ᐅ What is the appropriate size for a utility room housing gas and solar thermal systems with a buffer tank?

Just take a look at your main utility provider’s website; there is often information about the minimum size requirements.

ypg schrieb:

Technology is a necessary evil – with the square meters saved, you get even more space in the sacred area (as you so nicely put it )

Anyone who thinks like that is – with all due respect – mistaken.

Technology must remain accessible, so technicians can still work on it later. In a house without a basement, additional storage space is also needed. What’s the use of minimizing the utility room to the bare essentials, constantly lacking storage space, and being forever tied to the same technology? From my point of view, it makes more sense to plan a sufficiently sized utility room, ideally divided within into sections for connections and for storage.

ypg schrieb:

The only ones who value more space are either those who prefer to “schedule dates” with the washing machine or those for whom functionality through usual workflows is important.

The latter, dear Yvonne.

@Manu – You have a separate utility room with a good 12 m² (130 sq ft) available. But – if your layout hasn’t changed – the heat generator has already been moved into this room because there is no space for it in the utility room. In that case, your utility room could have been omitted as well.

Best regards, Bauexperte

Bauexperte schrieb:
Anyone who thinks that way - with all due respect - is wrong.

The technology needs to remain accessible so that installers can still work on it later. In a house without a basement, there is also the added need for storage space. What’s the use of minimizing the utility room to the bare essentials if there’s constantly a shortage of storage and you're forever tied to the same equipment? In my opinion, it makes more sense to plan a sufficiently large utility room, which can be divided into connection and storage/management areas as needed.

The latter, dear Yvonne.

@Manu – You have a separate utility room of a generous 12 sqm (130 sq ft) available. But if your layout hasn’t changed, the heating unit has already been moved into this room because there was no space in the utility room. So, in that sense, your utility room could have been omitted altogether.

Best regards, Bauexperte

Of course, that’s nonsense! Did you miss my sarcasm mode, or was it hidden?

I remember some threads where the utility/freeze room was tiny. One in particular: the freeze/utility room was only about 3.5 sqm (38 sq ft). The original poster was hardly open to suggestions over many pages; the room was only shown with a washing machine, and the dryer could go on top. Heating? Electrician? No. The poster wanted to dry laundry in the oversized showcase living room.

Personally, at my age, I consider it a luxury to have nice built-in cabinets stocked with supplies and cleaning products while still keeping everything organized – if I have to deal with household chores, then please make it comfortable and functional. I definitely don’t want to store my homemade rum pot on a square meter covered with lint from the dryer.

Especially if there is no basement, the utility room should not be planned too small.
We have a 12 sqm (129 sq ft) utility room and an additional 8 sqm (86 sq ft) storage room. In the storage room, there is a freezer, a second (backup) refrigerator, as well as a heavy-duty shelving unit. During winter, as long as the garden shed is not yet built, the patio furniture is stored there (all foldable).
Once the garden shed is there, a second shelf will be added.

In the utility room, besides the usual suspects (heating system, electrical panel, etc.), there is a washing machine, dryer, two old kitchen base cabinets, and two old kitchen wall cabinets—tools and such also need to be stored somewhere. There is also space for one or two drying racks for emergencies.
Currently, materials are still being stored in the utility room from time to time. Until recently, these were materials for our irrigation system and parts for the outdoor area. At the moment, there is an unassembled mailbox and posts for a planned compost bin. Especially during the initial phase, you always have a lot of stuff that still needs to be installed or built in.

By the way, it actually pains me that my stainless steel gas grill (previously, gas grilling was only allowed on the balcony) and my bicycle have to spend last winter and probably the next one outdoors. But I can only put them away once the garden shed is built.

Again— we have a 12 sqm (129 sq ft) utility room and an 8 sqm (86 sq ft) storage room, but no basement.

Bauexperte schrieb:
You have a separate utility room of a good 12 sqm (129 sq ft) available. But—if your layout hasn’t changed—the heat generator has already been moved into this room, because there was no space for it in the utility room. So, in that respect, your utility room could have been omitted.

By “housing unit,” do you mean the hot water tank or the heat pump? No, those were actually moved into the HVAC room, and my utility room doesn’t contain any building services equipment. The architect wasn’t sure if it would fit and cautiously planned it in the utility room instead. However, the plumbing and heating specialist said, “No problem, we can fit everything in there.”

I’ve added a photo. By now, it’s, of course, tiled, tidy, and we even have a small cabinet under the electrical panel. The electrical panel is at the far left edge of the photo, next to the network cabinet.

f-pNo schrieb:
my bike has to spend the last and probably also the next winter outdoors

That’s why we decided to have a garage from the very beginning ... :-(. If the bike is used regularly, it shouldn’t be damaged. The stainless steel grill should also survive the winter without any issues. Hopefully, you won’t be using road salt / de-icing salt . (Of course, the bike needs proper maintenance.)