ᐅ New construction heating costs with many windows

Tolentino schrieb:

- Limitations in furniture arrangement.
- If you can see outside, people can also see inside from the outside...
- Does not protect well against noise (or you need special soundproof glazing, which in turn reduces thermal insulation or, if you want both good sound and heat protection, gets very expensive)
- Provides less security against burglars
- Offers less protection from flying debris during storms
- Usually looks only half as good as you imagined during planning.

Good points, thanks.
The last point interests me as well. What exactly do you mean?

nordanney schrieb:

Whether the heating costs increase by about 25€ per month is negligible.
That’s approximately the scale we’re talking about.

Thanks – that really would be negligible.

nordanney schrieb:

For a highly specialized house with a lot of glass, external professional heating system design is essential. Then you will have a well-functioning house in winter.

Yes, we will consult a professional. Still, I trust the experience of independent people here more than someone trying to sell me something.

Arauki11 schrieb:

Beautiful things are not always practical or come with consequences you should be aware of.
I was a bit uncertain this time because of overheating concerns, and since I don’t like overheated rooms, we installed an air conditioning system to avoid this problem. It wouldn’t have been strictly necessary for our build in hindsight, but it turned out to be a great decision, especially since our photovoltaic system results in virtually no operating costs, and we also occasionally use the AC for targeted heating.
Shading is very important; we have external venetian blinds (raffstores) on the south and west sides, and I would strongly recommend that to you; we don’t have roof overhangs.
I would also recommend thoroughly insulating the house, including roof and walls/facade; the energy consultant will advise you on where more insulation is needed and where less is sufficient. I would insulate as much as possible, for example with external roof insulation.

Thanks. Yes, we have shading with external venetian blinds (raffstores) and roof overhangs. Insulation is still to come.

wiltshire schrieb:

Yes. In a well-insulated house, you have a hard time getting rid of heat – many people forget that.
Besides external venetian blinds, there are also options like reflective coatings, roof overhangs, terrace sails, and awnings...
Doing nothing would be unwise.

Yes, as I said, shading with external venetian blinds and roof overhangs is in place.

wiltshire schrieb:

Protection against burglars and storms – glass clearly has inherent but manageable disadvantages here.

May I ask how? How can this be managed? Alarm system in case of burglars?

wiltshire schrieb:

Do you mean your acquaintances are “giving advice” or are they “guessing with limited knowledge”?

I don’t know. I was told about the U-values and that a wall insulates roughly ten times better than a window.

wiltshire schrieb:

A suitable roof overhang that keeps some summer sun out and creates good living conditions inside the house.

May I ask how wide this overhang is?

ypg schrieb:

However, in my personal opinion, a solid wall panel can positively complement a large window area.

What exactly is a solid wall panel that supports a large window area?

Arauki11 schrieb:

Hello @SuoTam99,
You already have another thread running in parallel regarding the balcony. Would you consider responding to the contributions there? Just like here, people are generously sharing private photos and details. However, your reaction and informative planning details are still awaited.
Multiple individual threads about one project, especially without active participation from the original poster, tend to be slow and less effective. Please do your part as well.

You are absolutely right. I just replied. I’m pleasantly surprised by all the responses and am falling behind in research and thought. I will try to keep up. I am very grateful for all the answers.

MachsSelbst schrieb:

I probably don’t have the super high-performance passive house windows... but my wall has a U-value of 0.234 and the windows reach 1.02. A factor of 4.
This means my 186m² (2002 sq ft) 36.5cm (14.4 inches) PP2 exterior walls lose as much heat as the 40m² (431 sq ft) window area within them.

Yes, but with an additional cost of 25 EUR, that would be negligible, right?

MachsSelbst schrieb:

In that sense, yes. Windows are much, much worse than walls when it comes to thermal insulation.

Also, something to consider with your window wall... can anyone see inside your home? Does the sun shine directly into the living room?
In the end, you might spend 90% of the year with the blinds or curtains closed because it gets uncomfortably cold or hot by the window wall, or you feel like you’re on display and all the neighbors and passersby are looking into your living room...

You really can’t see inside. The garden is well planted.
There should be some shading due to the balcony and no direct sunlight hitting the living room.
External venetian blinds are also installed.

Thank you.

Schorsch_baut schrieb:

I would keep an eye on the room acoustics. And make sure to have sufficient UV filtering.

What do you mean by room acoustics, soundproof windows?

No. Not the sound from outside, but from inside. Smooth, hard surfaces reflect and scatter sound within the interior. Like in a swimming pool. This can quickly become loud or disturbing if there are not enough sound-absorbing materials such as wooden floors, acoustic ceilings, curtains, carpets, or upholstered furniture installed.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

May I ask how? How can this be controlled? An alarm system in case of a break-in?

You can make a break-in more difficult but not entirely prevent it, no matter what you install, and the camera may only show what happened afterward or when it’s already too late. Today’s windows already provide good protection, although a break-in is not the only risk in life and not even the worst one. Some tips for preventing break-ins, sometimes even from the police, can be a bit amusing—sounds nice but helps little if someone really wants to get into your house.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

Unfortunately, I don’t know. I was told about U-values and that a wall insulates 10 times better than a window.

Your energy consultant should be your point of contact; I would disregard anything else. The idea of 10 times sounds almost scary, like you should build without windows; that’s nonsense, someone just wants to scare you and is probably jealous of your large windows.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

May I ask how wide this is?

The orientation of the house is certainly important depending on the sun position. We don’t have an overhang, and with external blinds it’s absolutely no problem.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

But wouldn’t an additional cost of 25 EUR be negligible?

What would be negligible? You’re speaking in riddles. Just share your project here, and it will be easier for everyone to help you with better-quality answers. Otherwise, people can only guess and might be wrong, which would be frustrating and completely unnecessary for you.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

Yes, but an extra cost of 25 EUR would be negligible, wouldn’t it?

Of course.
You just need to be aware of it and then consciously accept the additional consumption.
If you approach it from a cost-saving perspective, you could also question the wine cooler, the 80" TV, or the Christmas lights.
Or eventually even TV, wine... or consumption in general—where does it end.