Hello everyone,
I’m somewhat heat-sensitive. Until now, I have always lived in apartments that would get extremely hot in summer, despite maximizing shading during the day and ventilating strongly with rapid air exchange at night. Those were the days of my childhood spent in a basement apartment, where even in the height of summer the bedroom stayed pleasantly cool.
To get to the point: I definitely don’t want to deal with that in my own home. So, air conditioning is an important topic for me. My question is: what is the best way to maintain comfortable temperatures even in the peak of summer?
I have read that heat pumps can also provide cooling through underfloor heating, although the effect seems to be relatively mild. It’s also said that mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can be combined with cooling, but here, too, there are obviously fairly strict limitations. Finally, there is the conventional split air conditioning system, which certainly cools well but also consumes a lot of electricity. However, combined with solar panels on the roof, electricity costs should remain manageable since there is usually a surplus of electricity in summer that’s hard to use otherwise.
What would you recommend considering both cost and comfort? Maybe some combination makes sense, for example cooling with a heat pump via underfloor heating and additional cooling through mechanical ventilation with heat recovery – perhaps a moderate amount of cooling from two systems is sufficient in combination. Who has experience and can share knowledge and opinions?
Best regards,
HB1
I’m somewhat heat-sensitive. Until now, I have always lived in apartments that would get extremely hot in summer, despite maximizing shading during the day and ventilating strongly with rapid air exchange at night. Those were the days of my childhood spent in a basement apartment, where even in the height of summer the bedroom stayed pleasantly cool.
To get to the point: I definitely don’t want to deal with that in my own home. So, air conditioning is an important topic for me. My question is: what is the best way to maintain comfortable temperatures even in the peak of summer?
I have read that heat pumps can also provide cooling through underfloor heating, although the effect seems to be relatively mild. It’s also said that mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can be combined with cooling, but here, too, there are obviously fairly strict limitations. Finally, there is the conventional split air conditioning system, which certainly cools well but also consumes a lot of electricity. However, combined with solar panels on the roof, electricity costs should remain manageable since there is usually a surplus of electricity in summer that’s hard to use otherwise.
What would you recommend considering both cost and comfort? Maybe some combination makes sense, for example cooling with a heat pump via underfloor heating and additional cooling through mechanical ventilation with heat recovery – perhaps a moderate amount of cooling from two systems is sufficient in combination. Who has experience and can share knowledge and opinions?
Best regards,
HB1
S
Steffen8017 Jun 2017 08:48We decided against the cellar because… A will move out eventually anyway, and B… if it gets so hot at night that air conditioning is necessary, the children can sleep in our bedroom or living room.
Mycraft schrieb:
210 is already a very conservative estimate From our experience, I can confirm that 210 euros is a well-calculated estimate. This would mean the system runs 3 hours per day at 40% capacity (e.g., living room and one child’s room). We have lived here for 9 months now and have consumed about 3200 kWh. Since the mechanical ventilation system also uses electricity, there is little room left for high cooling consumption.
merlin83 schrieb:
We have been living here for 9 months now and have used about 3200 kWh.So the first full year’s consumption still needs to be seen. The 9 months mentioned mainly include cold to moderately warm months. The hot three months are just ahead.
We considered air conditioning but postponed it. For us, that is definitely a luxury. Shading also helps, and for 3-4 days of extreme temperatures, I’m not willing to spend the money.
K
Knallkörper17 Jun 2017 11:06Retrofitting for us would now cost 5,000 euros including installation for a 7.5 kW unit with 3 "premium" indoor units from Mitsubishi. I calculate electricity costs differently and come to lower values as well. It’s also important to consider that the utilization factor is very low when heat gain from outside is kept minimal. In any case, I would make the investment immediately if I notice that it becomes necessary. Sometimes spending 10 euros for a good night’s sleep is justified. So far, we manage to keep our house pleasantly cool at night by simply ventilating, and during the day we have not experienced more than 24°C (75°F) on the ground floor and 25°C (77°F) on the upper floor. I’m personally surprised how little the upper floor heats up—perhaps the Harz-style attic insulation is making a difference.