ᐅ How complex are heat pumps in everyday use?

As a new homeowner with a heat pump, underfloor heating, and a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, having previously lived in an older building with radiators and no mechanical ventilation, I can share my experience.

In general, optimizing the heating system is more of a hobby and fun for me rather than a way to save just 5€ in heating costs per month.

Regarding the question of whether you have to adjust your habits, I believe you do, especially if you have come from a traditional older building.

The most important factor in adapting is probably the factor known as “government,” also called the wife… (see additional remarks)

1. Underfloor heating is slow; you can’t just turn it off quickly to cool down a room or turn the thermostat up suddenly like with a radiator.
Quote from my wife: “This is rubbish, we used to be able to dry a towel or clothes on the radiator quickly. And rooms could be adjusted quickly in temperature.”

2. Ventilation / Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery
I never would have thought how much dirt the mechanical ventilation system filters out (we just changed the filter again), even though we live in a new housing development with a quiet street nearby, close to the forest, and not near an industrial area or anything like that.

2.1 Ventilating
When I ask my wife if I should lower the heating curve (after all, I’m optimizing the heating) because she opens the windows on tilt in the morning and if she finds it too warm inside, she says no, it’s fine as it is, and it’s not the ventilation’s fault, everything is fine. “I open the windows on tilt because it brings in a different kind of oxygen.” (I almost fell off my chair; by the way, this doesn’t make hydraulic balancing any easier.)

2.2 Mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery
Since she learned how to set the system to manual mode and run it at the highest setting, she does this regularly and is resistant to automatic programs or timers. However, she doesn’t realize that for weeks I have set the highest manual level to deliver the same airflow as the automatic program. The important thing is that the display shows the system running at full throttle.

lesmue79 schrieb:

In general, optimizing the heating system is a hobby and fun for me; it’s less about saving 5€ on heating costs per month.

I can absolutely understand that, and that’s perfectly fine! I feel similarly in other areas; I can spend days fiddling around, but when it comes to heating, I quickly get annoyed.

lesmue79 schrieb:

Quote from wife: It’s rubbish, in the past you could dry a towel or clothes on the radiator. And rooms could be quickly adjusted in terms of temperature.

Of course, there are advantages to that as well; I always liked having a radiator, but underfloor heating also has its good points.
Sounds like you two have found the perfect solution 😀

Hangman schrieb:

But we save not only the gas boiler, but also the gas connection, the chimney, and solar thermal system (which is mandatory now, right?). That adds up to about 10K, doesn’t it?

No, more like half of that. Because you don’t actually need a chimney in the traditional sense, just a flue gas exhaust system (LAS), which costs around €500 (up to 10 meters). A gas connection isn’t that expensive either (in some areas around €1,000), provided that gas supply is nearby—which is the case for all utilities anyway. Solar thermal systems are still not mandatory. In the minimum setup, a contract with a biogas supplier is sufficient. Also, depending on the house, a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery can still be an acceptable alternative. Gas combined with photovoltaic panels is also still feasible.

lesmue79 schrieb:

Wife’s quote: It’s rubbish, earlier you could also dry a towel or clothes on the radiator. And rooms could be quickly adjusted in terms of temperature. ...
I open the window on tilt because then a different kind of oxygen comes in.

I can only agree with the best wife in the world. 🙂 (There must somehow be a different kind of oxygen coming in, otherwise women wouldn’t notice the difference. ;-) )

lesmue79 schrieb:

But she doesn’t realize that for weeks now I've set the highest manual level to the same air volume as the automatic program.

My husband also thinks I don’t notice this or that. ;-) (And why? Simply because I say nothing. 🙂 )

It will be similar in our home in the future. I’m already looking forward to the discussions. ;-)

Something is missing, especially in spring. The air smells different then, like rain or, this morning, like snowy air. That’s when I also open the windows. That’s possible too. You can’t get that through controlled mechanical ventilation. Controlled mechanical ventilation simply provides basic ventilation. Always clean, fresh air. You don’t have to ventilate, you’re allowed to.

haydee schrieb:

Something is missing, especially in spring. The air smells different then, like rain or, as this morning, like snow air. That's when I open the windows. That's also an option. You just can’t get that through controlled mechanical ventilation. Controlled mechanical ventilation simply provides basic air exchange. Always clean, fresh air. You don’t have to ventilate, you may.

For us, only cold air is fresh air 🙂