replaced so that we can achieve the BAFA-required annual performance factor of 4.5.

I still hope you can tell me whether the additional cost is somewhat justified or not.

The standard equipment is a Vaillant aroTHERM 85/3 with Unitower without a ventilation system.
The upgrade includes:
VAILLANT aroTHERM plus 75/6 A with uniTOWER plus
+ VAILLANT recoVair VAR 360/4 central ventilation unit
including ducts/openings/additional insulation etc.
+ water softening system
+ maintenance contract

Additional cost/price increase: 16,065.67 (bo)
Thanks to the BAFA subsidy, if everything goes smoothly, I would receive 10,000 EUR back, so the net additional cost for me is 6,000 EUR.

I’m inclined to proceed as soon as BAFA confirms the funding in principle.
What are your thoughts?

Thanks and regards

Tolentino

If you have no other option, then 6,000 euros is reasonable. You won’t find another device for less, even if you do the installation yourself.

However, it’s better to get a quote for the recoVAIR VAR 360/4 E ; otherwise, you won’t enjoy it during the winter.

The enthalpy heat exchanger can also be easily retrofitted, and the additional cost should be roughly the same amount (700 EUR, if I’m not mistaken). I find the extra cost still reasonable, especially since the water softening system (which is included) comes with it. However, I would remove the maintenance contract if possible, as both the heat pump and the ventilation system operate almost maintenance-free. Occasional cleaning and filter changes are likely manageable on your own.

Tolentino schrieb:

Apparently Vaillant does not have the best reputation for ventilation systems – I’m curious whether they are really that bad or just not the best.

Based on my own experience, I would lean toward the latter. The integration of several Vaillant devices including app control now works reasonably well, and the ventilation system does what it is supposed to do, although there are more efficient and quieter units available.

K1300S schrieb:

the water softening system (which

Grünbeck softliQ:SD18
for scale prevention during refilling of the heating system
includes 1 bag of salt and accessories

Hmm, I think we actually discussed enthalpy. I need to ask again.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply overlooked due to lack of knowledge. As I said: With the enthalpy exchanger, the system costs roughly the same as the purchase price of the retrofit part more.

Ouch. The general contractor forgot to include the value-added tax in the total cost calculation. That amounts to almost 2,000 EUR in funding.

I hope I can get this corrected afterward, since it’s not a change to the system but simply a mistake.

Why are there so many people who don’t at least ask when they’re unsure?