ᐅ Gas heating combined with solar thermal system for new construction

Frank1987 schrieb:

Somehow, no one was able to answer my question 🙄

Maybe you should just assume that no one is going to install a gas heating system under the current circumstances. Period. 🙄 🙄
Because your question was clearly asked:

Frank1987 schrieb:

Who is currently building and still installing gas heating despite the current situation?

WilderSueden schrieb:

I mentioned a person to you 😉

Otherwise, I can’t think of any of the somewhat regular forum members. There are a few who built with gas several years ago, but new construction with gas is becoming a dying breed. For the various reasons already mentioned multiple times.

What do you think are the reasons in favor of gas? Saying "I don’t like heat pumps" is not an argument for gas, but against heat pumps.

Oh, I missed that. Thanks!
The reasons are primarily the low initial cost and the monthly utility expenses.
I have many friends who built with heat pumps, and all of them have really high utility costs. But also friends who use gas. That includes my parents and my brother (household of 5). Their houses are not built to the latest standards. Their monthly advance payments for utilities have been between 50–80€ (about 54–86 USD) for years; in the last 2 years more like 80–100€ (86–108 USD).
Now, all the heat pump supporters install a 30,000€ (about 32,400 USD) photovoltaic system. Even if I include chimney sweeping and the CO2 tax, the extra cost for a heat pump plus solar panels is high. How long do I need to heat before this pays off?

About my house:
190 sqm (2,045 sq ft) heated living space
36.5 cm (14 inches) aerated concrete blocks
Triple-glazed windows
No insulation
2 precast concrete floors

In new construction, the total cost difference between gas and heat pump systems should not exceed €10,000 (approximately $11,000), including the current supply surcharge.

I don’t know why your friends have high utility costs. I don’t know anyone with a heat pump who experiences high running costs, neither in older nor in new buildings. Such cases are usually only seen on TV.
Basically, there are only those who are happy to have chosen a heat pump and those who now regret it.

Frank1987 schrieb:

I have lots of friends who built with heat pumps, and honestly, all of them have huge additional costs.

Usually, the heat pump itself isn’t to blame—it's typically poor heating system design. It’s like blaming the Polo car if you constantly drive at 6,000 rpm and then wonder why it consumes 15 liters of premium fuel.
A gas heating system is simply easier to design and more forgiving of mistakes. The heat pump can be quite demanding in this regard.

Frank1987 schrieb:

Oh, I missed that. Thanks!
The reasons are mainly the low initial cost and the monthly utility expenses.
I have lots of friends who built with heat pumps, and honestly, all of them have very high utility costs.
But also friends who use gas, including my parents and my brother (a household of five). Their houses are not built to the latest standards. Their monthly advance payments have been between 50–80€ (about 54–86 USD), and in the last two years more like 80–100€ (86–108 USD).
Now all the heat pump fans are installing a 30,000€ (about 32,500 USD) photovoltaic system. Even if I factor in chimney sweep fees and the CO2 tax, plus the additional cost of the heat pump and photovoltaic system: how long do I have to keep heating before it pays off?

About my house:
190 sq m (2,045 sq ft) heated living area
36.5 cm (14 inches) aerated concrete blocks
Triple-glazed windows
No insulation
2 precast concrete ceilings

You probably won’t see a monthly advance payment as low as 100€ (108 USD) anymore. We just closed our account—100 sq m (1,076 sq ft) house—and our advance payment is almost 200€ (215 USD).

Frank1987 schrieb:

Hello,
Who is currently building and still installing gas systems despite the current situation?
What are the reasons for choosing gas instead of an air-to-water heat pump?

Our shell is up, and I can’t get excited about a heat pump.
Nobody can predict the future, but I think gas will remain indispensable for the next decades.

We are currently building a new single-family home and have decided on a gas heating system, which we intend to operate, if at all, with biogas for only minimal additional cost. We also expect that the gas heating system will be run with hydrogen in the medium term, even though that seems somewhat complicated. Here, I simply trust in ongoing development and research.

I wrote a detailed and lengthy response to your question, but then deleted it again because choosing gas heating over a heat pump is not well received in this forum.

If it hadn’t seemed so impolite, I would have preferred to avoid answering your question altogether. ;-)