ᐅ Single-Family Home in Solid Construction – How to Manage Climate Control, Heat Pumps, and Underfloor Heating?

Hello everyone,

I am currently planning the construction of a single-family house. Several points are still unclear, including whether to go for a prefabricated or solid construction, and related energy standards such as KfW 40/55/70. I have not yet decided on the heating technology either; oil and gas are out of the question. The remaining options are air-to-water, ground-to-water, earth collector-to-water, as well as air-to-air heat pumps, also known as comfort heating or similar names.

A very important aspect for me is maintaining a comfortable temperature in summer as well. I understand that shading and ventilation (controlled ventilation systems will definitely be installed) can help a lot. However, that will not be enough for me. I would still like to have 20–22°C (68–72°F) inside when it is 35°C (95°F) outside—regardless of whether this is practical or not. While there is plenty of information on different heating systems, I can hardly find anything on cooling.

Cooling via heat pumps combined with underfloor heating seems reasonable in terms of cost and energy, but it doesn’t have much effect. I have found almost no information on chilled ceilings and their costs in single-family houses; they appear to be used mainly in commercial buildings. Traditional split air conditioning units (including multi-split systems) are obviously an option, but they are noisy and consume a lot of energy—and if possible, I would like to avoid having the units mounted in the rooms (though I prefer that to high indoor temperatures, so this is a last-resort solution). Recently, I read about systems where the heat exchangers inside the rooms are not connected to an external split inverter but to the heat pump. There are also ventilation heating systems that function like central air conditioners in summer but often have mediocre efficiency during winter.

In short: I am quite confused. Does anyone here have experience with cooling technologies and could give me advice on a cost-effective and ideally energy-efficient way to actively cool my home in summer?

Many thanks and best regards,
Daniel

Our controlled residential ventilation system offers an optional cooling feature that we could purchase at a high cost. The KfW program also becomes very complicated when such a feature is installed. So make sure to get detailed information beforehand to avoid any issues later on.

However, we decided against the cooling option due to its price... and we didn’t research the KfW program any further.

There is the option of using a ground heat exchanger to cool the supply air in summer and preheat it in winter. It shouldn’t be very expensive since it’s not an active system. However, it won’t lower the temperature by 15 degrees. Also, a geothermal system with a cooling function?!

I don’t have either, but it might be interesting for you.

Hello,

danmuc82 schrieb:
....Still: That won’t be enough for me. I would also like to have 20-22 degrees Celsius (68-72°F) inside the house when it’s 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) outside – regardless of whether this is sensible or not.

You don’t necessarily need active or passive cooling for that. What is the cooling load?

Best regards

I would also like to have 20-22 degrees Celsius (68-72°F) inside the house when it is 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) outside

You don’t necessarily need passive or active cooling for this.

? That makes me curious...

How can I maintain an indoor temperature of 20-22 degrees Celsius (68-72°F) over a longer period when it is consistently above 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) outside...

That can only be achieved through passive/active cooling, right???

Shism schrieb:
...That can only be done through passive/active cooling???

The question is not entirely unfounded. What exactly is cooling? It is mostly associated with the use of mechanical refrigeration (active cooling). Passive cooling refers, for example, to constructive measures aimed at avoiding excessive cooling loads during hot summer periods.
Ventilating with cooler outdoor air in the morning would rather be considered ventilation with a "cooling effect." If cooling is defined as the sum of all measures to reduce an excessive indoor temperature (where a system or body has heat removed), then almost everything falls under this (psychrometric chart: h,x-diagram). However, the strategic avoidance of excessive cooling loads does not.

Best regards.