ᐅ Is it possible to install a gas condensing boiler that meets the KfW 55 energy efficiency standard?

We achieved KFW55 standard with a gas boiler, but we also have 9sqm (97 sq ft) of solar thermal panels.
We absolutely do not regret this decision because:

- Lower initial cost
- No bulky outdoor unit
- From May to September, we cover our entire hot water demand with solar thermal energy
- Monthly gas costs are around €35 (about $38) (we also heat the ground floor in winter with a wood-burning stove).

All neighbors with heat pumps have significantly higher monthly costs, partly because they have small children who often take baths, leading to high peak loads. In the neighborhood, the average cost for drying the building with a heat pump was around €3,500 (about $3,800), while ours was only €500 (about $540).

Yeah, I would still install gas where possible. I also find the outdoor units extremely ugly, and depending on their location, they can be quite noisy. Over the next 10–15 years, the heat pump won't recoup the additional costs. After that, you can still consider switching.

Please also consider the environment. Current events clearly show that we should not continue as we have been.

RotorMotor schrieb:

Please also consider the environment a bit.
Current events clearly show that we shouldn’t continue as we have been.

This topic can certainly be debated controversially. At the moment and in the medium term, electricity is simply not green yet. Sometimes I run a heat pump powered by coal. At the same time, my gas heating consumes about one-sixth of what my parents use in their 1990s townhouse with a smaller floor area. In general, building a new house that is well insulated and equipped with heat recovery ventilation already contributes a lot to environmental protection. The combination of very low gas consumption, low electricity use (with LED lamps everywhere, etc.), and a garden designed to support beneficial insects and wildlife definitely does more for the environment than a typical occupant of an older home could manage. We also don’t have two 300-horsepower SUVs parked outside, so I think things are fine in that regard.

RotorMotor schrieb:

Please also consider the environment.
Current events show that we should not continue as before.

If you fully follow this line of thought, you can only come to one conclusion: Do not build new. The heating energy demand of a new building is actually negligible compared to the embodied energy.
However, this is not an easy position to take ideologically.

The old argument about heat pumps powered by coal-generated electricity can be easily countered by the fact that even then, they produce less CO2 emissions than gas heating. 😉