ᐅ Sizing of Air-to-Water Heat Pumps for New Construction

Schimi1791 schrieb:

installing heating pipes under the stairs to reduce the temperature difference between the floor and the stairs 🙂

Don’t step on them, since stairs in modern houses are usually open-designed and constantly surrounded by warmed air, they naturally take on the ambient temperature.

Schimi1791 schrieb:

The radiators are almost never on. One is in the garage and the other in the upper floor bathroom as a “ladder radiator.”

Then just remove them entirely and switch to electric heating if they’re rarely used anyway. That way, they won’t affect your energy balance and you’ll need less overall equipment and plumbing.

He is not building new but rather dealing with an existing property because the oil heating system is to be modernized.

The fact that the heat pump can reach 75 degrees Celsius (167°F) does not mean that you will then be heating efficiently.

Mycraft schrieb:

Don’t step on it, since staircases in modern houses nowadays are typically open designs and therefore continuously surrounded by warm air. This also means they take on the temperature of their surroundings.

Oh ... and the shower area in the bathroom doesn’t take on the ambient temperature, does it? The staircase will hardly ever be as warm as a floor with underfloor heating, since the floor with underfloor heating is always warmer than the room temperature. I don’t really want to continue this discussion. From what I’ve learned, it is now common—at least in new builds—to have underfloor heating in the shower area. We didn’t install it during our renovation based on the professional’s advice and don’t miss it. Others may be perfectly happy enjoying the two or three seconds of warm floor in the shower ... 🙂

Mycraft schrieb:

Then just remove them completely and switch to electric heating if they are only rarely used anyway. That way they won’t hurt your energy balance, and overall you’ll need less technical complexity and hydraulics.

I’ll keep that in mind when the time comes. Thank you 🙂 At the moment, our oil tank is still full. So this might become relevant in about two years. I just don’t understand yet why the radiators, which are rarely on, damage the energy balance. You still have to produce hot water for showers and such, and the radiators are never really hot for very long.

The warm water for showering from a heat pump is still not as hot as the water in a typical radiator.

Radiators never stay hot for very long because they can release a lot of energy in a short time.

A underfloor heating system with a heat pump as the heat source, however, is the complete opposite of a high-temperature radiator.

What temperature are your radiators currently running at (when they are on)?

Schimi1791 schrieb:

Oh ... and the shower area in the bathroom doesn’t take on the ambient temperature, does it? The stairs will probably never be as warm as the floor with underfloor heating, since the underfloor heating floor is always warmer than the room temperature. However, I don’t really want to continue this discussion. I have learned that – at least for new builds – it’s common nowadays to install underfloor heating in the shower area. During our renovation, we didn’t do this on the advice of a professional and we don’t miss it. Everyone else can be happy with those two or three seconds of warm floor in the shower... 🙂

I will take that into account when the time comes. Thank you 🙂 At the moment, our oil tank is still full. So this might become relevant in about two years. I just don’t understand why the radiators, which are hardly ever on, ruin the balance. You still have to produce hot water for showering, etc., and the radiators are never really hot for very long.

Because you clearly don’t understand either the principle of a heat pump or heating in general.

Mycraft schrieb:

What temperature are your radiators running at right now (when they are on)?

In the garage, I have the radiator set to the minimum to prevent freezing, so well below the "star" setting. Even then, it’s only lukewarm. I don’t actually know the temperature in the bathroom. From what I’ve observed, the radiator there occasionally runs at level 2 or 3 (out of 5). So they’re not really necessary. However, during the renovation, we only had the radiator installed in the bathroom. It mainly serves as a towel rack, not really as a towel warmer.