ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Gas or Air Source Heat Pump + Photovoltaic System + Energy Storage?

RotorMotor schrieb:

I would suggest going with an air-to-water heat pump or a ground-source (brine-to-water) heat pump with a trench collector.

How many of your neighbors have an air-to-water heat pump?

We have read extensively about ground-source heat pumps with trench collectors, but due to our lot’s conditions—many mature trees and neighboring structures close by with sheds—we can’t realistically use this interesting technology.

None of our neighbors have an air-to-water heat pump. We are building a new house on a backlot within an older district of a small town. Our neighbor immediately next to us has a ground-source heat pump with deep boreholes, and another neighbor a bit further away does too. The rest rely on gas or oil.

driver55 schrieb:

Then you haven’t been around here much!
Your original plan was a combination with underfloor heating on the ground floor and radiators upstairs? 🙄

What does the detailed cost breakdown look like?

We have underfloor heating both upstairs and downstairs. We did not receive a detailed cost breakdown or exact technical specifications, only a flat price for the heat pump including all the heating system installations.

An air-to-water heat pump model Arotherm Plus from Vaillant was offered.

nullhorn schrieb:

Gas? Air-source heat pump + photovoltaic system + battery storage? Geothermal heat pump? Or something completely different?

We faced the same question for our house construction in 2022 and initially decided on gas, since the heating system can later (hopefully without issues) be converted to hydrogen.
Regarding photovoltaic systems, we are preparing the installation for a later date when battery storage becomes more affordable.

I don’t think gas is a disaster. Compared to existing buildings, a house built according to energy-saving regulations has a relatively low heating demand. This keeps gas consumption within reasonable limits.

I believe it’s important to design the underfloor heating so that switching to a heat pump later on is easy. This means a low supply temperature of max. 30°C (86°F), ideally equally long heating circuits, precise heating load calculation, and so on. I would take care of this sooner rather than later, and overall, you will need to familiarize yourself more with the topic if you don’t want something standard.

french_fry schrieb:

An air-to-water heat pump offered was an aroTherm Plus from Vaillant.

Unfortunately, very expensive. We can get it too, but only because of a very high subsidy last year.
Without subsidies, I would go for providers with a much better price-performance ratio!

Pinkiponk schrieb:

We asked ourselves the same question for our house construction in 2022 and initially chose gas.

What a pity.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

because the heating system can later be (easily?) converted to hydrogen.

What’s the benefit? Instead of a fourfold efficiency with a heat pump, you get a fourfold loss producing hydrogen?
Expensive and bad for the environment...

Given the current issues in Germany, the EU, and worldwide, I find it incomprehensible how anyone would consider installing a gas heating system in 2022 and beyond.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

We asked ourselves the same question when we built our house in 2022 and initially chose gas because the heating system can later be (easily?) converted to hydrogen.

I find that hard to believe, as hydrogen requires completely different and significantly higher-quality materials. Neither existing pipes nor pipe fittings are suitable for hydrogen, and probably not the heating system itself either.