ᐅ District Heating Connection – Questions and Considerations

Hello everyone,

I would appreciate your assessment regarding the district heating connection (mandatory in the new development area). I’m having some difficulty evaluating it. The plan is a KfW 40 house with a south-facing orientation (150 m² (1,615 sq ft)).

Question 1: The connection fee includes a buffer tank from Enerpipe, model HP1000ZL. A 1000-liter (264-gallon) tank seems quite large to me – currently, there are only 2 of us living in the house. How much capacity do we actually need here?

Question 2: The ongoing costs (all including VAT) are:
€30 (about $32) monthly basic fee
plus 4.5 cents/kWh
The minimum consumption requirement is 10,000 kWh per year, which means the monthly cost is at least €67.50 (about $72), adding up to €810 (about $865) annually.

The minimum consumption seems very high to me – what are your energy costs per square meter in a KfW 40 house? How can I compare all this in a meaningful way? Currently, we pay about €70 (about $75) in our KfW 70 semi-detached house with around 120 m² (1,292 sq ft).

Thank you very much for your comments.

Buffer tanks are usually designed quite large in these systems to ensure you are not left empty in case of malfunctions. However, the tank is not connected to the domestic hot water; I assume you also have a fresh water station included.

A total of 10,000 kWh of heat is reasonable for a single-family house. Generally, though, you don't really have another option anyway.

Connection to the network is mandatory – but to what extent can contractual requirements be imposed (minimum consumption amounts, buffer tank size, etc.)? Does anyone have experience with this, is knowledgeable, or uses district heating themselves?

We had local district heating for 10 years before, and in the current development area, it was an option. However, we decided against it because we had too many bad experiences.

If the connection is tied to the building plot and is essentially sold along with it, they can dictate the conditions as they please. If you hesitate or complain, someone else will simply take the plot.

Unfortunately, we also face the same district heating requirement throughout the entire development and have the same issue as you.

Several neighbors have already told us that their energy costs in their KfW55-standard homes have increased compared to their much older previous houses.
My parents-in-law’s house has over 200 square meters (over 2150 square feet) of living space, and four people live there. Their monthly gas costs are lower than what we have to pay in basic fees plus minimum consumption charges.
We also find this unreasonable, but like you, we had no other choice.

A biogas plant is great... up to the horizon, everyone only grows corn to sell it for good money to the operator. Thanks to subsidies, the operator makes a fortune with this nonsense, while you have 1000 liters (264 gallons) of 80°C (176°F) hot water in the house, which nobody can actually use for anything, except mixing it down again with cold water for underfloor heating to about 30°C (86°F) supply temperature.