ᐅ General Assessment of the Ventilation Concept

Hello fellow forum members,

we now have two offers from different general planners, which differ significantly in heating technology and ventilation concepts.

Offer A includes an air-to-water heat pump. Ventilation is provided by trickle vents in the window frames and exhaust fans in the wet rooms.

Offer B includes a gas condensing boiler with a solar system and a central mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery (all components from Viessmann).

The central mechanical ventilation system obviously offers the comfort advantage of eliminating the need for manual ventilation. However, we are particularly concerned about noise generated by the system and whether it is the right choice for us. What are your experiences? Surely you can hear something if you focus on it, but in everyday life with various background noises, is the system noticeable?

In your opinion, what would be a reasonable price difference between Offer A and Offer B?

And how is the concept of trickle ventilation in window frames generally assessed?

Thank you in advance for your insights.

You can disregard the first proposal... it’s just nonsense.

You don’t build completely airtight houses with high-performance windows that have excellent U-values, only to cut holes back into them afterward. Plus, you’re exhausting air from the warmest rooms directly outside?

That basically kills any efficiency.

The second design makes sense and will work really well.

By the way, exhaust-only ventilation systems are usually much louder than central or decentralized ventilation systems.

A central mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system is typically only audible at the unit’s location during normal operation... you won’t hear anything in the rooms. The air exchange rates are simply too low to cause noticeable noise inside.

You have two topics:

1. Heating
2. Ventilation

As Mycraft suggests, I would also opt for a central controlled residential ventilation system.

Regarding heating, everyone has to make their own decision. Do you want a heat pump or a gas heater with solar thermal support?

Build only with controlled residential ventilation. Heat pumps can become major electricity consumers, especially when temperatures drop. Their lifespan is limited, and replacement can be costly. Gas heating systems are generally much cheaper to install.

The ventilation system from the first offer is definitely not recommended for new constructions.