Hello everyone,
After a heating fire in the basement, my parents’ pellet heating system is no longer usable. A new one is needed. There are two options:
a) New pellet heating: The problem is that this would require additional renovations because of new fire protection regulations (for example, the chimney must be extended by more than 2 meters (6.5 feet)).
b) Possibly a heat pump, especially if the insurance does not cover a new pellet heating system.
The house is a mid-terrace from the 1980s with only two exterior walls, partially fitted with new windows in the 2000s, a (probably slightly) insulated roof, and underfloor heating throughout. The heating keeps the house comfortably warm without making the floors too hot. There is a very small photovoltaic system facing south (2 kWp, quite old). The heating engineer visited today along with the chimney inspector. Both said that it would first be necessary to calculate whether a heat pump would even work, and if so, operating costs would be significantly higher than with pellets.
I thought that with the underfloor heating and the other conditions, this would be a straightforward choice? Does it really matter which type of heating produces the water at the flow temperature suitable for underfloor heating? Or am I missing something?
After a heating fire in the basement, my parents’ pellet heating system is no longer usable. A new one is needed. There are two options:
a) New pellet heating: The problem is that this would require additional renovations because of new fire protection regulations (for example, the chimney must be extended by more than 2 meters (6.5 feet)).
b) Possibly a heat pump, especially if the insurance does not cover a new pellet heating system.
The house is a mid-terrace from the 1980s with only two exterior walls, partially fitted with new windows in the 2000s, a (probably slightly) insulated roof, and underfloor heating throughout. The heating keeps the house comfortably warm without making the floors too hot. There is a very small photovoltaic system facing south (2 kWp, quite old). The heating engineer visited today along with the chimney inspector. Both said that it would first be necessary to calculate whether a heat pump would even work, and if so, operating costs would be significantly higher than with pellets.
I thought that with the underfloor heating and the other conditions, this would be a straightforward choice? Does it really matter which type of heating produces the water at the flow temperature suitable for underfloor heating? Or am I missing something?
N
nordanney20 Dec 2024 21:00What has been the consumption so far?
At what temperature was the underfloor heating operated?
Otherwise, you could have the heating load calculated by room for a small fee at Heckmann and have a heat pump sized accordingly.
Or not, if the calculation turns out to be unfavorable.
In general, I consider the heat pump to be a viable heating option even for older buildings.
At what temperature was the underfloor heating operated?
Otherwise, you could have the heating load calculated by room for a small fee at Heckmann and have a heat pump sized accordingly.
Or not, if the calculation turns out to be unfavorable.
In general, I consider the heat pump to be a viable heating option even for older buildings.
It can be worth having a calculation done, but initially, it doesn’t sound bad in terms of a heat pump.
What I’ve noticed so far: when you mention a heat pump to a chimney sweep, they immediately speak negatively about it. Ours recently strongly advised us against it, saying it would be completely unrealistic for our house, and so on. A few days earlier, we had received an assessment from an energy consultant, which showed that it is quite feasible. We only need to replace two radiators that are simply too small for the rooms (which we had already suspected).
Chimney sweeps might be worried about their profession becoming redundant.
What I’ve noticed so far: when you mention a heat pump to a chimney sweep, they immediately speak negatively about it. Ours recently strongly advised us against it, saying it would be completely unrealistic for our house, and so on. A few days earlier, we had received an assessment from an energy consultant, which showed that it is quite feasible. We only need to replace two radiators that are simply too small for the rooms (which we had already suspected).
Chimney sweeps might be worried about their profession becoming redundant.
ateliersiegel22 Dec 2024 10:46Yosan schrieb:
When you mention a heat pump to a chimney technician, it is immediately criticized. Our chimney technician did not complain.
We lowered the heating temperature of our old oil boiler for one winter to test whether our radiators would be sufficient at the lower temperature of a heat pump.
Our brick house dates from the 1970s, all the windows are new, and the heat pump has now been installed. This is our first winter test so far, but it hasn’t been cold yet.
On such days, we have the option to use the wood stove for additional heating.
M
magik198532 Jan 2025 14:22Hello, I have to say I also have a terraced house that is about 80 years old. It had a heating system from 1989. We were also faced with the decision between a gas heating system or a heat pump. We chose a heat pump. I should mention that we have underfloor heating everywhere. With such an old heating system, our consumption was around 16,000 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of gas. Since switching to the heat pump on September 1, 2024, we have been using 1,300 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity. If everything goes well, I expect to save around 1,000 euros compared to the old heating system.
ateliersiegel2 Jan 2025 15:08Today the installer for our heat pump came because it had stopped producing heat after a loud rattling noise from the outdoor unit with the fan.
This happened on a public holiday, of course.
They simply turned it off and on again, and it is running at the moment.
The installer couldn’t identify the problem (he wasn’t familiar with it yet), so the manufacturer will need to send someone, which they hopefully will do soon.
We were and still are aware that this technology is still somewhat "new" and that problems can occur accordingly.
I clearly prefer not to burn gas or oil (as we did before), and I accept this somewhat uncertain situation without hesitation.
New technology needs time to be perfected, and if nobody uses it, it will never improve.
We have two wood-burning stoves in the house and firewood in the garage, so in case of doubt, we can manage for a while this way.
This happened on a public holiday, of course.
They simply turned it off and on again, and it is running at the moment.
The installer couldn’t identify the problem (he wasn’t familiar with it yet), so the manufacturer will need to send someone, which they hopefully will do soon.
We were and still are aware that this technology is still somewhat "new" and that problems can occur accordingly.
I clearly prefer not to burn gas or oil (as we did before), and I accept this somewhat uncertain situation without hesitation.
New technology needs time to be perfected, and if nobody uses it, it will never improve.
We have two wood-burning stoves in the house and firewood in the garage, so in case of doubt, we can manage for a while this way.
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