ᐅ Comparison of Geothermal Heat Pump and Air-to-Water Heat Pump

Ybias78 schrieb:

Good questions. How was it with surface collectors? Did you experience any limitations (no planting, etc.) because of them?

Above the collectors, no deep-rooted plants. No sealing of the surface. And the grass grows noticeably worse there compared to other areas.

neo-sciliar schrieb:

No deep-rooted plants above the collectors. Do not seal the area. And the lawn already grows noticeably worse than in other spots.

That’s why we considered positioning the collectors in front of our house, where there will mostly be permeable paving stones and a carport. We have about 250-300 sqm (2,690-3,230 sq ft) of space there.

Ybias78 schrieb:

That’s why we considered installing the collectors in front of our house, where there will mostly be permeable paving stones and a carport. We have about 250-300 sqm (2,690-3,230 sq ft) of space there.

Whether that is sufficient can only be determined by a heating engineer. Keep in mind the required distance from the property boundary, and that permeable paving allows only about 50% of the rainfall to pass through.

neo-sciliar schrieb:

I read that using 10cm (5 inches) instead of 15cm (6 inches) spacing for underfloor heating only saves a few hundred euros. Is that really the case? How much improvement in quality and reduction in flow temperature can you expect?

Yep, it only costs a few more meters of pipe and possibly additional circuits. The 16/2 composite pipe should cost less than 50 cents per linear meter when purchased.
The flow temperature in a 55 energy-efficient house will be under 30°C (86°F). It’s not really an improvement in “quality,” but heating costs go down.

I thoroughly researched this topic two years ago. Normally, I don’t do this myself, but the right contacts can be found in a specialized niche forum.

In the end, I chose a Nibe 1255 with cooling function, with the heat supply coming from a self-installed horizontal ground loop collector. This was my first major project before the actual house construction, for which my entire family thought I was crazy (designing and installing my own heat source entirely on my own responsibility—are you nuts?). I’m still proud of it today. The excavation work was quite intense at the time; otherwise, the price-performance ratio would have been unbeatable. A deep geothermal borehole was too expensive for me, and we don't have gas in our area.

Actually, the design of the underfloor heating system is very important. You can basically disregard the calculations from system manufacturers, and nowadays hardly any installer does their own calculations anymore. Based on these experiences, my opinion of the heating industry has seriously deteriorated.

I’m bringing this topic up again because I’m also interested in comparing: air-to-water heat pump + photovoltaic system and ground-source heat pump + horizontal ground loop collector + photovoltaic system.

I would like to know if one of these two heating systems performs better in terms of cooling. This should also be relevant nowadays for the summer season.