ᐅ Heating in winter

Created on: 23 Nov 2015 08:17
H
HilfeHilfe
H
HilfeHilfe
23 Nov 2015 08:17
Hello,

I hope this isn't a silly question. We (own the ground floor apartment) basically only heat the bathroom and open-plan kitchen/living area (40 m² (430 ft²)) in winter. The rest of the rooms are more or less cold or set to thermostat 5°C (41°F) minimum.

We have an air source heat pump and underfloor heating.

Silly question: do we generally need to heat the other rooms to a higher temperature to prevent pipes from freezing and possibly bursting?
Koempy23 Nov 2015 08:28
My experience is that it is better to set the heating slightly higher rather than turning it off completely. This way, you always maintain a significant temperature difference between the rooms. However, I hardly believe that the underfloor heating is completely off.
L
Legurit
23 Nov 2015 08:35
Do you have a vapor barrier between the ground floor and the upper floor, or is there an open connection? Otherwise, the upper apartment might develop mold if you’re unlucky...
arubau3623 Nov 2015 08:37
There are no stupid questions. I always keep the heating on, except when ventilating. You should also avoid setting the temperature so low that the house or apartment needs more energy to heat up again. That results in higher consumption. However, I am not familiar with underfloor heating. Maybe it works differently? "Koempy" can confirm.
Cascada23 Nov 2015 09:15
In general, I see a risk of mold growth when certain rooms adjacent to "warm" rooms are not heated.

In modern or well-insulated building envelopes, the unheated rooms are partly warmed through the heated adjacent spaces, which ultimately leads to higher heating costs.

If an air source heat pump is used, I assume the apartment is well insulated and would recommend heating all rooms to avoid significant temperature differences. This should not have a major impact on the heating costs.
Musketier23 Nov 2015 10:07
Good morning,

you can check this out here. I think it partially answers your questions.
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/nest-thermostat.12769/page-8

I have now set all our TRVs to 5 and turned down the guest room, bedroom, etc., directly at the manifold, so that the rooms are only heated to 18°C (64°F).
Less than 15°C (59°F) is generally not recommended because only warm air can absorb moisture and therefore remove it during ventilation. If you open the door at 5°C (41°F), warm, humid air enters the room and then releases moisture onto walls, furniture, etc., when it cools down.